Korea is a homogeneous country, speaking a single language, with a great sense of pride in its nation and its ancestors. Korean culture is very foreign to that of Western society. Korean business culture is difficult for Americans to decipher. There are websites such as Korea4expats, koreanzbc, and even studies at universities like Miami have investigated these significant differences in company culture. The biggest opportunity for American companies with Korean companies is to move away from their direct approach and understand the underlying tones and nonverbal behaviors of Korea (Korea4expats, 2012). International businesses interacting with Korea need to understand the difference in Korea's culturally defined communication practices. American business practices are a low-context culture, where we put a lot of emphasis on words. Korea is a high-context culture, where emphasis is placed on nonverbal messages. There are three Korean cultural practices that differ greatly in its communication with Americans: Kibun, Nunchi, and Inwha. These cultural aspects rely largely on nonverbal cues. Generally speaking, nonverbal language is understandable in different cultures, but in international businesses, these subtle differences can hurt or boost business. ET Hall's contextual continuum correlates with a nation's reliance on the nonverbal. “Low-context cultures, such as those in North America, rely less on the environment of a situation to convey meaning than do high-context cultures, such as Korea” (Guffey, 2010). In low-context cultures, words are taken literally. It is very important in American business to fully communicate and verbally inform colleagues. However, in high-context Korean culture, it is "assumed that the auditor is already...... middle of paper......", International Business: The New Realities, 3rd ed. (pp. 81-107). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc. Guffey, M.E. (2010). The essentials of business communication. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning. Kim, Y. (October 21, 1998). Doing business in Korea. Accessed September 14, 2013 from Angelfire: http://www.angelfire.com/nd/youngkim/adddoingbiz.htmlKorea4expats. (August 21, 2012). Kibun, Nunchi, Inwa, Harmony. Retrieved September 15, 2013 from Korea4expats: http://www.korea4expats.com/article-nunchi-kibun-values-norms-korea.html Lee, CY (October 2012). Korean culture and its influence on business practices. Retrieved September 15, 2013 from Jims Journal: http://www.jimsjournal.org/21%20Choong%20Y.%20Lee.pdfU.S. Korea Connect. (2012). United States-Korea connection. Retrieved November 20, 2013 from Trade Works: http://www.uskoreaconnect.org/pdfs/trade-works.pdf