I was eating dinner after work when my phone rang. It was a KakaoTalk message from my boss. "Can you come in an hour early tomorrow?" A foreign student showed me this message and asked me a question. "It's not even an email, so why KakaoTalk?" ## At the Door: Your Invitation Is Your Phone Number In Korea, almost everyone uses KakaoTalk. If you know someone's phone number, you can reach them right away, so it's much easier than using a company email address. That's why, before your first day of work, a message saying "Please join the group chat" comes first. This chat room is the door to the office. ## When you step in: notices are posted on the wall When you enter the room, photos of the work schedule, announcements, and words from the boss are piled up. It's like an office bulletin board. The small number '1' next to a message is the number of people who haven't read it yet. It disappears once I read it, and the sender can see right away that I've read it. ## Inside: The lights stay on even on days off Small shops and part-time jobs often don't have a separate office. So the group chat is the office, and its door is always open, so to speak. On top of that, the idea that replying quickly shows you're diligent still lingers in Korean workplaces. The sender doesn't mean any harm; they just want to decide quickly. Still, these days there's a lot of talk about cutting down on contact outside working hours. If it's not urgent, it's fine to politely reply, "I'll check tomorrow morning." That's much better than reading it and saying nothing. For the exact rules, check with the Ministry of Employment and Labor counseling center (1350).