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Korea
Business Success eZine – Fall
2006
Welcome to the Fall 2006 issue of the Korea Business Success
eZine of Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.. We hope
you find this information helpful to your business in Korea and with
Koreans everywhere.
Table of Contents
- Korea Embarks on Worldwide Marketing Campaign
- How the Korean Calendar
Works
- Feature Article: Analysis of Recent Nuclear Test by North Korea
- New Low-Cost International Telephone Service Launched
- Gambling in Korea
- Free Trade Agreement Negotiations
- Getting Around Korea to Get Easier
1. Korea Embarks on
Worldwide Marketing Campaign
South Korea has created a brand for itself
and is attempting to market to the world under this brand. The focus
of the campaign appears to be more on business and trade than on tourism
but it does make use of tie-ins with Korean entertainers. There was
even a recent 30-second TV commercial.
The campaign slogan is "Dynamic Korea" and the campaign presents
a country pursuing growth, innovation and modernity while holding on
to its past.
The National Image Committee, a body charged with managing this marketing
campaign, was established after the Korea-Japan Football World Cup
in 2002 and is chaired by the Prime Minister of South Korea.
Diplomatically, the Prime Minister has been traveling the world a lot
and promoting a positive image of the country by expressing the country's
commitment to open democratic government and a free-market economy
at every opportunity.
The present focus seems to be on Korea-US relations and represents
the government's effort to achieve good results in the current Korea-US
free trade negotiations.
http://www.dynamic-korea.com/
2.
How the Korean Calendar Works
Korea uses both the solar calendar and
the lunar calendar. The solar or Gregorian calendar, which is the same
as the one we use in the West, is used in Korea by businesses, governments,
schools and citizens for most purposes. It is only the dates of traditional
festivals and some people's birthdays that are determined using the
lunar calendar. You need to be aware that the dates of traditional
festivals, some of which are public holidays, and people's birthdays
will vary slightly from year to year on the solar calendar because
the solar and lunar calendars don't line up perfectly.
Have a look at a copy of a current Korean calendar or use the following
website to obtain the dates of all holidays in South Korea for a given
year.
http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Calendar/holidays.cfm
The
website gives the standard dates for holidays but the government has occasionally
changed the dates of public holidays because of how they fall in a particular
year, so you would need to confirm the actual dates of holidays yourself.
To find out what date a Korean person's birthday falls on in a particular
year, the easiest thing to do would be to ask the person or a Korean
who knows the person well. Calculating it yourself is possible but
requires more background knowledge than I was able to provide in this
article.
The lunar calendar consists of twelve lunar months with one lunar month
being the time taken for the moon to complete one cycle. However, twelve
lunar months don't quite add up to one solar year so the lunar calendar
gradually falls out of alignment with the seasons. For this reason,
an extra month is added to the lunar calendar every two or three years.
The months of the lunar calendar are numbered from one to twelve rather
than being named. Extra months are added based on the position of the
sun and moon and can potentially be added after any month. For example,
this year an extra month was added after the 7th month so there were
two 7th months.
Here's an interesting bit of information. North Korea takes the year
of the birth of the founding president, Kim Il-Sung, in 1912 as the
first year of its calendar. This is referred to as the Juche (pronounced "joo-chey")
year. Therefore, the year 2006 in South Korea is 95 in North Korea.
3. Feature Article - Analysis of Recent Nuclear Test by North Korea
North
Korea has been building and testing ballistic missiles and taking other
provocative actions for years. It recently announced that it would
test a nuclear bomb and went on to carry out the test. The nuclear
test is best interpreted in the same light as these other actions.
While testing is a necessary part of weapons development, the tests
done by North Korea are mostly done for show and the intended audiences
are primarily the US and South Korean governments, and the North Korean
people. It was clearly a calculated political statement.
North Korea's first motivation for such actions is to create a deterrent
against military action by other countries. Its second motivation is
to paint the US and South Korea as aggressors to create a sense of
danger domestically that it can use as propaganda to help maintain
control over the country's population. Its third motivation is to get
a bargaining chip in order to obtain something it wants in negotiations
with other countries.
North Korea realizes that its powerful allies, Russia and China, are
either unable or unwilling to help defend it. It knows that it can't
win a war with the West by itself and has realized that its best defense
is to deter military action against it by making any war long and costly.
The primary goal of the North Korean regime is its continued existence.
It faces both external and internal threats. The external threat is
military action by the West, which may not actually be likely but is
definitely perceived as a very real threat by the North Korean regime.
The internal threats are economic collapse and the loss of control
over the population. Some people portray the North Korean regime as
irrational or insane but, to me, the brinksmanship of the North Korean
regime is rational and logical given that it is a regime on the brink
of collapse that is seeking to maintain itself.
North Korea's successful test of a nuclear bomb is a significant development
but it is unlikely that the country would actually launch a nuclear
strike against another country or hand it out to terrorists to use.
It is much more likely that North Korea would want to keep the bomb
for its deterrent and prestige value, or agree to give it up in negotiations
in exchange for something it wants.
After the test, the South Korean stock market indicator fell 2.41%,
which is an indication about how little South Koreans are really worried
about it. It is significant in diplomatic circles and the higher echelons
of government but not a big everyday concern for most businesses or
citizens in the short- to medium-term.
The wider implication is that because North Korea has demonstrated
it has the nuclear bomb, Japan will be under pressure from some sections
of the population to follow suit, which could increase tensions between
North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, US and Japan. There is a possibility
that this nuclear test will lead to an arms race or to actual military
conflict in the region but that depends on how other countries respond.
So far, none of the countries in the region seem interested in escalating
the situation because they appear to understand North Korea's actions
for what they are - a political statement.
