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Korea Business Success eZine – Summer
2005
Welcome to the Summer 2005 issue of the Korea Business Success
eZine of Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc. Be sure
to check out our humorous exploration of the capabilities of machine
translation in this issue, which includes a competition where you
can win a great prize. We hope you find this information helpful
to your business in Korea and with Koreans everywhere.
Table of Contents
- New Korea Business Guide
- Chaebol (Korean Business Group) Profile: Samsung
- Feature Article: Having Fun with Korean Machine Translation
Software
- Korean Free Economic Zones Road Show
- In the News: Moving to a 40 Hour Working Week
- In the News: Government to Improve Standard of Service at Hospitals
for Expats
- A Humorous Website
1. New Korea Business Guide
In response to numerous and varied requests
for information about Korea which we have received and to help companies
better plan and conduct effective business trips to Korea, Korean Consulting
and Translation Service, Inc. has been working on the production
of a business guide to South Korea for some time and which is scheduled
for completion within the next month or two.
The business guide will provide a wide range of quality, detailed,
and insightful information about living in and doing business in Korea.
The guide is similar to this eZine in that it provides information
specifically targeted to Westerners doing business in Korea and is
written by Westerners who speak Korean and are familiar with Korea,
but goes into more detail than this eZine.
Sections included in the guide are: General Information, Living in
South Korea, Getting Around In South Korea, Business Customs and Etiquette,
References and Useful Web Sites, Troubleshooting/How to, Useful Phrases,
and In-Depth Articles on Korea. The guide can be read from start to
finish but also includes an extensive index to make it a useful reference
to provide answers to your questions when and where you need them.
The guide comes in two versions - a free version and a paid version.
The design brief for the paid version is to include lots of high-quality
information providing true value for money. The problems that can be
avoided, opportunities that can be obtained and insights that can be
gained from reading the guide will make it an essential resource for
anyone doing business in South Korea.
Readers of this eZine will be automatically sent an email with a copy
of the free version of the business guide attached and instructions
on how to purchase the paid version of the guide as soon as production
is finished.
2. Chaebol (Korean Business Group) Profile: Samsung
In a previous
edition of this eZine, I gave a brief history of the "chaebol" (Korean
business groups or conglomerates). In this edition, I will provide
a brief introduction about Samsung, Korea's largest chaebol.
Samsung was founded in 1938 by the late Byun-Chul Lee. The name Samsung
means "three stars" in Korean and the original logo was
made up of three stars. Koreans pronounce the word Samsung as "sahm-sung".
Just think "psalm-sung" and you'll be pretty close.
Samsung is a very large and diverse group mainly involved in electronics,
machinery and heavy industries, chemicals, and financial services,
but is also involved in a number of other areas, notably advertising.
The group has stated that electronics, finance and services will be
its areas of greatest growth in the years to come.
The Asian Currency Crisis was a time of economic downturn in Korea
and many companies folded or were taken over, but Samsung seems to
have grown stronger as a result. Net profits surged from 0.29 billion
won in 1997 to 8.9 billion won in 2002. (Net profit stood at 5.6 billion
won in 2003). Debt to equity ratio has steadily fallen from 148% in
1999 to 56% in 2003. Market capitalization increased from 10.7% in
1997 to 31.2% in 2003.
Samsung has a policy of picking products and then striving to achieve
the world's largest market share for those products. Currently, Samsung
is number one in the world in 21 products - mostly a range of electronic
components and related products.
Samsung is endeavouring to change its culture to become a true multinational.
It reports that it is now focussed on profit and cashflow, transparent
management and performance-related compensation. English is becoming
the language of business within the group too.
Samsung has shown a willingness to enter into joint ventures to obtain
technical knowledge and capabilities needed to develop its businesses.
Examples are Samsung-Corning, which manufactures glass substrates for
TFT LCD displays, and Samsung-Thomson, through which Samsung gained
an edge in the design of leading-edge integrated circuits. However,
Renault-Samsung is an example of a failed alliance as Samsung ended
up selling this ill-fated venture into domestic car manufacturing of
the late 90's back to Renault.
* For more information, see http://www.samsung.com
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* For an ongoing discussion regarding Korean business (including Samsung
and the other Korean chaebol), visit our blog authored daily by Don
Southerton of Bridging Culture at: http://www.koreanconsulting.com/links/bridgingculturkorea.shtml. If
you are doing business in Korea and with Koreans, this blog should
be on your daily online reading list.
3. Feature Article: Having Fun
with Korean Machine Translation Software
Just how good or bad is free
online translation software? Such sites acknowledge that the software
is not good enough for translating actual business communication but
claim that it will give you the gist of foreign language communications
you receive. Is this the case? Using the free translation service on
our site at: http://www.koreanconsulting.com/services/free-translation.html, let's
find out and have a good laugh along the way.
Part I
In this part of the investigation, I entered some natural English text
in to the translation program and then personally back-translated the
Korean output into English in order to give you an idea of what it
would be like for a Korean to read the Korean machine translation.
When back-translating, I tried to make the English as easy or hard
to understand as the Korean text would be to a native Korean speaker.
A human translator doing an actual translation would never produce
anything as bad as some of what you are about to read; but then again,
I have seen plenty of examples of atrocious translation by amateurs.
| Original English Text |
Back translated from Korean machine
translation |
Verdict |
We wish to purchase 5000 units at
the agreed price. |
We wish to purchase 5000 denominations
at the agreed price. |
Could probably be understood by a
Korean. |
Does your firm have a branch in the
US? |
Does your business have a branch
inside the US? |
Could be understood by a Korean but
expression is a little unnatural. |
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A Korean would not be able to understand
this but could possibly get the gist of it. However, it would
leave the reader with a very negative impression. |
In some short, simple sentences, the English-Korean translation is
reasonable, but the software goes completely off the rails as soon
as the text starts to become long and complex. If you are lucky, you
may be able to convey the gist of what you want to say, but there is
great potential for misunderstanding and you'd certainly end up creating
a bad impression. In particular, the software produces Korean text
written in the informal style - totally unsuitable for business communication.
