1. Subject: Job security No. 1 concern: Nielsen
Koreans more pessimistic about losses than other nations
Date: July 28, 2010
Source: JoongAng Daily
A typical Korean reading the business pages believes that despite all the news of record-breaking corporate profits, the economy is still in recession. He or she thinks that local job market prospects are grim and will continue to be for some time - so job security is the highest priority.
That’s the portrait painted by the Global Consumer Confidence Index released yesterday by the Nielsen Company, one of the biggest research companies in the world. Roughly 27,000 Internet users from 48 nations participated in the survey from May 10 to 26.
The Korean participants said that fiscal well-being was very important, and that plans to save or pay off loans were immediate goals.
According to Nielsen, Korean respondents held a strikingly negative view of local job prospects, with 85 percent of respondents saying the job market will be “not so good” or “bad” in the next 12 months. This is compared to an average of 51 percent of respondents having a less-than-positive outlook on the job market.
With this, Korea ranked as the sixth most pessimistic nation on jobs, after Lithuania, France, Latvia, Japan and Hungary. Job security was the No. 1 concern of Koreans, with 18 percent citing it as the issue that keeps them up at night. This was followed by work-life balance (14 percent), the economy and children’s education/welfare (with 13 percent each).
“This implies that Korean consumers have a tendency to value quality of life as well as economic recovery,” said Shin Eun-hee, managing director of Nielsen Company Korea.
Global and Korean consumers also differed on their approach to spending spare cash. Sixty percent of Korean respondents said they would put their leftover income into savings, a larger proportion than the worldwide average of 49 percent.
Eighty percent of Korean respondents said they thought the nation was in recession.
2. Subject: KITA sees $1 trillion in trade
Korea is heading to break milestone figure in 2011
Date: July 30, 2010
Source: JoongAng Daily
Sakong Il, the chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, said yesterday that Korea’s total trade volume could reach of $1 trillion next year.
Korea reported trade volume last year reached $686.6 billion, while it is expected to be $869.7 billion this year.
Considering that Korea’s trade grew annually by an average of 16.7 percent between 2002 and 2008, Sakong said that Korea will likely attain the $1 trillion threshold.
Only five countries exceeded $1 trillion in trade volume as of 2009. Sakong said there were four “opportunities” that Korea should take advantage of to reach that goal.
One was the recovery of the global economy, which is expected to expand by 4.6 percent this year and 4.3 percent in 2011.
A second opportunity is offered by emerging economies, including China, India and Southeast Asia, which are expected to have higher growth rates, including 6.8 percent this year and 6.4 percent next year. Korea’s network of free trade agreements is also creating another opportunity. Finally, Sakong, who also heads the committee to host the G-20 in Seoul in November, believes the event will result in the creation of a “Korea Premium,” which will replace the “Korea Discount,” which refers to the consistent undervaluation of Korean stocks.
“We will assist our trade companies and offer overseas marketing in emerging countries,” said Sakong. “Establishing a healthy export market is one of the big tasks that KITA needs to accomplish.”KITA, which was established on July 31, 1946, will hold its 64th anniversary ceremony today at the Trade Tower in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul.
According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy yesterday, Korea’s trade surplus is expected to exceed $4 billion in July, with the total surplus for the first seven months of this year reaching $23 billion. Korea has earlier set a surplus target of $23 billion for the entire year.
“Our main exports, including semiconductors, are doing well and the trade surplus is rising,” said a ministry official. “With this momentum, our surplus can exceed $30 billion this year.”
With higher than expected growth, the ministry is planning to revise its forecast for the year and announce it in mid-August. However, “it will be hard to expect the growth rate will continue at the same rate as in the first half,” said the ministry.
Economic analysts say, however, the trade surplus is still subject to potential negative factors, including a reduction in global economic stimulus measures, the European sovereign debt crisis and a rise in the value of the Korean won. A ministry official said the trade surplus may not increase much further in the second half if imports outpace exports.
3. Subject: LG Chem confident of top spot in batteries
Date: July 30, 2010
Source: Mail Business Newspaper
As the worldwide market for electric vehicles grows, three Korean companies - LG Chem, SK Energy and Samsung SDI - are locked in a race to supply rechargeable batteries for the next wave of green automobiles.
