I am a Southeast Asian working in an NGO in South Korea. We are a very small NGO with only seven staff in total– I am the only foreigner. A junior staff (female) was assigned to work with me by my boss. I did not select her during the recruitment process (though I was involved in the process from start to finish), but for some reason my boss decided to hire her.
During the “meet and greet” / contract signing day, she brought along her parents (whom we’ve met also). After the contract signing, they stayed along for some customary get-to-know-each-other talks (of course, they were the only ones talking in Korean– I don’t understand a thing). As courtesy, I stayed at the table without saying a word. When my boss introduced me to my supposed subordinate and to her mother (the father went out to smoke), she suddenly just blurted out to me “why so serious!!”. I was caught off guard and was not able to speak a word, while everyone laughed. I found that gesture disrespectful because you’re not supposed to talk that way to your immediate supervisor, especially when you have not even officially started your work.
Two years has passed, when my boss instructs her to do something (which often, I am also not aware of because they talk in Korean), she never tells me about these. So, in reality, instead of a vertical hierarchy, she became my co-equal with respect to the organizational structure on paper. There is strong nepotism: my boss gives her special and preferential treatment. This setup started to clearly manifest after my boss informed me about “my subordinate’s” personal background.
My boss found out that the junior staff’s family owns a very large tract of farmland and supplies fruits and vegetables to Homeplus, Emart and other local supermarkets. She took up a double bachelor’s degree in a private university in Seoul and was financially capable of studying in a prominent university in the US for her master’s degree. Her daily getup undeniably shows her wealth– flaunting signature brands in the office (thank you, Daddy).
Part of NGO work is doing fieldwork (just within the city). A couple of times, especially during summer, when she feels tired by lunch time, she just asks for permission from my boss “Can I go home now because I feel so tired?”. Other similar instances, she simply files an office leave “Can I take a day off because I feel fatigued?” or “Can I not join you in the fieldwork because I feel tired?”, etc, etc. All these happened while all others endured the “harsh” conditions because these were part of our jobs. In the middle of one meeting in Europe, I noticed that she was sleeping with her mouth wide open in front of meeting partners. Yes, there is jet lag; but, you get the chance to sleep after work and when you return to the hotel. To the eyes of my boss, she never does anything wrong. It was so easy for her to always get a free pass from my boss.
To top everything, this lady never respects me. Eventually, I found out that the laborers of their family’s farm are also Southeast Asians. Foreigners are usually hired here in Korea to do the 3Ds: dirty, difficult and dangerous. It is safe to assume that she looks down on me because of my nationality, even if I am 20 years older than her with lots of international work experience (this is just her first job!). She is the youngest staff member in the office, and yet, she walks around as if she owns the place, enjoying the protection of the big boss. Nobody wants to go against the boss. I have been constantly looking for a new job and once I get accepted, I will never have any second thoughts of leaving this godforsaken organization!
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