Conclusion: You'd be crazy to entrust the English-Korean translation
of your business communications to machine translation.
Part II
In this part of the investigation, I translated natural Korean text
using the machine translation software and also translated it myself
so you can compare a human and machine translation.
| Human Translation of Korean Text |
Machine Translation of Korean Text |
Hello, I'm Steven Bammel, the president
of Korean Consulting and Translation Inc. Our company is located
in Texas, USA and specialises in Korean business consulting and
translation. Feel free to phone me at (972) 255-4808 or
email me at sbammel@koreanconsulting.com any
time with any enquiries you may have. |
How are you? I will carry on shoulder
and (week) the president Steven snake of Korean consulting and
translation. Our company is the company which it specializes
in enterprise consulting and the translation which relate with
Korea which is located at American Texas week. Meaning of a passage
it is and it transforms at any time with (972) 255-4808,
the sbammel@koreanconsulting. It sends this mail to the com and
it wishes. |
We request that a representative
from all (Korean) manufacturers of electrical products attend
the following seminar dealing with the new foreign trade management
regulations (Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy regulation
no. 2005-3) that came into effect on April 1, 2005 in response
to a recent ruling on uniform country of origin rules by the
WTO in Geneva Switzerland. |
From 2005 April 1st opening a court
- relation of the foreign trade civil official regulation (industrial
resources vice- Higher Civil Service Examination 2005-3rd Hu)
which is enforced, The charge assistant junior official after
business trip dispatching against home production home criteria
it includes a WTO unity home regulation in Switzerland Geneva
the person in charge of the electric article manufacturing industry
with afterwords it holds the seminar together in the object and
under to sleep it comes many participation it wishes. |
Part III
This part is a challenge open to all readers of the eZine to try and
decipher the original meaning of some machine translation. Simply drop
us an email telling us, in English, what you think is meant by each
of two machine translations. The most accurate entry, as judged by
Korean Consulting and Translation Inc., received by 30th July, 2005
will receive a free copy of our fantastic new Korean Business Guide
for their company and a check for US$50 for themselves. The winner
will also be announced in the next issue. Start brainstorming!
- When it goes to the airport, Bus some and other Oh! hour Ul E degree
it is caught?
- 5 person American people who business trip come today visited the
company and they went sightseeing the factory, With them it is taking
a meal together now. Them the truth will know Korea well and also
our language will decrease percentage in small quantity to know.
True energy it does.
4. Korean Free Economic Zones Road Show
In the last edition of the eZine, I introduced the three free trade
zones, referred to as free economic zones (FEZ).
The FEZ authority held a roadshow in Seoul for members of the American
Chamber of Commerce in Korea in March this year and a similar one for
the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea and the Japan Club Member
Companies is coming up in the next few months.
For companies considering investing in Korea, it is worthwhile downloading
the PowerPoint file of the presentation given to the American Chamber
of Commerce in Korea. http://www.fez.go.kr/upload/presentation.ppt
5.
In the News: Moving to a 40-Hour Work Week
South Korea has been gradually
phasing in a 5-day, 40-hour standard work week over the last several
years. The public sector made a partial switch several years ago and
some private firms followed suit voluntarily. However, in July this
year, workplaces with 300 or more employees will be compelled to move
to full adoption of the reduced work week system.
The government has also accepted calls from business groups to reduce
the number of public holidays in order to maintain the country's competitiveness.
In 2006, Koreans are set to lose Arbor (Tree) Day (April 5) as a public
holiday and Constitution Day (July 17) will be removed in 2008.
Labor unions protested that the reduction in the number of public holidays
was unfair for employees of small-medium businesses as they won't move
to a 40 hour working week until 2012.
6. In the News: Government
to Improve Standard of Service at Hospitals for Expats
Korea is very
committed to attracting direct foreign investment and sees improving
living conditions for expats working in Korea as one way it can compete
with other countries in the region for direct foreign investment.
The quality of medical care in South Korea is high and reasonably priced,
but language barriers can make a hospital visit daunting.
Therefore, the Seoul city government has announced plans to select
17 hospitals in which to implement measures to improve the standard
of English through a variety of means by 2006 to enable them to better
treat expat patients.
7. A Humorous Website
Ever wondered what sort of coverage the US is
getting in the North Korean media or what is "really" going
on inside North Korea? With the following websites you can read all
about it for yourself and laugh yourself silly in the process. The
firey rhetoric, over-the-top hyperbole, and brazen propaganda will
have you rolling on the floor. Take, for example, the repeated demands
that South Korea demolish a 10m high 240 km long concrete wall separating
North and South built in 1979... There is only one problem - the wall
doesn't exist and never has.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the official news agency of
North Korea. It publishes articles in English and Spanish as well as
Korean. The KCNA has a website based in Japan. http://www.kcna.co.jp
A far more interesting site is http://www.nk-news.net.
It contains all the proaganda articles published on the KCNA site with
an added search capability, as well as some some interesting features
such as a random North Korean insult generator producing such gems
as "You extra-large human scum!" and "You politically
illiterate running dog, you would be well advised to behave with discretion!".
The KCNA site is pro-communist but the NK-NEWS site is definitely anti-communist
and a real hoot.
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