Professional communication in Korea: playing things by eye

Westerners doing business with Koreans need to understand "nunch'i", a complex and subtle concept related to tact and subtlety of communication. In a high context culture such as that of Korea, nunch'i governs verbal and nonverbal communication to such an extent that westerners who are not familiar with its basic concepts can fall prey to serious miscommunication. The paper defines and describes nunch'i, providing illustrations of its proper usage in professional communication situations.