{"id":885,"date":"2026-07-26T00:12:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T00:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridgingculture.com\/?page_id=885"},"modified":"2026-07-26T00:12:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T00:12:34","slug":"don-southerton","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.bridgingculture.com\/?page_id=885","title":{"rendered":"Don Southerton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Korea Business Advisor to C-Suite Leaders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don Southerton is the founder and CEO of Bridging Culture Worldwide, with more than 30 years advising on Korean Peninsula business, cross-border ventures, and international corporate practices. He is a recognized expert on Korean business culture, ownership and control structures, and the relationship between commercial entities and the Korean state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He advises top Korea-based global corporations and major Western firms with Korean ventures, working directly with executives on market entry, partnership structuring, foreign direct investment, trade and tariff strategy, crisis management, and government affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In the Media<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don is frequently cited on Korean business and the Korean economy by The Economist, Bloomberg TV, BBC World News, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, Yonhap, and The Korea Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Branding in Asia, contributing author: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brandinginasia.com\/author\/don-southerton\/\">brandinginasia.com<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Korea Times, on Hyundai Motor Group: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.koreatimes.co.kr\/www\/tech\/2024\/03\/129_361625.html\">koreatimes.co.kr<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CNBC, on Korean chaebol culture: <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1Q5DWqV7Myw\">video<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don is the author of <em>The Hyundai Way<\/em>, an inside look at the culture, leadership, and strategy that built a global automaker, covering the work-funneling model, the chaebol timeline, and the five transformation vectors reshaping Hyundai\u2019s next decade. Available in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0GRPDFVNF\">The Hyundai Way on Amazon<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/stores\/Donald-Southerton\/author\/B008DF882G\">Amazon author page<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Daily Korea-US Intelligence Briefing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don publishes a weekday Korea-US intelligence briefing read by executives across the automotive, technology, energy, and legal sectors, plus a Saturday global review and a Sunday week in review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/donsoutherton.substack.com\/\">Read the briefing<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/newsletters\/korea-facing-2024-7016052268013678592\/\">LinkedIn newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don holds a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Colorado, with postgraduate studies at UC San Diego, USC, and UCLA. He is engaged in ongoing study of Transactional Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, with emphasis on trade, technology, intellectual property, international relations, and government affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A former United States Military Academy coach and a lifetime martial artist and master instructor, he lives in Golden, Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Work With Don<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Confidential strategy engagements, C-suite briefings, board presentations, and executive workshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Text or call <strong>310-866-3777<\/strong>, or request a private briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@type\": \"Person\",\n  \"@id\": \"https:\/\/bridgingculture.com\/don-southerton#person\",\n  \"name\": \"Don Southerton\",\n  \"alternateName\": \"Donald Southerton\",\n  \"url\": \"https:\/\/bridgingculture.com\/don-southerton\",\n  \"image\": \"https:\/\/bridgingculture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_8379-1.jpg\",\n  \"jobTitle\": \"Founder and Chief Executive Officer\",\n  \"worksFor\": {\n    \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n    \"name\": \"Bridging Culture Worldwide LLC\",\n    \"url\": \"https:\/\/bridgingculture.com\/\"\n  },\n  \"description\": \"Korea business advisor with more than 30 years counseling C-suite leaders on market entry, partnership structuring, foreign direct investment, and trade strategy.\",\n  \"knowsAbout\": [\"Korean business culture\",\"Chaebol structure and governance\",\"Korea market entry\",\"Korea-US trade and tariffs\",\"Foreign direct investment in Korea\",\"Hyundai Motor Group\"],\n  \"alumniOf\": [\n    {\"@type\":\"CollegeOrUniversity\",\"name\":\"University of Colorado\"},\n    {\"@type\":\"CollegeOrUniversity\",\"name\":\"University of Southern California\"}\n  ],\n  \"address\": {\"@type\":\"PostalAddress\",\"addressLocality\":\"Golden\",\"addressRegion\":\"CO\",\"addressCountry\":\"US\"},\n  \"telephone\": \"+1-310-866-3777\",\n  \"sameAs\": [\n    \"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/donsoutherton\/\",\n    \"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dsoutherton\",\n    \"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/stores\/Donald-Southerton\/author\/B008DF882G\",\n    \"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/DonSoutherton\",\n    \"https:\/\/donsoutherton.substack.com\/\",\n    \"https:\/\/medium.com\/@donsoutherton\",\n    \"https:\/\/bridgingculturekorea.blogspot.com\/\"\n  ]\n}\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Korea Business Advisor to C-Suite Leaders Don Southerton is the founder and CEO of Bridging Culture Worldwide, with more than 30 years advising on Korean Peninsula business, cross-border ventures, and international corporate practices. He is a recognized expert on Korean business culture, ownership and control structures, and the relationship between commercial entities and the Korean [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-885","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Don Southerton | Korea Business Advisor and Author<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Korea business advisor with 30 years counseling C-suite leaders on market entry, partnerships, and trade. Cited in The Economist, Bloomberg, and the WSJ.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.bridgingculture.com\/?page_id=885\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don Southerton | Korea Business Advisor and Author\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Korea business advisor with 30 years counseling C-suite leaders on market entry, partnerships, and trade. 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