Companies should look to reflect the desire for a better work-life balance Date: July 22, 2010 Source: JoongAng Daily
The Korean government plans to aggressively increase the number of products and services based on information technology convergence, with the aim of being one of the world's top five countries in this sector by 2015.
Outlining the plan yesterday, the Knowledge Economy Ministry said that it will create a domestic IT convergence market worth 85 trillion won ($70.5 billion) in the next five years. The plan will be jointly promoted with other ministries including finance, labor and defense.
“It is a growing trend throughout the world to converge IT with various sectors like automobiles and shipbuilding,” said Jeong Marn-ki, director general for the ministry's electronics and IT department.
The overall size of the world's IT convergence industry, including the automobile, shipbuilding, medical, machinery and construction sectors, is $1.2 trillion and is expected to reach $3.6 trillion by 2020. This represents 11.8 percent annual growth.
According to Jeong, converging diverse industries with IT creates value-added products and services and is vital if Korea is to maintain economic competitiveness against emerging nations such as China. “For now, however, Korea lacks the innovation ability to plan and map out ideas for revolutionary IT-converged products like the recent smartphones. Korea lags behind other developed nations in this regard,” he said.
“In case of Apple's revolutionary iPhone, it took four years for Steve Jobs and 200 creative experts to manage to converge the function of a computer with a mobile phone, offering a new unique service to consumers.”
The government is expected to promote a research and development program that will rely on cooperation among ministries, companies and research institutes to brainstorm ideas on technology.
2. Subject: EU-ASEAN FTA Has Downside Impacts on S. Korea
Date: July 22, 2010
Source: Maeil Business Newspaper
According to an argument, the free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and South Korea should take effect as early as possible for the reason that the FTA between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) may afflict negative impacts on Korea's trade and investment.
The Korea Institute International Economic Policy (KIEP) said in a report 'Current Situation of EU-ASEAN FTA and its impacts on Korea-EU Trade' on Thursday that the FTA between the EU and ASEAN countries may erode Korea's exports since the EU and ASEAN markets are large battlegrounds for a variety of export items that Korea counts on.
A researcher said ASEAN countries' stronger competitiveness in the EU market may do damage on Korea's 20 major export items such as computers, computer parts and optical products that enter the EU market. .
The researcher added Korea and ASEAN countries may face a fierce competition in the electric machine and household equipment sector since the two entities are neck-and-neck in terms of competitiveness of the sector.
However, Korea's four major export items, communications equipment, shipping, automobiles and semiconductor, are forecast to be insulated from the impacts of the EU-ASEAN FTA, a strengthened export competitiveness of ASEAN.
According to the researcher, it is possible that as the China-ASEAN FTA takes effect from next January, the EU may want to make inroads into the Chinese market through investments in the ASEAN market, triggering a competition between Korean-made products and European products made in the ASEAN nations.
In conclusion, the researcher said it is advisable for the country to sign a free trade deal with China mainly trading commercial goods of possible sectors.
3. Subject: Retail Sales Figures for June 2010
Date: July 19, 2010
Source: Ministry of Knowledge Economy
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy has released its year-on-year retail sales data for the month of June. Both the three major discount chains and the three major department stores saw higher sales; notably, the recent World Cup fever seems to have led to greater spending on sportswear and other sporting goods.
Sales at the three major discount chains gained 6 percent from a year earlier. Spending on sporting goods, apparel, general goods, household goods and food rose 16.4 percent, 15.9 percent, 10.8 percent, 3.1 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively; while sales of household appliances and cultural goods slipped 0.1 percent.
The nation's three major department store chains posted an 11.3 percent increase in sales. Spending on women's suits, household goods, women's casual wear, men's clothing, luxury goods, food and general goods rose 5 percent, 8.4 percent, 9.8 percent, 8.4 percent, 16.4 percent, 10.1 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively.
Sales at the three major discount chains and the three major department stores grew 2.8 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively, in the second quarter.
4. Subject: POSCO expands to Vietnam
Date: July 21, 2010
Source: Korea Times Newspaper
POSCO's effort to enhance its business in Southeast Asian markets is blossoming, as its Vietnamese unit, POSCO VST, will expand its stainless steel production capacity.
The world's third-largest steelmaker said Wednesday that it will enlarge its capacity from 85,000 tons annually through 235,000 tons in 2013 to eventually 285,000 tons in 2014.
POSCO said in March that it would boost its stainless steel production capacity by 200,000 tons per year in the coming years in order to meet growing demand in the region.
It forecast that demand for steel in Vietnam is likely to rise about 8.7 percent per year until 2020.
In addition, the company will use the second factory of POSCO VHPC (Vietnam Ho Chi Minh Processing Center), completed last week, as a distribution center for other Southeast Asian nations as well as Vietnam.
With the production expansion, POSCO expects to see its business grow and enhance its competitiveness with high-quality technologies and products in Vietnam and Southeast Asian regions.
