Smartphone war set to rage in Korea

Smartphone war set to rage in Korea

Competition in the domestic smartphone sector is poised to heat up in the second half as handset makers are rolling out new models to take the leadership position in one of the world’s fastest growing markets. 

Apple’s iPhone 4 is scheduled to be launched in September with pre-orders starting Wednesday. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics plan to release their latest gadgets to challenge Apple’s dominance in their home turf.

The iPhone, which brought the smartphone boom to Korea last year, faces increasing competition from devices based on Google’s Android. 

Apple has sold more than 850,000 units through KT Corp., Korean No. 1 telecom carrier, since its debut here in November.

Its new iPhone 4 was initially scheduled to be released last month. But the plan has been delayed, providing room for its domestic rivals to catch up by revamping their product lineup.

Apple obtained the Korean government’s approval early this month for its domestic release.

KT expects the new iPhone to regain ground as soon as it’s the latest version goes on sale, though many in the industry are not sure that the iPhone 4 will repeat the stellar sales of its predecessor.

Korea ranks 15th in the ‘World’s Best Countries’

Korea is the 15th best country in the world, according to Newsweek magazine, and President Lee Myung-Bak is one of ten world leaders who “have managed to win serious respect.”

In a special issue, the U.S. newsweekly wrote, “[We] set out to answer a question that is at once simple and incredibly complex - if you were born today, which country would provide you the very best opportunity to live a healthy, safe, reasonably prosperous, and upwardly mobile life?”

With advice from an advisory board that included Joseph E. Stiglitz, the 2001 Nobel Prize-winning economist at Columbia University, the periodical ranked 100 nations according to five categories of well-being: education, health, quality of life, economic dynamism and political environment. Data from 2008 and 2009 were used for the rankings.

According to the magazine, Finland is the best country in the world, followed by Switzerland, Sweden and Australia. Japan was ranked 9th, the highest among Asian countries, and the United States ranked 11th.

In order to make the rankings more comprehensive, Newsweek made separate rankings for countries that fall into different income groups and sizes. Although Finland is ranked as the best country overall, Newsweek ranked Australia as the best medium-sized nation, Japan as the best big country, Albania as the best low-income nation, and Poland as the best upper-middle-income nation.

In specific categories, Korea ranked second in education, with a 97.9 percent literacy rate and 14.3 years of average schooling for its citizens.

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Korea-FSB Financial Reform Conference: An Emerging Market Perspective

Press Release

Release Date : Monday, August 16, 2010

 Korea's G20 Committee and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to host「Korea-FSB Financial Reform Conference: An Emerging Market Perspective」

Korea's Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) will co-host the「Korea-FSB Financial Reform Conference: An Emerging Market Perspective」on September 2-3.

* Financial Stability Board (FSB): Comprised of representatives from financial authorities and central banks of 24 major countries; plays a central role in coordinating and overseeing financial regulatory reform for the G20.
(Members from Korea:　Korea Financial Committee, Bank of Korea)

* Korea-FSB Financial Reform Conference: An Emerging Market Perspective 
(Venue: Seoul Grand Intercontinental Hotel)

This conference has been organized to increase the participation of non-G20 countries in G20 discussions on financial regulation, and to discuss adding a new agenda to the G20 table that would specifically reflect emerging markets' interests.

Representatives of both G20 and many non-G20 countries, such as Sweden, Kenya, Vietnam, Hungary, Morocco, Hong Kong, and Singapore are expected to participate.

The conference will be co-hosted by Korea, the first emerging country to chair a G20 Summit, and will serve as a platform for Korea to bridge the gap between advanced and emerging countries, as well as between the G20 and non-G20 countries.

By encouraging greater understanding between advanced and emerging countries through moderated discussions, Korea underscores its commitment to its growing role on the international economic stage. 

Four hundred representatives from financial authorities, financial institutions, international institutions, and academia, from an estimated sixty countries, are expected to participate in this conference.

Among the global opinion leaders from the international financial sector who will be invited to speak at the conference: Sakong Il, Chairman of the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit, Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator for the Financial Times, and Mario Draghi Chairman of the FSB.

