This study analyzes the “gapjil” culture recurrently observed in Korean society not as a matter of individual personality or ethical deviance, but as a communicative structure in which social power asymmetry is enacted and reproduced through language. While previous studies have approached gapjil primarily at the institutional, legal, and ethical levels, this study focuses on the linguistic forms through which gapjil is realized in actual interaction. To this end, this study provides a macro-level review of the background and major situational contexts in which the gapjil language arises, centering on social settings where the hierarchy operates strongly, such as workplaces, the military, and schools, and qualitatively analyzes recurring types of linguistic expressions, including unreasonable task imposition, responsibility shifting, standard shifting, and implicit coercion of obedience. The analysis shows that gapjil operates less through explicit commands than through the shifting of responsibility, fluidization of standards, and naturalization of obedience, confirming that it is not a problem of individuals’ communicative competence, but a discourse pattern activated by structural conditions. This study suggests that resolving the gapjil culture requires, beyond improving individual ethics, redesigning communication structures and evaluation systems and it repositions how power relations operate through language from a sociolinguistic perspective.

Power asymmetry in highly concentrated retail markets is an unavoidable consequence within supplier-retailer relationships. This paper investigates the existence of power asymmetry in an Australian context and outlines the impacts on the industry. A documentary analysis was undertaken using documents from three major investigations into the grocery retail sector in recent years. These documents allowed us to gain insights into the industry using reports submissions and transcripts of public hearings. In addition in-depth interviews were carried out with suppliers of the two major supermarket chains. Combining these two approaches provided rich data. This paper contributes to the literature on power in supply channels. The findings support the existence of power asymmetry across many product categories but contrary to other studies find that the major supermarket chains are not averse to exerting coercive power for their own benefit. We find that the highly concentrated nature of the grocery retail market sees the power imbalance exaggerated in this context. We conclude that power asymmetry in the short-term is benefitting consumers but the long-term impacts on the supply chain may be detrimental to the food industry in Australia if nothing is done to curb the market power of the two major supermarkets chains.