The new 'hoesik' wears running shoes

The useful part

A junior employee would glance at the clock, wait to hear where the team was going and then calculate the journey home. That was the reality of "hoesik" for many Korean workers — an obligatory meal together that could take ownership of an evening. Colleagues drank together in the name of building trust, while the person who went home early risked looking unfriendly or uncommitted.

How it works

• For some people, those dinners led to friendships that lasted long after they changed workplaces.
• Others remember watching the hours pass while thinking about the next morning's commute.
• You paid attention to where you sat, when you raised your glass and whether your supervisor was ready to leave.
• A team dinner no longer has quite the same claim on everyone's evening and more people are willi

Details worth keeping

The hardest part of a company dinner used to come before the meal. The invitation might sound casual but saying no was not ok. Even conversation could feel like part of the job.