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Seoul,
South Korea has some good points for doing business. For example,
relatively good infrastructure. However, things are not so great
with respect to how many corporations limit their operations to
the opening of branch offices in Seoul because they are tired
of expensive and time-consuming delays and in many cases, language
barriers, or labor riots. Many other Asian countries, including
Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore have no trouble with the international
language: English. Update: Additionally,
many foreign companies are pulling out of Seoul and South Korea
because it is just too expensive to do business there. In
many cases, crippling strikes by labor unions, increasing
demands by labor unions, rising costs, and the tanking
economy in South Korea and abroad are some of the reasons
why. South Korea is a tiny country, compared to China, which has
a large market, diverse consumer base and resources and relatively
inexpensive labor costs. However, with relatively inexpensive
labor costs come more uneducated labor and poor infrastructure
and communications systems. South Korea has an advantage over
China in that the labor is relatively more educated and more tech-saavy,
but labor costs are high and labor riots are frequent in South
Korea. In fact, many South Korean firms are leaving South Korea
for China, in effect giving Korean jobs to the Chinese.
Click
the play button to see a video of the extreme level of protection
at the U.S. Embassy and why it is there. Over
1,200 police are posted there while any other embassy in Seoul
might have one or two police at the gate. The US Embassy is the
biggest target in Seoul. Most of the risk is anti-American in
nature stemming from anti-American attitude of South Koreans.
A lot of this anti-Americanism not only stems from some of the
bad behavior of US soldiers, but even more by the flagrant and
disrespectful foreign policy of President Bush (for more information
on this, please read our Bush
Crime Family article).
Click
here to see
all our other videos. If you have trouble viewing, you can right
click on http://www.seoulsearching.com/videos/AmericanEmbassy.wmv,
and then click open. Must use Internet Explorer.
South
Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world. However,
there are some gaps when it comes to using the digital technology
to make life easier. Furthermore, Seoul's "Digital Media
City" won't open until the year 2010. In order for South
Korea to get ahead, they need to fix some issues at home.
Statistics
Show Vanishing Economy
Critics
Hammer Last-Ditch FDI Plan
Multinationals
will not follow through and invest large amounts of resources
in Seoul or South Korea. Visas and visa laws are very resrictive,
not allowing foreigners to do much of anything outside of working
for one company in a set period of time. Japan and China have
visas where you can work for any, or more than one, employer.
You can also change employers more easily. This is why the employment
scene in and around Seoul is essentially dead with respect to
foreigners, unless you want to become an English teacher and we
do not suggest that you consider that. If the South Korean Government
does not change their policies and adopt less stringent visa policies
while making the process for opening new business in and around
Seoul and South Korea a simple, and easy process, the job market
in South Korea will not look promising for foreigners.
Are
they trying to tell us something?
2004 has
already started off on a sour note due to massive corporate scandals,
labor riots, serious governmental problems, and what appears to
be a growing threat from the DPRK. As if that were not enough,
recent South Korean newspapers state that most foreigners doing
business in South Korea are very unhappy. An
article written by; Kim Ji-hyun on January 10th of 2004 of the
Herald Media said "Multinational companies operating
here have largely negative views of the business environment,
the Korea Investment-Trade Promotion Agency said yesterday in
a survey of 114 foreign companies the agency conducted last November,
41 percent said they were either "very unsatisfied" or "unsatisfied"
with the overall business environment in Korea. Only 16.7 percent
expressed positive views." A far from stellar report to say
the least. Worse yet, the Koreans hired a citizen from the U.K.
to run their KITA office! What's that say about their ability
to handle business relations and investment when a foreigner takes
over their primary agency responsible for attracting FDI? It seems
to us that there are many highly qualified South Koreans who could
handle that job. Or are we wrong?
After the
mass protesting of 2002 due to the acquital of the two American
soldiers of any wrong-doing when they accidentally ran over two
South Korean girls, some Koreans kidnapped American soldiers,
and targeted "white people" in general. Most South Koreans think
that if you are white, and speak English, you must be an American.
Considering that less than 15% of Americans have passports to
begin with and they don't usually go to South Korea, but rather
they go to Japan and China instead; this is one of many stupid
assumptions holding South Korea back from economic success.
