An international student asked me before his first day of work. "My manager's name is Minsu. Can I just call him Minsu?" In Korea, people usually don't do that. ## Outside Korea In many countries, people call each other by their first names at work. Both the boss and senior coworkers are called "Minsu." It gives a sense that you work side by side, and you can talk comfortably with each other. ## In Korea In Korean workplaces, people call each other by job title instead of by name. You add "님" after the title, as in 점장님 or 팀장님. In Korean, the way you end a sentence changes depending on the other person's position. You have to decide whether to use "해요" or "합니다," but if you only use someone's name, there's no guide. So a job title becomes a signal for how you should speak. For a coworker without a title, you add "-ssi" after their name. Like "Minsu-ssi." Be careful with "Kim-ssi," using only the family name, because it can sound like you're talking down to someone. For a peer who started working before you, you call them "seonbaenim." ## On Your First Day of Work Try saying this. "Hello, I'm ○○○, and I'm starting work today. I look forward to working with you." If you're not sure what to call them, you can ask, "May I call you Manager?" That's a perfectly good thing to ask. Korean people find this kind of question polite. Even if a senior says, "Feel free to call me whatever you like," it's safest to add "-nim" to their title at first.