Katie Galgano Moran is a full-time MBA Class of 2026 student at Darden and will join McKinsey & Company’s Denver office after graduation. At Darden, she was elected to section leadership, led her section to its first Darden Cup victory in six years, and serves as a Golub Board Fellow with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge, helping develop its three-year strategic plan. She is also active in the Marketing & General Management, Soccer, and Racquet Sports Clubs. Prior to Darden, she worked in government-adjacent nonprofits, leading a leadership fellowship for senior federal civil servants at the Rodel Institute and researching national security issues at the Center for a New American Security. Katie holds a BA in International Studies from Baylor University, where she graduated summa cum laude.
Over spring break, I had the privilege of attending the first Darden Worldwide Course (DWC) for the full-time residential program in South Korea led by Darden faculty member Pnina Feldman. Over seven days in Seoul and Busan, we combined company visits with cultural experiences, deepening my understanding of international business and how Korea’s history and politics shape its business environment.
History and Context as the Foundation
The course kicked off with a visit to the DMZ: the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. This area was created in 1953 to end active fighting between the North and South, with each country retreating 2 kilometers from the border.
We went inside one of the 4 (discovered) tunnels the North created after the 1953 Armistice Agreement and visited an observation tower overlooking North Korea, where heightened tensions have recently led to new restrictions like a photography ban. One of the most emotional stops was the Mangbaedan Altar, created for people separated from their families in the North to honor them during holidays traditionally spent together. It was a powerful experience that brought to life not just history, but the ongoing complexities of the relationship between North and South Korea.
This experience led to one of my biggest takeaways: the extent to which a country’s history and government shape the business environment. The United States’ history is one of fighting for freedom from government control and intervention. Once established, the U.S. had space to expand and (for the most part) friendly neighbors. It is no surprise, then, that the government’s approach to business is very hands-off. The prevailing philosophy is, within guardrails, let businesses compete in the free market, and the best rise to the top, which will benefit U.S. citizens.
South Korea also had to fight for its freedom, though in a very different context. Originally part of the Chinese empire, Korea was then colonized by Japan, and most recently was a battleground for the proxy wars between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Still technically at war with North Korea, South Korea remains geographically isolated, sharing its only land border with an adversary and relying heavily on international allies.
Given this backdrop, it’s not surprising that the South Korean government is more involved in business than the U.S. government. In fact, the South Korean government invests in nearly every business we visited. While the government takes a similarly hand-off approach to dictating strategy and operations, it plays a hands-on role in supporting companies and ensuring they are competitive and recognized globally. Exporting Korean culture through business is not just economic; it is a key tactic to build a strong presence in the international community and maintain security.
How Culture Shapes Business in South Korea
Building on that foundation, we spent time immersed in the South Korean culture, visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace to watch the changing of the guard, exploring local markets on a food tour, and cooking traditional dishes like bibimbap and bulgogi. Being immersed in the customs and history of the country provided helpful background as we transitioned into company visits, highlighting how Korea blends outside influences into a distinct cultural identity rooted in respect.
Our first company visit was with Samsung, where representatives from the Global Strategy Group shared their work and the company’s history. It was striking to learn that Samsung makes up 20% of South Korea’s GDP, highlighting its immense impact on the country. Not only is Samsung essential to South Korea’s economy, but also the everyday lives of citizens. Samsung owns huge apartment buildings; many South Koreans rely on Samsung digital wallets, and the company even operates some hospitals and premium hotels.
We also met with Bernie Cho, founder of DFSB Kollective, who shared insights into the growth of K-Pop and the Korean Wave. What stood out to me most was how the K-Pop business model operates as an ecosystem, with each part reinforcing the others, helping K-Pop become an international sensation. We ended the visit with a K-Pop dance class, a fun way to engage with such a major export of Korean culture.
International Expansion in Practice
We studied international expansion from two perspectives: a South Korean company entering the U.S. market and a U.S. company entering the South Korean market.
What It Takes for a Korean Brand to Win in the U.S.
On the South Korean side, we met with LG’s H&H premium cosmetic brand, The Whoo. Established in 2003, The Whoo is the number one premium luxury cosmetic brand in South Korea, reflecting a long legacy in beauty and skincare. The brand wants to take that success overseas, but has not experienced the level of penetration it hoped. Two of our hosts were Darden alumni and led us through a case study-style session to dive into the challenges of The Whoo’s U.S. penetration, soliciting our thoughts on how to adjust their strategy. I was pleasantly surprised that the team was genuinely interested in our perspective and keen on using our visit to gather impressions and feedback from people in their target country, even if not quite in their target segment.
I left the discussion with a few major takeaways that apply to business in general but are particularly important when expanding internationally. First, know the priorities of your target market. South Korean customers care about specific ingredients, and they are patient when it comes to results, while American customers care more about the science behind the product rather than the specific ingredients and expect fast results. While The Whoo meets all these needs, its marketing strategy must shift depending on the market.
