In a recent article in the New York Times, Korea was praised for the way in which its "aggressive conglomerates" were global leaders in some of the key frontiers of high technology. However, it went on to point out that there was an "unlikely commander" leading this attack on the world markets - the Korean government.The article made an important point though when it questioned whether, despite

The thorny issue of Internet privacy and identity theft has again been making headlines in South Korea over the past weeks, following the disclosure that hackers had stolen the identities of more than 200,000 people who had registered for the popular online game, Lineage. More than two million Koreans are apparently registered users of the game, owned by the company NCSoft.This breach of privacy

The dream for Korea to become a logistics hub country of Northeast Asia boosted by the opening of the Busan New Port on Jan. 19, 2006 appears to be at a standstill, as there is virtually no shipping utilizing it as yet.In that respect, there is growing criticism that it opened too hurriedly in imperfect circumstances in terms of its preparation, since full services can only be provided as they s

Possession of original technologies is key to competitiveness in world marketsIn his New Year's address, President Roh Moo-hyun stressed the nation should be confident, as "Korea is a dynamic nation whose people have acted up to its potential." As President Roh has said, Korea is undoubtedly a dynamic country that has a proud history of immense progress in various fields.In the IT field, in pa

Overdependence on IT exports an Achilles'HeelKorea's information technology (IT) industry is facing daunting challenges from global rivals to its competitive edge and market share. Whether the domestic makers of computer chips and flat display panels can prevail in this industrial war is important, as these sectors constitute the backbone of the national economy now. The Korean firms appear conf

Landmark trade figure lifts Korea to No.12 trading nationDespite the three-year economic stagnation, the nation is set for a new milestone achievement in global trade this year as the trade volume is to exceed $500 billion, making it the 12th largest trader in the world. More specifically, the figure for the year is expected to reach $545 billion, with $285 billion in exports and $260 billion in

Last Minute Checks Ensure Successful MeetThe countdown will begin tomorrow for the biggest political and economic event ever to be held in Pusan. About 10,000 government and business leaders from 21 countries will gather in Korea's second largest city on Nov. 18 and 19 to further liberalize trade and enhance security. This year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is attracting special att

Alocal biotechnology research team has recently won a U.S. patent for deriving human stem cells from leftover frozen embryos. This is another world first, lifting the domestic industry one level higher and reconfirming its international competitiveness. The latest achievement may be less sensational but less burdensome ethically than Prof. Hwang Woo-suk's method of using replicated embryos, which

Samsung's WaySamsung Electronics' $33-billion plan to build the world's largest semiconductor cluster attracts interest in two important ways. If everything goes as planned, Samsung will surpass Intel to emerge as the No. 1 chipmaker in the world by 2012, making a great contribution to the national economy. Still, one can't help but notice the recent announcement came as its parent group is emb

Government Should Bear Responsibility for Economic DownturnWith only three months left to go until the end of this year, the government again lowered economic growth for the year to 3.8 percent from the 4 percent level, which had already been revised from the 5 percent range. The government cited two factors for lowering the economic outlook - steep oil prices in international markets and the st

President Roh Moo-hyun enters the second half of his five-year tenure tomorrow with severe loss of public trust because of his poor management of state affairs in the first half. With a dramatic, yet marginal, victory in the 2002 presidential election, Roh took office amid high expectations that he would fairly administer government affairs in consideration of his reputation as a human rights lawy

The "Go-Dutch" drive launched last week by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a chaebol lobby, is desirable in many ways. One might wonder why the FKI is initiating a belated campaign now, when the biggest family-controlled conglomerates, including Samsung, Daewoo and Doosan, are embroiled in controversy due to bribery, fraud and property claims. Still, late is better than never in rectify

Acivic organization's report on Samsung Group's recruitment of bureaucrats, lawyers and journalists is not surprising, as it confirms the power of money. What is surprising, however, is how the 278 elites of Korean society were woven into the human network of the Samsung empire in the 1990s. Civic leaders' concerns about Samsung's excessive and omnipotent power may be somewhat exaggerated but cann

Moving State CompaniesThe government announced that 176 state enterprises and agencies are to be relocated to 12 provincial areas by 2012. This, along with the construction of an administrative capital about 200 km south of Seoul, is the core of the Roh administration's project to curb economic concentration in the capital in favor of a more balanced national development. The intention of the po

One may not need official statistics to know the state of economy, but the April figures were worse than expected. The growth of industrial production slowed to 3.8 percent from 4.9 percent in March, and both coinciding and leading indexes reflecting expectations for the present and future economy turned downward. The capital spending and capacity utilization ratios fell from the previous month an

The appreciation of the Chinese yuan increasingly appears to be a matter of when and how much amid the escalating U.S. pressure. So the two contrasting reports issued May 31 to analyze its effects on the Korean economy deserved some attention. One, released by the Bank of Korea, was rather positive, while the other, by the Federation of Korean industries, was negative. As the old saying goes, howe

3-Digit Exchange RateMore Proactive Economic Management NeededThe dollar? first slide below 1,000 Korean won in 89 months surprised few here. But that does not lessen the symbolic and realistic effect that the won-dollar parity rate returning to pre-financial crisis levels has on the economy. It is hard to know how low and long the greenback? fall might go, but Korea seems to have finally come

Tokyo? InsolenceStop Provocation for the Sake of Bilateral RelationsWords fail to describe how wily Tokyo has been in manipulating the Tokto (Dokdo) issue since it triggered disputes by laying claim to South Korea? easternmost islets. Once again, Tokyo has provoked Seoul with its education minister saying March 29 that Japanese students should be taught that Tokto belongs to their country.His

When the Roh Moo-hyun administration was inaugurated two years ago, there were expectations that it would substantially narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. However, the situation has further deteriorated, as demonstrated in a survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. Of the 3,000 people questioned by the government-run institute, 93.5 percent, or 2,605, said the income

It is still vividly remembered that the depletion of foreign exchange reserves drove the nation to the brink of collapse in 1997. The financial crisis, which put the nation under International Monetary Fund (IMF) management, was the outcome of the mismanaged foreign exchange policy, keeping the value of the won strong against the greenback. Although the crisis was quickly tided over but at the cos