I'm not so sure about "strong work ethos" part. I believe Korean work culture is reasonably close to that of Japan, and one of the things most frequently mentioned by Koreans who emigrate to work in a western company is that people really concentrate on working (and nothing else) during work time.
I.e., there's no time for reading newspapers or surfing the web, and much less time for "spending time with your coworkers." Instead you do your work, and when your work is done (or if it's 5 pm), you go home. Which actually means you must work hard, because if you slack off and spend the evening in the workplace, your manager may start to wonder if you are fit for the job (unlike Korea, where your manager may question your competence if you leave on time).
Maybe Japanese work ethics is somewhat better (well, surely they have a much better economy...), but I'm skeptical. There's a limit on how much most people can work with concentration. Make them work longer, and they'll compensate by spending their time in distraction.
* On the other hand I'm working in a US company and writing comments in HN, so there's that...