Why is this
important? Because it shows the overall lack of the average South
Koreans' own confidence and perception about foreigners coming
to South Korea for one. It stereotypes all caucasian people as
Americans and because of that anti-American cold shoulder assumption,
the retailers being approached by would-be buyers of South Korean
products who may be from Canada, the U.K., Australia, or New Zealand,
for example, are treated poorly. This results in poor customer
service and a loss of potential business. Additionally, the fact
that many Koreans cannot speak the English language is a serious
problem for their overall long-term economic outlook. The label
of American English teacher being slapped on many caucasian visitors
to South Korea also makes an assumption that the visitor is incapable
of buying big-ticket items and again, this turns off many would-be
purchasers due to a sour reception from salespersons. In fact,
Koreans should be embracing English teachers (and non-English
teachers) from any walk of life because, like it or not, English
equals money. English is the international language. Those businesses
in any country capable of speaking English typically do better
than those who do not.
Poorly thought
out assumptions in any country to include the USA are dangerous
to social welfare, morale, economic stability, peace, and advancement.
Just look at George W. Bush's Administration in the USA as a fine
example. Continuing on this subject of assumptions, I was told
that certain floors of an E-Mart department store were for parking,
in a rude fashion, by store employees as I was pushing my fully-loaded
shopping cart to my car. I was also told that taxi's don't enter
the parking garage.
I then advised
the store employee that the Mercedes 600S parked in front of me
was my car. She then asked how an English teacher could afford
such a car! I told her I was not an English teacher, and moreover,
I was not an American. I have lost count of the many times Koreans
have assumed I am an American. She apologized in such a fashion
so as to suggest that she was sorry for assuming I was a second-class
citizen in her country. It is this mindset overall that is hurting
South Korea in whole, or in part and it can taint some visitor's
perceptions of South Korea. Moreover, even if I were an English
teacher, or American, or both, why is that justification to treat
someone poorly?
These Koreans
smash a window and attack the
American Chamber of Commerce.
Maybe that's
why China is seeing 36% growth while South Korea will be blessed
with 6% if they are lucky for 2004. You cannot ignore the 250,000
South Koreans protesting Americans while burning American flags
on international TV in front of Seoul City Hall. Millions and
millions of viewers around the world witnessed that. 2004 is no
better with a high level of anti-American vibe throughout Seoul.
That's no way to attract foreign direct investment and gain friends
and popularity. Not to mention the dubious scoring practices of
the World Cup in 2002, of which some Europeans are still sore
about.
As more and
more foreign direct investment dries up in South Korea and rolls
on into China where many people engaged in international business
speak English, South Korea will be left scratching their heads
and wondering what happened to their economic miracle. I have
seen so many online postings and written materials were previous
visitors to South Korea thought Koreans were rude, morally bankrupt,
corrupt, and behind the times, I've lost count. That's what people
report when they go home. Of course this is not the only side
of the story; many Koreans are friendly, helpful and polite. Even
China has not had that kind of bad press despite a Communist regime,
SARS, and numerous human rights issues looming over them. Most
people who travel to China enjoy it. The same cannot be said about
South Korea. The $741,000,000.00 USD tourism hole in 2002 has
not improved that much for South Korea. In 2004 South Korea will
be lucky to host 7 million tourists. For many, Japan and China
are a much better destination.
Many of South
Korea's cultural sites are in poor condition and don't get the
attention they deserve. It seems many South Koreans are so busy
trying to modernize (nothing wrong with that), that in many cases,
their cultural history is left to chance. It needs positive and
aggressive promotion. I've personally been to many such sites
and I love them. In fact, my new home is a Korean-style building
in traditional format. South
Korea has a prince. Little or nothing has been done to protect
the man, who is now in his 60's. He is a national treasure living
out of a low quality room and before that, his van. Issues like
this bring bad press, and really tend to make people wonder where
Koreans priorities are. If that priority is making money, major
changes in attitude need to come about in South Korea. Keep all
of this in mind when considering purchasing a home in South Korea
because a home is a long term investment.
Requirements
If
you plan on working in Seoul you'll need a residence card and
that involves being fingerprinted with the South Korean Immigration
Service. They run your fingerprints through various databases
to include the FBI and Interpol records in every country that
you have visited. If you are wanted or if you have a criminal
record, forget it. You'll be deported immediately. Click on this
link for visas.
For
more information on staying in Korea, visit South
Korea's Immigration Bureau.
Visas
Depending
on what kind of job you have, you will need a certain visa. Find
out what you need to know about living in Korea legally, how long
you can stay in Korea and More...
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