French-Canadian businesswoman helps expats settle in with Korea4Expats.com


A few years ago, new arrivals struggled to locate basic information about life in Korea in English: how to get a cellphone; what to do with garbage; where to find sports and entertainment activities.

Today, all it takes is a quick Google search.

Korea4Expats.com is one of the most popular results. Visited by more than 2,000 people a day, it is a comprehensive resource to help expats prepare before arrival, get settled and enjoy their time here.

Behind it is French-Canadian Anne Ladouceur, whose contribution to life here was recognized in 2010 when the Seoul government made her an honorary citizen of the city. But Ladouceur doesn’t see the big deal.

“It’s just my nature, my thing has always been helping out ... I had a similar company in Canada,” explained the Northern Ontario native, who majored in sociology at the University of Michigan.

“The nature of the expat community in Seoul is one of more of a sense of community than in Singapore or Hong Kong for example where it’s easier to live. It’s more challenging to live here, and it was particularly 15 years ago, so organizations to help sprung up.”

Although the website has been a big hit, it wasn’t the reason she came to Korea. The Korea Herald met Ladouceur at her office in the Seoul Finance Center to hear how it came about.

A long time coming

In her late 40s, and “heavily involved” in politics as a special advisor, Ladouceur’s party lost an election. Her children had left home and devoid of responsibility, she took the opportunity to jump into a new challenge: living abroad.

Having more than 30 year’s on-and-off experience as a French teacher, she took a job as an English professor at a university in Seoul.

Then in 2001 she began working as an expat accounts manager for Housing and Commercial Bank, later to be merged into Kookmin Bank, using her experience working with immigrants at a credit union in Canada.

Whilst there she wrote a column on banking tips for foreign residents in the main English language publication then, Seoul Classified.

She soon took on another column for the same publication, Bridging the Gap, which covered life, work and leisure issues.

In 2000 she began distributing an email newsletter to share information about life in Korea with friends, which continues and is now being sent to between seven and nine thousand recipients.

Whilst working as a consultant for Bridges Consulting Asia, she began laying foundations for K4E, first helping out with similar information on a friend’s real estate website, and then writing content for two years prior to her site going live.

In 2007, with the benefit of having been an expat in various roles, Ladouceur set K4E live.

She was amazed at how quickly it took off, and credits the collaboration with Web development firm Asiance International, who optimized its search potential, for the rapid success.

For four years now, the site has proved a mainstay for expat advice. She also provides tours, support and orientation advice for individuals and companies through K4E Consulting which was set up in conjunction with it.

She says there is plenty of information out there; it is just not easily accessible to foreign residents. 

“A lot of things are done from the perspective of the Korean experience and not from the perspective of the people who are coming in,” she explained.

Ladouceur takes an honest approach to the more than 1,000 pages of content on the website ― much of it done by herself with the help of interns and contributors. Research, she said, is costly and time consuming but vital to the integrity of the site.

“A lot of culture shock comes from a gap between expectation and what really is. A lot of times Korea presents a certain image of what the country is but that’s not always the reality.”

Although there are now a host of expat magazines, websites, blogs and forums providing information, K4E remains a firm favorite.

“It always takes somebody who is willing to go out and take a chance and do things but a lot of times that person doesn’t end up reaping the benefits,” she said, explaining that the site is not a money-making endeavor.

For Ladouceur, the satisfaction comes in knowing she has helped a wide range of people ― contrary to expectations, she says many readers are not native English speakers.

The thank you messages she receives make it all worthwhile. Most recently she had one from a woman who had read about being Rh negative (a rare blood type in Asia) in Korea on the site ― as she was planning to bring her two young sons here, both Rh negative, she was able to plan in advance.

“It’s when somebody says, this made a really significant difference in my life, in surviving. Then I think, ‘It’s worth it, it’s worth the time, it’s worth the energy, it’s worth the frustration.’”

‘Bring your personality with you’

Ladouceur, who makes a point of reinventing her life every decade or so and cleaning out superfluous belongings, has had many different jobs. But, she says, they are all connected by a single interest: communication.

“I think fundamentally you bring your basic personality with you,” she explained.
“In Canada I started a lot of different organizations (a literacy program for Francophones, sexual assault centers, community outreach) and I basically ended up doing the same here.”

