8 Korean phrases to get through the company dinner (회식)
The 회식 is where a Korean team actually gets to know each other, and it has rules that nobody writes down: who pours for whom, which way to turn when you drink, and how to leave before midnight without it being noticed. Most of them can be handled with a handful of fixed sentences.
The eight below use polite 요 speech or the formal -ㅂ니다 ending, because at a 회식 you are speaking to your seniors even when the mood is loose. The notes cover the gestures that go with the words, which matter nearly as much.
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오늘 회식 있어요?
oneul hoesik isseoyo?
Is there a team dinner tonight?
회식 (hoesik) is the after-work dinner with the team, often announced the same afternoon. Attendance is officially optional and socially expected, though younger offices have loosened a great deal.
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한 잔 받으세요.
han jan badeuseyo.
Let me pour you a drink.
Literally: Please receive a glass.
You pour for others and never for yourself; someone will fill your glass in return. Pour for a senior with two hands, or one hand on your forearm, and when they pour for you, turn slightly away to drink the first sip.
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위하여.
wihayeo.
To us. / Cheers.
Literally: For (the sake of).
The toast the boss gives after a short speech, with 건배 (geonbae) as the plainer alternative. 짠 (jjan) is the casual clink among friends. All of them come with glasses raised slightly lower than the most senior person's.
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저는 술을 잘 못 마셔요.
jeoneun sureul jal mot masyeoyo.
I can't really drink.
The polite brake. Say it early and nobody will think less of you; say it after three rounds and it is harder to sell. Leaving your glass full is itself a signal, because an empty glass gets refilled.
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오늘은 운전해야 돼서요.
oneureun unjeonhaeya dwaeseoyo.
I have to drive tonight.
The one excuse nobody argues with; Korea takes drink-driving very seriously. The trailing -서요 (because) leaves the sentence politely unfinished, which is how Koreans decline without saying no.
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사이다로 할게요.
saidaro halgeyo.
I'll have a soda.
사이다 is clear lemon-lime soda, and it is the standard non-alcoholic glass at a 회식 so you still have something to raise. 콜라 works too. -(으)로 할게요 is 'I'll go with'.
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2차 가요?
icha gayo?
Are we going on to round two?
A 회식 moves in numbered rounds: 1차 (ilcha) dinner, 2차 a bar, 3차 노래방 (karaoke). Asking is fine, and so is quietly bowing out at the transition between rounds, which is the natural exit point.
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저 먼저 들어가 보겠습니다.
jeo meonjeo deureoga bogesseumnida.
I'll head home first.
Say it to the most senior person present, with a small bow, ideally with a reason: 내일 아침 일찍 출근해야 돼서요 (I have to be in early tomorrow). Then 잘 먹었습니다 (jal meogeosseumnida, thank you for the meal) to whoever paid.
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The single most useful thing to know is that a 회식 runs on reciprocity, not pressure: the point of pouring is to be poured for, and the point of the toast is to be seen. Hold your glass with two hands, drink a little, say 잘 먹었습니다 on the way out, and you have done the whole thing right.