Bloomberg (November 28)
“Fierce rivals, Samsung and Sony also face many of the same problems: overstretched businesses, a dearth of game-changing products, hierarchical corporate structures and proud places in their national psyches. But South Korea’s Samsung is proving how nimble even huge legacy names can be. Sony should pay attention.”
Tags: Corporate structures, Game-changing products, Hierarchy, Legacy, Nimble, Overstretched, Rivals, Samsung, Sony, South Korea
Wall Street Journal (November 27)
The free-trade agreements China recently won with South Korea and Australia serve as “a reminder that the rest of the world won’t stand still while Washington and Tokyo dither…. The U.S. and Japan need to transcend their domestic special interests and finish a Pacific trade pact if they want to compete with China for economic influence.”
Tags: Agreements, Australia, China, Compete, Economic influence, Free trade, Japan, South Korea, Special interests, Tokyo, TPP, U.S., Washington
Chosun Ilbo (August 29)
“Korea’s birthrate hit a record low last year due to a declining population of women of childbearing age and as a growing number of women married later in life.” Japan may be lamenting its own ultra-low birthrate of about 1.4%, but things are even worse in South Korea where the birthrate is just 1.187%. Unless the rate increases, South Koreans will die out by 2750. Based on similar projections, the Japanese are expected to last an additional 261 years before disappearing in 3011.
Tags: Birthrate, Childbearing, Japan, Marriage, Population, Projections, South Korea
New York Times (June 23)
“Any reasonable American strategy for managing China’s increasingly aggressive actions in Asia depends heavily on cooperation with Japan and South Korea.” Alas, a new report on comfort women, calling the sincerity of Japan’s 1993 apology into question, has again cast a wrench in relations with neighboring South Korea. Prime Minister Abe’s “continued willingness to play to that political fringe is interfering with Japan’s ability to carry on its leading role in the region.”
Tags: Abe, Aggression, Apology, China, Comfort women, Cooperation, Japan, Political fringe, Sincerity, South Korea, Strategy, U.S.
WARC (June 5)
“Digital advertising expenditure is set to grow across Asia in the next five years but most spectacularly in China where it will account for over half of all advertising by 2018,” as it grows from 40% of ad spend in 2013 to 55% in 2018. Other big gains are expected in South Korea (from 35% to 46%), Australia (30% to 43%) and New Zealand (19% to 28%).
Tags: Ad spend, Advertising, Asia, Australia, China, Digital, New Zealand, South Korea
Financial Times (April 3)
Chinese tourists are increasing in Japan, but they are positively flooding Seoul. “The streets of Seoul are full of Chinese tourists drawn by South Korea’s lavish department stores, its glamorous pop stars – and now its driving schools.” South Korea loosened its license requirements just as China tightened theirs, creating a new travel incentive. A license in South Korea is cheaper and only requires 13 hours of school versus 78 in China. As a result, Chinese students now outnumber Koreans at some South Korean driving schools.
Tags: China, Chinese, Department stores, Driving schools, Japan, Licenses, Pop stars, Seoul, South Korea, Tourists
The Economist (March 22)
“Global spending on basic infrastructure—transport, power, water and communications—currently amounts to $2.7 trillion a year when it ought to be $3.7 trillion. The gap is almost as big as South Korea’s GDP. And it is likely to grow fast.” To close the gap, governments need to step forward, and new ways need to be found to coax private capital investment in infrastructure.
Tags: Communications, Gap, GDP, Government, Infrastructure, Investment, Power, Private capital, South Korea, Spending, Transport, Water
New York Times (February 26, 2014)
Recent cross-border family reunions “reinforced the stark differences: South Korea is an economic powerhouse and democracy; North Korea is the most totalitarian and isolated state on earth. That reality is unlikely to change soon, but when it does, North Korean leaders must be brought to justice” for the atrocities recently disclosed by a special commission of the United Nations.
Tags: Atrocities, Democracy, Isolated, Justice, Leaders, North Korea, Powerhouse, Reunions, South Korea, Special commission, Totalitarian, UN
Bloomberg (January 22, 2014)
Bloomberg released its annual rankings of the best countries for business in 2013 and these were 1. Hong Kong, 2. Canada, 3. U.S., 4. Singapore, 5. Australia, 6. Germany, 7. United Kingdom, 8. Netherlands, 9. Spain and 10. Sweden. Japan slid from #3 in 2012 to #12, but still finished ahead of South Korea (#13) and China (#28).
Tags: Australia, Business, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Ranking, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, U.S., UK
Financial Times (December 10, 2013)
“South Korea was one of the only winners in the summer’s emerging market sell-off, sparked by fears about the outlook for US monetary policy.” In search of a safe haven, foreign buyers poured into South Korea, but now they are pouring out in favor of more promising markets. “Caught between Japan’s fresh Abenomics-fuelled rally and reform-gripped China, South Korea looks in need of a new narrative.”South Korea, Emerging markets, Sell-off, Outlook, U.S., Monetary policy, Safe haven, Foreign buyers, Abenomics, Rally, Reform, China, South Korea
Tags: Abenomics, China, Emerging markets, Foreign buyers, Monetary policy, Outlook, Rally, Reform, Safe haven, Sell-off, South Korea, U.S.
