What Brought Tom Coyner to E. Asia?
A Plane
30+ years ago.

How would I describe myself?
An Irish-American guy with some 20 years in East Asia, married 28+ years to a naturalized Korean-American, and fifteen years into my second career as a sales and marketing professional in the computer industry after a decade in international human resources. Currently I'm the President of Soft Landing Korea, a firm that provides channel sales management services to foreign firms in Korea as a means to minimize their risk and exposure. I have worked for US firms in Korea and Japan; and I have worked for Japanese companies in the US. By accident as much as by choice, I have always worked in international business environments. Anyway you cut it, I'm ultimately a sales professional who enjoys selling to those of various cultures.  I am now president of my own channel sales management firm, 

During my time in Japan, I have held several positions including twice serving as president of the International Computer Association (ICA), chaired The ATM Forum's Asia Pacific Market Awareness Committee.  I am now member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)  Seoul Monthly Meeting where I serve as web master.  I am known as "LeperCon" among the Seoul Hash House Harriers where I serve as Grand Master and am a co-founder of Seoul Toastmasters as featured in Newsweek magazine.  I am also a vice president of Seoul Rotary Club, Korea's original of some 1,000 Rotary clubs.  Finally, I am the chair of the Seoul St. Patrick's Weekend Committee that planned and executed during the past four years the St. Patrick's Day parades in Seoul that started out with three days of craic during March 15~17, 2002 with a week-long festival the following year for some three thousand people.

I have a BA in Japanese Literature/E. Asian Studies from the University of Colorado, including 2 years study at Waseda University, Tokyo - where I had a few laughs along the way.

Showa 47 no Shogatsu (Jan. '72), just outside of Waseda
(that's me on the LEFT) 

I spent 2 years studying human resources management at the University of California, Los Angeles and later earned an IBEAR MBA in international management from the University of Southern California. Education of another sort was serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Korean countryside for 2 years (as depicted at the right) before joining The Chase Manhattan Bank in Seoul for another 2 years.

(Okay, so it wasn't all hardship...)

A native of Central Oregon (<-that's me in the back), I spent the first half of my life living primarily near Portland (Beaverton) as well as went to high school in San Mateo, California and Bellevue, Washington. On average I have moved once every 18 months since I was 16 years old until 7 years ago when we moved to the Suginami suburbs of Tokyo. Most recently my company has relocated to me Seoul where I have found housing in the northern part of the old capital surrounded by century-old houses and various cultural monuments.  Current interests and hobbies include history of all sorts, travel whenever possible, personal computing, Celtic (particularly partial to Irish) culture, blues and jazz, digital photography, Hash House Harriers nonsense, Quakerism and at times aggressive surfing of the Internet.

Newspaper Articles About Myself

American Spreads the Word on Ham Sok-hon - Interview of this site's webmaster, Korea Times, April 23, 2001
Gukjae Mudae Seomyeon "Mal Mot Haneun" Undong Ga Moyeora - Interview of this site's webmaster, Citizen's Newspaper, Sept. 17, 2001,  (Korean language PDF file)

The Toughest Job They Ever Loved - Korea Herald April 19, 2002 - Article on Tom Coyner and other former Peace Corp Volunteers in Korea

The Search Goes On -  JoongAng Daily, May 10, 2002 - Article on Quakerism in Korea with coverage of Tom Coyner

Partying with the Koreans of the West - Korea, JoonAng Daily, March 11, 2004 - Overview of Tom's organized event, the fourth annual Irish Festival in Seoul 

"게일릭축구등 아일랜드 문화 알리고 싶어요" - 코이너 한국아일랜드협회장 - Chosun Ilbo, Sept. 12, 2004 (Korean language) article on Tom's role in promoting Irish culture in Korea.

Consultant Offers Advice for Making Soft Landing in Korea  - Tom Coyner, president of Soft Landing Korea, believes South Korea is the best spot for foreign firms wanting to break into Northeast Asia, Korea Times, Jan. 10, 2006

      

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