Pros
As others have stated, being content in Samsung GSG requires having realistic expectations about how your life will differ from working in a Western company. Also, because GSG is a temporary position for most (1-2 years) before being pushed into an operational role in greater Samsung, the pros and cons for both types of roles should be understood. In GSG, hours are good and the office is in a prime location in Seoul. You have the chance to live abroad and work in other countries (outside of Korea and your home country) as part of projects. You have a chance to spar with a very different business culture from a Western company. Sometimes your projects will have exposure to senior executives in Samsung, and I am told that this is becoming more frequent in GSG nowadays. By representing one of the world’s biggest brands, you often get access to other companies that you would not receive at a junior level in another job. Seoul is a fun, dynamic, 24-hour city and with your expat package you will be well-positioned to experience most of what it has to offer — you also have time and money for some great travel within Asia. GSG has a strong cohort of like-minded MBA graduates, which gives you an immediate social network in a foreign country. It is a bit like a 3rd year of an MBA course. In operational roles within Samsung Korea, you will get a first-hand experience of the frenetic, chaotic atmosphere inside a Korean conglomerate — you will understand how Samsung really works. If you survive you will be well-positioned to work for Samsung overseas.
Cons
First, though by outward appearances you are doing consulting, GSG does not operate like a consulting company. You will be monitored like you were back in high school — tardy if you arrive after 9am and truant if you depart before 6pm, even if you have absolutely no work to do. Occasionally even your lunch hours will be audited, and if you have the audacity to regularly take more than 1 hour to relax at midday … tsk tsk. Travel policies are physically taxing (you fly economy class everywhere around the world except Brazil) and expensing can be a nightmare. You also don’t have access to the same research resources as a consulting firm (you’re largely expected to show amazing Google skills), though this is improving. There is a lack of connection between foreigner and Korean staff — the Koreans are often stuck writing reports and don’t have time to help you. New leadership in GSG gets mostly bad reviews, viewed as out-of-touch and disinterested in the quality of life for Global Strategists, and I sense morale in GSG now is low. There have been substantial growing pains with shifting from a quarterly project model to a dynamic staffing model, as Koreans cannot tolerate any resources “sitting on the beach”. You may be lied to during the recruiting process. The real time commitment in Samsung Korea if you wish to eventually work for Samsung overseas is 3-5 years, not 2 years as may be advertised (there are rare exceptions). You may also be told that it will be easy for your spouse to also get a job within Samsung or elsewhere in Seoul, but this is much more difficult than advertised. The company professes global values, but in reality sexism and racism abound, and integrity is lacking. In operational roles, promotions are based on tenure, not performance. Youngish entering Global Strategists in their late 20s will watch their older colleagues of similar competency get promoted first. Samsung HR is about as unprofessional and unresponsive as you can imagine — picture being a week from the end of your contract without an offer for a new contract, and HR is not talking to you … this happens to most people. Your quality of life often diminishes significantly once you transition out of GSG, particularly if you transition to Suwon (Samsung mobile and consumer electronics HQ). Suwon is far from Seoul, your commute will be more than 1 hour each way every day on an uncomfortable commuter shuttle bus. Work hours are often longer (though much shorter than daunting Korean work hours) and you are working in a bleak, monochromatic factory town. "On the line" you are rewarded for obedience and short-term execution, thinking be damned. It is “Ready, FIRE, Aim”. Benchmarking and imitation of the competition are overvalued; new ideas and fresh thinking are undervalued. In Suwon, I don’t think any group has a long-term strategy, the culture is anti-collaborative and extremely tactical. An excessive number of work tasks are deemed URGENT and managers give little prioritization. A lack of trust by the company in its employees forces Samsung to fall back on inane, often illogical rules and processes. Administration and box-ticking take precedence. Long-term, if you survive “on the line” in Korea, you will still hit a glass ceiling in your career as Koreans run 99% of the company. GSG has a poor track record of grooming employees for management roles within Samsung.