Welcome to AustCham Korea’s new series of business profile interviews, ‘Corridor Conversations’. This series is designed to highlight the diverse and dynamic experiences of our members, offer valuable insights for expats living in Korea, and promote businesses within the Australia-Korea community.

Each interview will delve into our members’ unique stories and initiatives, showcasing their contributions and the innovative work being done across various sectors. Through these conversations, we aim to foster a deeper understanding of the Australia-Korea business landscape and provide a platform for our members to share their knowledge and expertise.

Corridor Conversations – Emily Chung

Education Manager at Seoul Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) 

  • What does your organisation do? And what’s your role in it?

I work at Austrade in Seoul. Austrade is a commercial section of the Australian Embassy, so we are a Federal Government agency.  Our focus is on business, as we support Australian companies. When Australian companies want to export their products and services into Korea, we can help them. For example, we provide various services like partner searching, providing market insights, and helping with troubleshooting, market entry services and so on.

  • What about if a Korean company wants to invest in Australia? 

Yes, another role of Austrade is trying to attract foreign investment into Australia, mainly from large conglomerates (Chaebol) who often have sufficient capital to do that.

  • What do you do within the organisation?

Austrade has around 20 staff with two Australian commissioners Julie Quinn and Dane Richmond. Each business manager is specialised in a particular industry sector. In my case, I specialise in international education. Broadly speaking, I promote Australian education to Korean students.

Education is often neglected when people talk about business and trade, but it is actually a very important industry for the Australian economy, as a sector contributing over 47 billion Australian dollars to the economy. International education is the number one export industry in the service sector and fourth overall after coal, iron ore, and natural gas. That’s a large and important industry. 

I’m helping Australian institutions attract Korean students into their courses and training programs and exporting their products with partners in Korean institutions. For example, they can deliver educational content offshore and they can make twinning arrangements with Korean partners, offering double degrees for example.  To achieve that, I do many things.  A signature project that I organise is the annual Study Australia education fair in Seoul, which is the only Australian government-organised, stand-alone education fair, with over 40 Australian education providers participating.  

  • Where do you see the Australian educational sector in five years’ time?

This is quite an interesting question because we are facing the lowest birth rate in Korea.  There will be much fewer students in five years’ time. It does not look very positive for the education industry.   However, parents are investing more and more into their children’s future, for quality education and better experience. For example, global experience in a very safe and affordable environment like Australia.  I assume that Australia will continue to be an important study destination for Korean students

  • How did you get to be where you are?

I studied at Monash university back in the 1990s. I believe there were fewer than 100 Korean students studying in Melbourne at the time.  Most of my friends wanted to study in the US but I wanted to do something different, so I looked for another destination. Without knowing much about Australia, I chose to go there.  After graduation, I got a position in the Embassy’s education team and transferred to Austrade in 2010. 

  • If an Australian friend of yours said I want to come and work in Korea, what advice would you give?

Certainly, I would welcome them.  Korea is a very nice country to work.  I think we are pretty globalised, especially cities like Seoul, which is a massive city. It’s home to 10 million people. The language barrier is not as big as people may think. Young people can mostly communicate in English. 

  • How should they prepare? 

If they want to work in a Korean company, Korean language skills would be an advantage. Many big Korean companies have internal meetings in English now. But still, an intermediate level of Korean language ability would well position them and will give them more opportunities to find the job they want in Korea. Also, being open-minded because we have a different culture in some respects, so be ready to accept that. If you enjoy the differences, you’ll have a great time.

  • Is the business environment in Korea better for women in business than it was 10 years ago?

I believe so.  In most companies there are some women executives, but senior positions are still dominated by men.  However, depending on the industry, women are doing very well. In Korea, women bear a greater share of the burden of looking after children. Therefore, a lot of women in Korea stay at home focusing on that. Once they leave their workplace, it is very hard for them to return to work when their children are old enough.  Better support for working mothers would be necessary to see more women in the workplace.

  • What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I play classical guitar. Classical guitar is different from ordinary guitar. We hold it at a different angle and we play it with a finger-picking style. I’ve been doing that for almost 10 years, and I’m a member of two guitar orchestras. We regularly meet and practise and perform. Our next performance is in October, so I am busy practising hard for that. Also, I like travelling in my spare time.

  • Do you have a favourite place in Seoul to eat? 

Department stores.  I often go to Lotte in Jamsil and The Hyundai in Yeouido. If you go to the basement or the top floor, there are so many choices of foods and desserts. After 7:00 PM, we get a 10 or 20 percent discount on food. That’s a great deal.

  • Now, do you have a Korean word or phrase that you would like to introduce to non-Koreans who live and work in Korea.

Daebak (대박) means that something is excellent or fantastic. It’s a very positive word. It’s not a word you can use in a formal setting, but you know, in an informal setting it is a very useful word. 

Stay tuned for our upcoming interviews and join us as we explore the rich tapestry of experiences that make up our vibrant community. If you are interested in participating in this series, please email Rowan Petz at membership@austchamkorea.org

Interview credit: Jacco Zwetsloot.