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Korean office drama words: titles and phrases
Workplace K-dramas run on job titles. Characters rarely use names at work, so the title tells you rank, distance and sometimes tension in a single word. Here are the titles in rough order, the rule for adding 님, and the phrases you hear every day in a Korean office.
Workplace romances such as What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (2018) and Business Proposal (2022) take place largely inside one company, so job titles come up in almost every scene.
1. Job titles, from the top down
Companies differ, but this order is a good mental map. In dramas, the young male lead is often a 본부장, 실장 or 부회장; the female lead often starts as a 비서, 사원 or 인턴.
| Korean | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 회장 | chairman | Top of the group. |
| 사장 | president / CEO | Runs one company. |
| 부사장 · 전무 · 상무 | vice-president · senior managing director · managing director | Executive ranks. |
| 본부장 | division head | Leads a whole division. |
| 실장 | director, office chief | Heads an office or 실. |
| 부장 · 차장 · 과장 | general manager · deputy GM · manager | Middle management. |
| 팀장 | team leader | Very common in modern offices. |
| 대리 | assistant manager | A few years in. |
| 사원 · 인턴 | staff · intern | Entry level. |
| 비서 | assistant, secretary | Outside the ladder; status follows the boss. |
2. Add 님 when you speak up the ladder
When you address someone above you, add 님: 팀장님, 과장님, 본부장님. Leaving it off sounds like you are talking about the person, not to them — or that you are deliberately being rude.
Bosses talking down often use the bare title, sometimes with a surname: "과장, 이리 와 봐." In a modern drama that bluntness usually marks an old-fashioned or unpleasant boss.
| Korean | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 팀장님, 잠깐 시간 괜찮으세요? | Team leader, do you have a moment? | Title + 님 + honorific question. |
| 대리님, 이것 좀 봐 주세요. | Could you look at this? | Even a 대리 gets 님 from a junior. |
3. Phrases you hear every day
A handful of fixed phrases carry office life in dramas. They are worth learning as whole chunks.
| Korean | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 수고하셨습니다. | Thanks for your hard work. | Said when leaving or after a task. |
| 먼저 들어가 보겠습니다. | I'll be heading off first. | Leaving before others. |
| 결재 부탁드립니다. | Please approve this. | 결재 = sign-off by a superior. |
| 오늘 야근이에요. | I'm working late today. | 야근 = overtime at night. |
| 이번 주 금요일에 회식 있어요. | There's a team dinner this Friday. | 회식 = after-work team dinner. |
4. Reports and meetings use hapsyo
In meetings and formal reports, even friendly coworkers switch to -습니다. If two characters who were chatting in haeyo suddenly go formal, check whether a superior just walked in.
A secretary's schedule briefing is the classic example: a list of times and events, each ending in -습니다 or -입니다.
| Korean | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 오전 9시에 임원 회의가 있습니다. | There is an executive meeting at 9 a.m. | Briefing style. |
| 보고 드리겠습니다. | I will report now. | Humble 드리다. |
Practise it in a scene
Hear these patterns in short original scenes, with a note on every line.
Examples are original sentences written with AI assistance.