In my experience, Korean workplaces have lots of red tape and require paperwork for many actions workers take. They collect evidence and trails for employees’ work, spending, trips, and work-related conversations. This record and evidence keeping is even more common for governments and universities where you have to submit a ton of paperwork and get approved if you want to get anything done. This isn’t a necessarily bad thing. It promotes transparency in operation and may increase work efficiency if well managed. But it can become a burden for workers and a mechanism of control by companies and governments. It is also a sign that society lacks trust.

When I was teaching in Korea, I had to submit evidence every semester that the class was conducted in English. The schools asked me to take photos of the students’ handwritten exam answers and record student presentations and submit them for approval. If you ever miss a class, then you have to prepare a make-up plan and get approval. And for everything, you have to fill out standardized forms. Even........

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