I moved from Seoul to New York earlier this year and now split my time between the two cities. After a few months of [my] being in the United States, it felt important for the team to get together and reconnect.
South Korea is 70 percent mountainous, so hiking and camping are a huge part of the lifestyle. Half of the country’s population lives in and around Seoul, which can feel even faster paced than New York. People need a break. We’ve been working a lot of late nights, so this was a good way for us to spend time together outside of the office. We drove about 90 minutes from our studio in Itaewon, in central Seoul, to a rural area at the base of a small mountain, but we couldn’t hike too far into the hills, because we were carrying so much food.
We spent the evening barbecuing and drinking. It was the first time we all drank together, which is typically the way co-workers bond in Korea. We’re already planning our next trip.
The attendees: Terrence Kim, 35, brought Dahyun Oh, 26; MinSeung Kwak, 27; Sue Suh, 33; Justice Jersak, 29; Hyun Don Joo, 25; and Jungyeon Lee, 24, all of whom are on the design and marketing teams at Iise, the fashion line Kim started in 2015 with his brother, Kevin, the brand’s creative director.
The food: Though Kim supplied hot dogs and nachos, the main course was Korean barbecue with several cuts of pork. The group also ate tteokbokki (“spicy, chewy, addictive” rice cakes, as Kim describes them), kimchi fried rice and seafood soups that pair well with soju tonic cocktails. “It was reminiscent of my family’s Thanksgiving meals growing up in New Jersey, New York and California, which were a mix of Korean and American staples,” says Kim.
The music: They started with classic Korean R&B (G.o.d., Kim Gun-mo) and then put on the soundtrack from the 2000 movie “High Fidelity,” which includes tracks by the Beta Band, Elvis Costello and Aretha Franklin. The night ended with live NPR “Tiny Desk” sets (Ty Dolla Sign, Usher) and ’90s hip-hop (Warren G, the Notorious B.I.G.).
Favorite party game: In each round of Mafia, a role-playing game that Kim’s co-workers suggested, the “Mafioso” or “Mafiosi” choose one victim to kill; the “doctor” saves one person they believe the mobsters will target; and the “police officer” gets one stab at guessing who the criminals are — which only the host and the criminals know. The objective is to test one another’s deductive reasoning skills. “Everyone does what they can to survive,” says Kim. “It was interesting to see the conniving side of my employees.”
This interview has been edited and condensed.
