Making business English-only, in Korea

Some businesses in Korea have an English-only mandate.

The company plans to adopt English as the sole official language for all its employees in 2012, according to Kim Sung-dae, director of the OCI public relations office.

"The reason behind this is because exports already account for 80 to 90 percent" of sales, Kim told Yonhap.

The move, of course, comes with huge costs for the companies, not just in terms of money but also in time and energy as communications between their employees are often hampered by their poor English skills.

They, however, say it is a price they are willing to pay.

"We are still in the very early stages of the plan and there must be significant amounts of stress placed on our employees," said the official from Korea East-West Power Co.

"The point is to encourage our employees to continue learning until speaking English becomes natural or sort of a habit."