Representing Institution	Speakers
Korea	Il SaKong (Chairman, Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit) Dong-Soo Chin (Chairman, Financial Services Commission) Yung Chul Park (Korea University) Hyun-Song Shin (Advisor to the President, Korea) Changyong Rhee (Secretary General, Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit) Je-Yoon Shin (Deputy Minister of Ministry of Strategy and Finance)
Private Sector	Martin Wolf (Financial Times), Avinash Persaud (Intelligence Capital)
International Institution	Mario Draghi (Chairman, FSB), Nout Wellink (Chairman, BCBS) Reza Moghadam (IMF), Janamitra Devan (WB), Stephen Cecchetti (BIS), Chief Economist from ADB, AfDB, EBRD
Governments	Heng Swee Kit (Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore) Paul Tucker (Deputy Governor, Financial Stability, Bank of England) Gordon Bajnai (Former Prime Minister of Hungary) Njuguna Ndung'u (Governor, Central Bank of Kenya) High-level officials from Thailand, Vietnam, Morocco, Sweden, Hong Kong
G20 Deputies	Yi Gang (Deputy Governor, People’s Bank of China) Manuel Ramos-Francia (Director General, Bank of Mexico) Lesetja Kganyago (Director-General, National Treasury, South Africa) Subir V. Gokarn (Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India)

Forum to discuss emerging markets

Seoul’s G20 preparation committee and the Financial Stability Board are co-hosting an emerging market conference on Sept. 2-3 in Seoul, the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit said Monday.

The conference aims to incorporate an emerging market perspective into the G20 and FSB financial reform agenda, and call attention to the increasing relevance of emerging markets to the world economy, the committee said.

Participants include policymakers and economists from major international organizations including the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements and the World Bank. 

G20 preparation committee chairman SaKong Il, chief presidential adviser Shin Hyun-song and Chin Dong-soo, the chairman of the Financial Services Commission, are some of the invited guests. 

The CEO-in-Charge: Lee Myung-Bak

S.Korea Develops Precision Space Measurement Technology

Local scientists have developed a super-precise measurement system that can help align telescopic satellites in space.

A team led by Professor Kim Seung-woo at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) says the technology, using femtosecond lasers, enables precise alignment measurements of up to one nanometer in vacuum environments similar to those found in space. 

Prior technologies only allow for alignment measurements of one millimeter.

Kim said that the discovery, which took about eight years, will allow for precise readings of up to one million kilometers. 

The team’s findings have been published by the British journal Nature Photonics.

S.Korean Civic Group Visits NK to Deliver Anti-Malaria Aid

A group of South Koreans has returned from North Korea after delivering four-million won worth of anti-malaria aid. 

The trip marked the first South Korean civilian visit to the communist state since Seoul banned trips to North Korea three months ago. The ban was set in protest over the sinking of one of South Korea’s warships, the Cheonan, in March near their Yellow Sea border.

The five-member group from the Korean Sharing Movement arrived in Gaeseong via an overland route on Tuesday morning and returned in the afternoon after delivering the aid to the North.

The Unification Ministry said that the government approved the trip as anti-malaria efforts should be made for the Korean peninsula. However, it also noted that at the same time, Seoul's position and policy on the North in relation to the Cheonan case remain unchanged.

'Build on G20 role to address Korea Discount'

Dominic Barton, chairman of McKinsey & Company

Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, South Korea has created one of the most impressive stories of rebirth in the world by transforming a war-ravaged agrarian economy into a global manufacturing powerhouse.

Over the past 60 years, Korea has seen its ranking rise sharply in the global economic league table, becoming the 13th largest economy in the world. Korean companies also flourished, with Samsung and POSCO emerging as international leaders in the respective manufacturing industries.

Following the global financial crisis, Korean firms are rising even further by capitalizing on the fall of global corporate heavyweights. However, there is something missing more importantly not improving as equally fast. It is the brand of Korea. Korea's brand is still undervalued compared to its economic size.

Against this backdrop, President Lee Myung-bak and his administration are seeking to use the G20 as an opportunity to strengthen its national brand and turn ‘Korea Discount’ into ‘Korea Premium.’

McKinsey & Company Chairman Dominic Barton believes that hosting the G20 would be a great chance to boost its international reputation but the event alone cannot be a magic solution to address the issue, recommending that Korea must come up with a long-term plan beyond the Seoul Summit.

“I think that the Seoul summit will enhance the brand image of Korea. But it will not lead to the disappearance of the “Korea Discount.” One meeting could never accomplish that goal, although the summit will be an important step forward,” Barton said.

“To address the “Korea Discount”, the country needs to build on its G20 role, demonstrating to the world on an ongoing basis its capacity for consistency of behavior, its openness, corporate governance and its willingness to lead on urgent global issues,” he added. “In addition, Korea needs to make the migration from an export-led manufacturer to a country with a world class service industry.”