When meeting for business in Korea and exchanging name cards for the first time, there's an etiquette. What makes a good impression?

Exchanging cards with both hands and pausing to look at it signals respect for the other person's name and position rather than treating the card as disposable paper. In Korean business culture the card represents the person, so handling it carefully — reading it, keeping it visible on the table during the meeting — shows you value the relationship being formed.

Tossing a card over with one hand feels careless and dismissive, treating the exchange as mere formality. Crumpling it into a pocket immediately is even worse, since it can be read as disrespect toward the giver's status or seniority.

This mirrors the same both-hands logic used when receiving a drink from an elder, showing that Korean etiquette often applies one underlying principle — both hands for anything symbolically important — across very different situations.