LG Chem, the current leader, is confident that their near-decade of investment and research will help them to keep the top spot in the industry by a healthy margin.
In a meeting with the press late on Tuesday at the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul, Peter Bahnsuk Kim, the vice chairman and chief executive of LG Chem, confidently described his firm as “the leader in rechargeable batteries for vehicles.” Key to the company’s success, Kim said, was its localization strategy. Earlier this month, U.S. President Barack Obama visited the groundbreaking ceremony for an LG Chem battery plant in the city of Holland, Michigan, and emphasized that the batteries are made in the U.S. in his speech. Kim said LG also had 10 plants in China.
“We were lucky as we started off by inking deals with global auto giants such as GM and Ford,” said Kim. “We have three more battery supply deals that are complete, which will be revealed within the year, including one with a Japanese automaker.”
LG is investing 1 trillion won ($845 million) until 2013 in its EV battery plant in Ochang, North Chungcheong, and said that its plant in Holland will produce almost twice SK Energy’s planned production in 2012. An LG official confirmed that the capacity will grow four times next year. “Ask [our competitors] how many vehicles will make for their batteries, and between what period the batteries will be actually made,” said Kim. “You probably won’t be able to buy our competitors’ batteries for a long time.”
LG also plans to continue its investment in research and development, as well as in new products such as liquid crystal display glass.
4. Subject: Samsung still tops in U.S. high-end TVs
Date: July 29, 2010
Source: Yonhap News
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest flat-screen TV maker, said yesterday that it remained the top seller of premium-brand TVs in the United States in the first half.
The company’s market share stood at 46 percent in terms of the value for 40-inch and larger liquid crystal display TV units sold in the U.S. during the period, the company said citing data compiled by the U.S.-based market research firm NPD.
Its share for the full-HD LCD TV market stood at 43 percent, while it had 43 percent of the 50-inch and larger plasma display panel (PDP) TV market was 43 percent, according to Samsung Electronics.
5. Subject: Samsung still tops in U.S. high-end TVs
Date: July 28, 2010
Source: Chosun Ilbo Newspaper
KT, Korea’s largest fixed-line operator and second-largest mobile carrier, announced yesterday that it will spend some 5.1 trillion won ($4.3 billion) over the next four years to beef up its networks as it expects an explosive surge in data traffic to continue.
The company says traffic on its cellular networks tripled over the last six months, due mainly to high data usage by smartphone users, who on average require 21 times more data bandwidth than regular cell customers.
KT is the exclusive seller of Apple’s iPhone in Korea. The iPhone 3GS, which hit domestic stores in November last year, has sold more than 840,000 units. The company saw a 17.5-percent rise in sales of wireless data services in the fourth quarter of last year. So KT has decided to invest more in the newly lucrative area.
“To prepare for an explosive surge in data traffic, we are working to introduce Long Term Evolution (LTE) services,” said Pyo Hyun-myung, the president of KT’s mobile business division, referring to the latest mobile network technology.
“But LTE alone cannot accommodate the traffic, so we will also greatly expand our Wi-Fi and WiBro networks,” he added, saying those networks will help the company create a “mobile wonderland” where customers will enjoy seamless Internet connections anywhere.
The company said it will raise the number of Wi-Fi Internet hotspots from the current 28,000 to 100,000 by the end of next year and expand its WiBro, or high-speed wireless broadband technology, network from 19 cities to a nationwide system by next March.
KT and SK Telecom, Korea’s leading cellular provider, have been engaged in heated competition to take the lead in the wireless data market. SKT announced earlier that it will offer commercial LTE service next year.
Rising data usage is a worldwide trend. A recent report by Morgan Stanley Research predicted mobile data traffic would increase 39 times by 2014, driven mainly by the rapid growth in mobile access to video services like YouTube.
KT plans to introduce the new iPhone 4 in a few months, after a delay from its original release date, July 30. Pyo said, “We will introduce [the iPhone 4 and the iPad] as early as possible.” The company added that it will invest in cloud computing services to let users store data on KT’s servers.
The company expects revenues from its smartphone and table PC business until the end of next year will worth some 1.1 trillion won.
Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Korea
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th