Second, don’t make assumptions about customer knowledge or take it for granted. The Whoo emphasizes the use of ginseng, which is a popular ingredient in Asia but not known or understood by U.S. customers. Because it is so ingrained in the Korean culture, The Whoo overestimated its relevance as a selling point to the U.S. market and underestimated the education required for Western customers to value it.
Finally, the appropriate distribution channels depend on both your product and the market. The Whoo sells direct-to consumer (DTC) through its own website, which may be effective in South Korea, where it is a well-known brand, but is much more difficult in the U.S. where it’s a scarcely known premium-priced product. When choosing a new cosmetic item, many U.S. customers want to talk to experts and test the product, neither of which is possible through a DTC website.
Why Costco Thrived Where Others Failed in South Korea
On the U.S. side, we visited Costco. While many Western grocery stores have failed to enter the Asian market, Costco has seen remarkable success. This is surprising because at first glance, the Costco model of massive warehouses with bulk products doesn’t seem to fit with the Asian market. Unlike the U.S., where many people live in houses with plenty of storage, 65% of South Koreans live in apartments with little storage space. In this context, one would expect that buying in bulk is not desirable, yet customers make it work by purchasing with friends and families and splitting the packages.
In breaking down why Costco was successful, our host emphasized two things. First, when pursuing growth, don’t forget why the company was successful in the first place and avoid straying too far from that. It would have been easy for Costco to cater to the Korean market and change their bulk sales method. Instead, they understood that bulk allowed them to offer value to the customer, something people everywhere understand and desire. What was less important to their success was the exact products they offered, so they adjusted the products to meet local tastes and demand.
Second, the speaker discussed the importance of not losing your company’s identity while adapting to the local culture. South Korean culture emphasizes hard work, which can mean long hours. Costco encourages work-life balance. Costco’s South Korea locations blended the two by rewarding disciplined work while in the office but enforcing specific and reasonable work hours.
We experienced this second point in a very fun way on our food tour. Taking us through a local food market, our guide balanced introducing us to traditional and popular Korean foods and responding to our tastes and interests. When the group was hesitant to try fish cakes, our guide re-routed and bought tteok rice cakes instead. By adapting to meet our tastes, the guide kept us engaged and more likely to speak positively about Korean food, but by still offering traditional food, she also ensured that we received an experience authentic to South Korea.
Business and Innovation Beyond Seoul
As we transitioned to Busan, we saw these themes played out across different industries and settings.
Busan, South Korea’s major port city, felt immediately different from Seoul. We spent a day exploring two famous areas of the city, starting with the Jagalchi fish market, where shop after shop sells live fish that is cut onsite for an incredibly fresh (and noticeably chewier) meal. Later, we walked through Gamcheon Culture Village—the “rainbow village”—a once-poor area transformed into a vibrant art hub, filled with colorful homes and street art overlooking the city. The next days we also visited Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, called the most beautiful temple in Korea, as well as rode in a capsule overlooking the ocean and city.
On the company side, we visited the largest auto manufacturing plant in the world, Hyundai’s Ulsan plant, which spans the equivalent of 700 soccer fields. We toured the plant and walked through the assembly factory, seeing firsthand how the process unfolded in front of us, from assembling to loading cars onto ships at its on-site port. It was incredible to see concepts we’ve studied at Darden in action, especially the balance of automation and human labor, minimizing wasted time, leading to the great efficiency of producing a car every minute.
The Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone (BJFEZ) is one of South Korea’s nine free economic zones and the only one with access to ports, airports, highways, and railways. This unique “Quattro-port” system makes it a hub for logistics companies and an attractive location for global investment, including Microsoft’s recent AI data center, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges of growth in emerging industries.
Our final company visit was with the Busan International Short Film Festival (BISFF). Started in 1980 as a Korean-only film festival, it’s the longest-running film festival in South Korea, which aims to foster filmmaking and showcase the work of producers with strong support from the local government. The festival receives nearly 6,000 submissions and includes programs like Operation Kino, which supports student filmmakers. Despite this scale, it operates with only one full-time employee, raising questions about how much more it could advance its mission with a more rigorous business approach.
Final Thoughts
I am incredibly grateful for my DWC to South Korea. Being on the ground and meeting with company leadership provided a depth of understanding that classroom studies could never offer. I feel more prepared for work in international endeavors and my career aspirations have certainly broadened thanks to this experience.
After returning, I find myself reflecting on a few recurring themes, particularly the role of government investment in nearly every industry and the reach of chaebol companies across everyday life. History also felt like a constant presence, shaping how South Korea approaches growth, global relationships, and its identity.
Finally, the idea of “glocalization” continues to stand out – the need to balance adapting to a new market while maintaining a company’s core identity remains essential for any company looking to expand internationally.
