, sometimes (), is a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

concept signifying the subtle art and ability to listen and gauge others' moods. It first appears in the 17th century as ( in ), meaning "eye force/power". In Western culture, could be described as the concept of

emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence (EI), also known as emotional quotient (EQ), is the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. High emotional intelligence includes emotional recognition of emotions of the self and others, using ...

. It is of central importance to the dynamics of

interpersonal relationship In social psychology, an interpersonal relation (or interpersonal relationship) describes a social association, connection, or affiliation between two or more people. It overlaps significantly with the concept of social relations, which a ...

s. is literally translated as "eye-measure". is closely related to the broader concept of

paralanguage Paralanguage, also known as vocalics, is a component of meta-communication that may modify meaning, give nuanced meaning, or convey emotion, by using suprasegmental techniques such as prosody, pitch, volume, intonation, etc. It is sometimes d ...

but also relies on an understanding of one's status relative to the person with whom they are interacting. It can be seen as the embodiment of skills necessary to communicate effectively in

high context culture High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

. The concept of can be difficult to grasp for non-Koreans because there is no direct translation into English. One's abundance of , or lack thereof, forms the basis of many common expressions and idioms. For example, a socially clumsy person can be described as (), meaning "absence of ". Writing in the

Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' () is a daily English-language newspaper in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean-language daily. It is the oldest active daily English-language newspaper in South Korea. Since the late 1 ...

, scholar and cultural critic David Tizzard describes the importance of ''nunchi'' in Korean life by contrasting it to

British culture The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by its History of the United Kingdom, combined nations' history, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the individual diverse cultures of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and ...

: "I was raised to stand up straight, look people in the eye, and speak briskly and directly. While that certainly works for the public schools and rugby clubs of England, it’s all a bit different here. You’re meant to listen. To look down. To be slow. And once you get your nunchi sorted, everything else just kind of drops into place. It’s like the whole of society changes and the cold stares suddenly become warm smiles." is briefly defined as the high social sensitivity of Koreans that basically means they are able to ascertain others' moods by being around them and talking to them. They are sensitive to what others say indirectly, because they want to maintain harmony. They sense someone's , a Korean word that relates to mood, current feelings, and the state of mind. Facilitating , encouraging the use of this skill, is expected to result in rich understanding. It is of central importance to the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. With , Koreans are using nonverbal cues to convey emotion and meaning through various means, including voice pitch and volume as well as

intonation Intonation may refer to: *Intonation (linguistics), variation of speaking pitch that is not used to distinguish words *Intonation (music), a musician's realization of pitch accuracy, or the pitch accuracy of a musical instrument *Intonation Music ...

. Because Korea, as with other high-context cultures, caters toward in-groups that have similar experiences and expectations and from which inferences are drawn, many things are left unsaid. The culture does the explaining, in effect. Both and are very difficult concepts for non-Koreans to get the hang of. In Korea, personal relations frequently take precedence over business, which can ultimately help get a new job or help make you earn new friends. In order to be successful, it is vital to establish good, personal relationships based on mutual trust and benefit. Koreans judge this by to get a basic understanding of the individual they just met. Korean business culture is firmly grounded in respectful rapport and in order to establish this, it is essential to have the right introduction to approach the company. Koreans will use to make sure the right approach is being used, often through a mutual friend or acquaintance at the appropriate level. Koreans spend a significant amount of time developing and fostering personal contacts. Therefore, time should be allocated for this process, particularly during the first meeting, which is frequently used to simply establish rapport and build trust. The phrase () refers to someone who is quick-witted, can understand the situation quickly, or has common sense. Another way to say this is (), "to have quick ".

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External links

* *{{cite web , title=The Power of Nunchi , url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608336/the-power-of-nunchi-by-euny-hong/ Interpersonal relationships Korean words and phrases Words and phrases with no direct English translation