Ladouceur was a founding member here of the Business and Professional Women’s Network and Seoul International Women’s Association’s Working Women’s Network. She was also president of SIWA from 1999-2000.

“This (Korea) doesn’t really change our lives all that fundamentally. You may be doing something different but how you’re going to spend your free time, how you’re going to reach out to people is still going to be determined by the kind of person you tend to be.”

Ladouceur appreciates the amount of feedback ― 150 emails per day on average ― she gets from readers as it helps her better tailor content.

Apart from a significant amount of emails from people mistaking her for the government and reporting alleged illegal workers (which she ignores), popular topics include the difficulty of making reservations and concerns over motorcycles on sidewalks.

She is planning a revamp of the site, which will include more on restaurants and K-pop and a reorganization of material to make it more user-friendly. She also hopes to feature more information for expats outside of Seoul.

The user experience is paramount for Ladouceur, right down to the advertizing ― she will not feature a service that has not been recommended by readers.

She has come up against criticism for this but although she agrees with integrating into other cultures, she will not compromise her values.

“I adapt, but certain things I fundamentally do not believe in I will not do. I will not go out and drink for business. I’m not going to jeopardize my health in order to conform to some expectation of how one should behave in business. I will not pay bribes ... and I will not take an advertiser simply because we could use the money.”

Life is for learning

A perk of helping to inspire other people’s free time, is that Ladouceur has been able to fulfill many personal aspirations and enjoy one-off experiences.

During the summer she was enlisted by the South Africa athletics team as a guide whilst they participated in the Daegu Athletics World Championships.

She has also been able to organize trips to places she wanted to visit such as Nepal and Bhutan.

“Last year we went to Tibet and the clouds cleared up and we got to see the top of Mount Everest. A lot of these things that were dreams of mine I’ve been able to do during the time I’ve been here.”

She also attended the opening ceremony of the 2002 World Cup, has been on TV, became a Korean movie buff and met with former first lady Lee Hee-ho and late President Roh Moo-hyun.

But Ladouceur’s legacy here will be that she helped pave the way for women in Korea.

The pioneering businesswoman was one of only three women to be invited to sit on the Foreign Investment Advisory Council by then Seoul Mayor Goh Kun, and the only woman of 17 honorees last year when she was inducted as an honorary citizen. She also directed and starred in Korea’s first ever production of the Vagina Monologues in 2000.

Thinking ahead to retirement, Ladouceur is planning her move back to Canada. But she is not ready to leave so will be splitting her time between the two countries for several years.

“I like learning and one of the things I never stop doing in Korea is learning. Part of it is the culture, every time I sit back and think, ‘OK, got it, now I know this culture’ something comes along and makes me think, ‘Oh, wait a minute, no I don’t have it, I’ve got to learn some more.’ It makes it fascinating.”

Mostly, she is reluctant to cut ties here for the stimulation and absence of boredom ― one of her greatest fears ― that she continues to relish.

“I may be a lot of things in Korea: I’m frequently charmed, I’m often frustrated. But I am never, ever bored here. There is so much to learn, to do, to see.”

Anne Ladouceur

● 1997 ― Arrived in Korea to work as an English professor

● 1998 ― Founded the SIWA Working Women’s Network

● 1999-2000 ― President of Seoul International Women’s Association (SIWA)

● 2000 ― Invited by Vice-President (then mayor) Goh Kun to join the newly created Foreign Investment Advisory Council (FIAC) as one of only three women on the council

● 2000 ― Directed and appeared in the first English production of the Vagina Monologues in Seoul

● 2000 ― Began emailing a list of events of possible interest to the foreign community. Around 9,000 people now receive the twice monthly newsletter

● 2001-2002 ― Expat accounts manager at Housing and Commercial Bank in Itaewon, Seoul (now merged into Kookmin Bank)

● 2003-2007 ― Consultant for Bridges Consulting Asia

● 2007 ― Created Korea4Expats.com in collaboration with Asiance Korea and established K4E Consulting

● 2009 ― One of the founding members of Seoul Business and Professional Women’s Network

● 2010 ― Inducted as an Honorary Citizen of Seoul (the only woman among 17 honorees)

By Hannah Stuart-Leach (hannahsl@heraldcorp.com)