POSCO has also been in talks to take over Thainox Stainless, Southeast Asia's largest stainless steel producer, but the process has been stalled due to political instability in Thailand.
POSCO owns a 15 percent stake in Thainox. It also agreed with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group Monday to cooperate on power generation in the Southeast Asian nation.
5. Subject: BJFEZ to make 10-year long-term plans
Date: July 19, 2010
Source: Korea Times Newspaper
The Busan Jinhae Free Economic Zone (BJFEZ) aims to become the world's center of logistics and business by providing crucial footholds for enterprises.
The BJFEZ authority said this "future" city will thus attract state-of-the-art technologies and provide a convenient corporate environment.
It already has a well-built infrastructure including an airport and ports that are adjacent to the market with 8 million consumers. Transportation is not a concern as there are links from ferry to train to plane.
Its outreach is already regional by easily connecting with 60 ports in Japan, 45 in China and five in Russia.
Busan is the world's No. 5th largest city in terms of the amount of containers handled. Furthermore, 90 percent of the shipbuilding industry and 41.9 percent of the domestic car manufacturing are located in the vicinity.
As of March 2010, its operators succeeded in attracting 53 projects worth $5.27 billion which include $1.6 billion from 25 projects involving automobiles, ship parts and machinery and $2.5 billion from building new ports.
The authorities aim to lure foreign investment worth $10 billion as soon as possible by “selecting and focusing” on the projects that have already been analyzed and prioritized.
A detailed mid-and long-term business plan that outlines goals leading up to 2020 will soon be prepared.
"It has been six years since we set up the authority in 2004, but we still have much to do to firmly be established as a global business center.” Ha Myeong-keun, the newly appointed commissioner of BJFEZ, said. “By creating legal, systematic support infrastructure that meets global standards, we hope to cater to businesses and tailor our services to meet their needs."
6. Subject: 'Hansik should go a la carte'
Date: July 20, 2010
Source: DongA Ilbo
"Hanjeongsik," the full course Korean meal with its dizzying array of dishes laid out on a table, is always a memorable experience for foreign diners visiting the country. But as the government pursues efforts to globalize Korean cuisine, exporting hanjeongsik might not be the right way to go.
Serving Korean dishes a la carte might be a better way to boost the popularity of Korean cuisine overseas, according Ryan Shin, chief operating officer of food service company Sun At Food.
Sun At Food, which has been operating successful chains such as Tony Roma's, Mad for Garlic and Spaghettia for the last 15 years, has recently opened a new Korean restaurant called Bistro Seoul in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul.
Bistro Seoul is re-introducing the concept of fine dining Korean cuisine, as it attempts to expand in the overseas market.
"We introduced a different style of presenting the food (ala carte). The presentation is totally Western-style but the style of cooking is still traditional Korean," Shin told The Korea Times.
Korean dishes are served a la carte, instead of the usual hanjeongsik set meals with a dozen side dishes. The menu includes familiar dishes such as kimchi jeon or pancakes, arrow squid carpaccio, premium beef rib stew marinated in fruit sauce and boiled sablefish in spicy soy sauce with root vegetables and "omija" (schizandra berry) panna cotta.
There is definitely no hanjeongsik at Bistro Seoul. While the sheer volume of food served as hanjeongsik might impress some foreigners, it might also turn off others.
"Two years ago, we brought our business partner from France to have hanjeongsik, and he got angry because he said he couldn't eat it all and the food was too much. He said there are many starving people in Africa, and the food will be wasted. That's a good point because Korean hanjeongsik is really too much food," Shin said.
Bistro Seoul is meant as a platform for the company's plans to open branches overseas, including in Japan and the United States this year.
The government is exerting efforts and implementing programs to globalize hansik, but Shin believes there should be more assistance for Korean companies that are opening restaurants overseas.
"If a company wants to establish a business overseas like a Korean restaurant, the government should support them by providing them with one year's rent for free. Or maybe support them when they're opening in New York, where there are a lot of licenses needed. They have to support those things. It's much better way to support the globalization of hansik," Shin said.
Bistro Seoul does not look like a typical Korean restaurant, as its interior (black wood tables, white flowers and hanji lamps) are meant to just give a whiff of Korean style. The food is served on Korean ceramic plates, which are handmade by craftsmen.
"We wanted to spread the Korean culture through ceramics. We are letting the customers know about the ceramic dishes and hanji. Our presentation is a mix of traditional Korean and Western culture. There's a bar but the cocktails and drinks menu are Korean wines and liquor," Shin said.
But don't look for Bistro Seoul to actively promote itself as a traditional Korean restaurant.
"We don't have to say it is Korean food. Just with (the name) 'Bistro Seoul' and people will immediately know it is Korean food and they're going to experience Korea. It's going to be an exciting experience at a unique place and they'll want to revisit it," Shin said.
Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Korea
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th