"Mandatory Team Dinners, Learning Golf... What's Wrong with Getting Promoted Like This?"

Workplace 'Kkondae' Controversy Continues

The reactions of netizens are divided over a post by an office worker who claimed that attending company dinners frequently and impressing superiors led to a faster promotion. Comments ranged from calling it "mastering office life" to saying it is "not the right direction."

On the 3rd, an anonymous post titled "Female employees' social life, am I a Kkondae?" was uploaded on the office worker community Blind. The author, identified as A, was shown to be affiliated with Samsung Electronics.

A said, "Other colleagues in the team were left out of promotions, but I was promoted two years earlier than my peers," and added, "Our team members don't really like company dinners, but executives do, so there are frequent dinners. Attendance is voluntary, but lower-ranking employees attend regularly thinking about promotion."

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He emphasized his efforts, saying, "Men attend every time, women come occasionally but don't drink alcohol," and "I also learned golf and played rounds together."

Regarding promotion, he mentioned, "I saw some women talk as if there was a glass ceiling. But isn't company dinner a basic part of social life? It's natural to impress superiors to get promoted or secure better tasks, but they don't do that and call it a glass ceiling."

He continued, "With the support of the team leader and group leader, my work performance naturally stands out. I secured opportunities by emphasizing at the drinking parties that I wanted to take on big projects and work hard."

A asked if his behavior made him a "Kkondae," and responses were mixed.

Netizens commented, "Since superiors are human, they want to give opportunities to those who treat them well," "Company dinners should be seen as part of the interview," and "Not a Kkondae, but mastering social and office life."

Some expressed doubts about whether A's approach was the right way. Some pointed out, "I don't know if attending dinners and playing golf together really helps with promotion," "I don't think it's the right direction," and "It happened outside of work duties."

In particular, one netizen criticized, "This kind of culture should disappear socially. In the end, this is an evaluation based on behavior outside of work hours, and if this is considered normal, then unpaid overtime and early arrivals will also become accepted."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.