"...within Korean culture, these would have been perfectly-acceptable declarations that would be accepted at face value. However, making these statements to a Western audience, and our reaction to them, shows that NCSoft completely misread its audience...."
So in plain language (and at the risk of offending the PC Police yet again,) you're saying that Koreans are accustomed to being lied to by rich douchebags. Yeah, that's pretty much what I got from "Gangnam Style" too. This has been quite an education. At least now I can cogently explain why I like the Japanese so much more.
To you and I, yes, it comes off as "rich jerks lying." It's one reason I can't stand role-playing in asian-culture-based games; the way they think is alien enough to offend my own sensibilities. (Not "I hate Asians for thinking that way," but "I hate trying to think that way and have an innate annoyance when forced to deal with it.") Still, it is very useful to understand it.
To Korean cultural mindset, it's better to tell a face-saving white lie. It's better
for all involved. This is because that face-saving white lie allows all involved to maintain the illusion of comity, of
kibun. The "realignment" and "exhausted all options" lines would be
expected to be understood for their true meaning, but give a way for the "losing" side (in this case, us) to preserve their own public harmony by accepting that all that could be done was tried and moving on, while preserving the harmony of the side with the power to make the decision by allowing them to not have to state flatly that they don't want to cooperate.
I'm sure there are proper
kibun-preserving methods to protest. It is a
kibun-restoring act, when pushed too far, to suddenly and loudly explode in what Americans would call a violent tantrum. To us, that's the tantrum-thrower losing all dignity, but to Korean culture, that's restoring harmony when it has been lost. No, I don't quite grasp the logic. I think being forced into such a display is one of the greatest ways to shame those who've put you in that position, however, as it means they failed so hard to read your subtle cues that your
kibun was being repeatedly disrupted that you had no means of preserving it further.
In a sense, that's what we're doing, from their mindset. They are watching a frighteningly polite but determined...and increasingly angry (but still, mostly,
polite)...
sector of their target market (at least, the market they claim to target) throw an ongoing and ever-amplifying tantrum. And it's becoming more dedicated and more organized. This is why remaining organized and turning the volume up with each passing deadline in
their schedule is so important. They keep expecting it to die down, to go away, and for harmony to be restored. Sure, at this point, they've taken a mild hit to their Face because they failed to anticipate this and each effort they've made to smooth it over has only made the backlash worse. This displays a lack of management-worthy
nunchi, which, as it becomes more public knowledge, increasingly shames
and calls into question the worthiness of those making the decisions.
That each effort they make only provokes a more organized and angrier response demonstrates they cannot manage people, that they cannot understand those they purport to serve, and that they lack the culturally-expected ability to maintain
kibun. That it remains polite helps us
here to avoid being dismissed, which means we can get greater publicity. That it is organized and directed is
confusing to the Korean cultural mindset, because "organized" and "tantrum" don't really go together. This destabilizes NCSoft's management still more, as their attempts to mollify with simple
kibun-preserving pap have failed and they know culturally that we're attempting to restore our
kibun, but we're doing it in a way that is continually amplifying their failure of
nunchi.
From an a-cultural perspective, we are hoping we're also doing some harm, financially, but revealing to their stockholders just how poorly they're managing their company and their interests overseas, and just how hazardous their refocusing on Asia is due to shrinking their company when it should be growing. In this way, we hit them where it hurts even those whose appreciation for
kibun is merely for show.