South Korea has been following a policy of political and economic engagement,
the so-called Sunshine Policy, for the last several years in contrast
to the hardline approach it took previously. The South Korean government
will now need to seriously consider whether it can continue this. Perhaps
the North Korean regime itself wants to abandon the Sunshine Policy
and return to more hostile relations with the South because this can
be used by the North Korean regime to control its population.
North Korea's intention is most likely to be to force the US to negotiate
with it and sign an agreement that the US won't use military action
against North Korea or that it will provide aid and remove economic
sanctions in exchange for North Korea agreeing to give up nuclear weapons.
4. New Low-Cost International Telephone Service Launched
For a monthly
fee of W9,900 (about US$10), subscribers to a new service can make
untimed and unlimited calls from South Korea to any of 25 countries
from their mobile (cell) phones.
The service is offered by Hanaro Telecom, a reputable Korean company,
and calls are not transmitted through the Internet but over regular
fixed telephone lines.
The 25 countries are US, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan,
Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg),
UK, Spain, Sweden, France, Belgium, Vatican City, Germany, Italy, Ireland,
Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Denmark, and Luxemburg.
All calls to any of the 25 countries will be covered by the monthly
W9,900 fee but any calls within Korea or to other countries will be
billed separately. There are no contracts; subscribers are free to
cancel at any time.
In addition, calls to US, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vatican
City made from a nominated land line will also be covered by the W9,900
monthly fee.
Visit the following website for more information.
http://www.callever.co.kr/event/eng/
5.
Gambling in Korea
Korean culture traditionally has a negative attitude towards gambling
due to its Confucian heritage and legal gambling is quite restricted.
There are a few lotteries and horse racing tracks in Seoul, Jeju and
Busan but, prior to 2000, there were no casinos in South Korea for
use by Korean citizens.
There are a total of 15 casinos in South Korea open to foreigners but
only one of them is open to Korean citizens. The Gangwon Land Casino
is open to Korean citizens but was the subject of a lot of controversy
prior to and after its opening. Opponents were concerned about the
effect on families and the attraction of criminal elements, while proponents
argued that it would be good for the local economy which had been hit
hard by the closure of local coal mines. Since casinos for Koreans
were banned by law, the casino could only be established after the
government passed a special law to permit casinos for Koreans in areas
affected by mine closures.
Three new "7 Luck" branded casinos operated by a subsidiary
of the Korean Tourism Organization have recently been opened. They
are located in the COEX Exhibition Center in Seoul, the Millennium
Hilton Hotel in Seoul, and the Lotte Hotel in Busan. They are for foreigners
exclusively. http://www.7luck.com/en/
North Korea's one and only casino built by the Emperor Group of Hong
Kong in 1999 closed in 2005 due to a lack of patronage after China
banned its citizens from visiting the casino as a result of a series
of high profile cases of Chinese officials losing large amounts of
embezzled money in the North Korean casino.
Here is a list of casinos in South Korea:
Seoul
Paradise Walker Hill Casino www.seoulcasino.co.kr
7 Luck Casino COEX Exhibition Center http://www.7luck.com/en/
7 Luck Casino Millennium Hilton Hotel http://www.7luck.com/en/
Busan
Paradise Casino www.pusancasino.co.kr
7 Luck Casino Lotte Hotel http://www.7luck.com/en/
Incheon
Paradise Hotel & Casino http://incheon.paradisehotel.co.kr/en/
Jeju Island
Paradise Grand Casino www.grandcasino.co.kr
KAL Hotel Casino http://english.kalhotel.co.kr/
Hyatt Regency Hotel & Casino http://jeju.regency.hyatt.com/
Oriental Hotel Casino http://www.oriental.co.kr
Jeju Shilla Hotel Casino http://www.shilla.net/jeju/en/
Seorak Mountain
Seorak Park Hotel Casino http://www.hotelsorakpark.co.kr/english/
Daejeon
Riviera Hotel http://www.shinan.co.kr/Gp-Hotel/yusong-eng/home.asp
Gyeongju City
Gyeongju Chosun Hotel http://chosun.tokebi.co.kr/index01.htm (Korean)
+82-561-745-7701
Gangwon Province
Gangwon Land Casino http://www.kangwonland.com/en/Casino/
6.
Free Trade Agreement Negotiations
South Korea is currently negotiating
a free trade agreement with Canada. Negotiations started in late 2005
and the 8th round of negotiations will be held in Seoul in late November
this year.
As always, South Korea faces a dilemma in trade negotiations. On one
hand, it wishes to expand access to foreign markets for its manufactured
goods but, on the other hand, it is under domestic political pressure
to continue protection for major Korean agricultural products.
The Korea-US free trade agreement negotiations commenced in February
this year and the second round was completed in July. From Korea's
perspective, the difficult issues will be imports of agricultural products,
films and pharmaceuticals.
7. Getting Around Korea to Get
Easier
Korea's current address system can be very confusing and makes navigation
difficult. The present address system is based on land-lot numbers.
Cities are divided into municipalities (called Gu's) which are further
divided into subregions (called Dong's) and then land lots within those
subregions are numbered. Most streets have no names and buildings are
not numbered sequentially. Lot numbers are of no assistance for navigation
as they are not marked on maps. Navigating relies very much on local
knowledge.
Navigation is difficult for Koreans but almost impossible for non-Koreans
who don't have the ability to ask directions from locals. Thankfully,
that is set to change as Korea is in the process of switching over
to a street name and building number system.
The current system is blamed for increasing traffic congestion and
has been estimated to cost the economy US$4.5 billion a year. Korea
is the only country in the OECD using such a system.
The government started the changeover in 1997 and to date it has been
completed in 102 cities and counties. The process is expected to be
completed across the nation by 2009. Both systems will continue to
be used until the end of 2011 when the land-lot system will be phased
out completely.
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