is Coming to Korea - Korea IT Times

February 2010 / Vol. 68 

U.S. $10.00 / KOR.₩12,000 

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ISSN 1739-2950 

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ISSN 1739-2950 




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Contents 

10 Editorial 

2036, the End of the World 

12 Forcast 

The Outlook on the Korea's 

Electronics Industry 

18 Interview 

Convergence of IT and 

the 2018 Winter Olympics 

2018 PyeongChang Olympics Bidding 

Committee and Samsung Group turn 

the heat up to combine IT with the 

Olympics 

20 3D Convergence 2010 

It’s Raining 3D! 

22 Wonderful KOREA 

Major Four Projects Being Pushed to 

Attract 10 Million Foreign Tourists 

Cover Story 

16 e-Book Revolution 

Apple, Iriver, Samsung, Barnes and 

Noble All in Competition 

24 Hot Issue 

Universal Studios is Coming to Korea 

26 Successful Story 

Success Does Not Happen Overnight 

Content producing companies talk 

about their success stories 

28 Products 

South Korea's Hit Export Goods 

in 2010 

30 Academia 

Step to Globalization 

KICS's Major Plan to Strengthen IT 

31 Business 

KEPCO Signs an Uranium Mining 

Partnership with Areva SA 

32 Policy 

PPS Aims to Export E-Procurement 

System to Africa, Latin America 

34 Nuclear 

The Best Nuclear Power Plant Design 

by KOPEC 

KOPEC’s world-class design technology 

lays the foundation for the successful 

construction of nuclear power 

plants in the UAE 

35 Debate 

Search Engine War 

Google vs. Baidu 

36 Samsung History 

Hail the Father of Business, 

Lee Byung-chul 

Celebrated its centenary year of Hoam 

Lee Byung-chul’s birthday 

38 Energy Efficient products 

The Most Energy-Efficient Home 

Appliances 

40 Open Incheon 

Comming Soon : 

Ubiquitous Business Town 

44 Finance 

Great Innovation Campaign by 

KODIT 

www.koreaittimes.com 7


Publisher 

Kim Tae-sub, Dr. Cho Sung-kap 

Chairman | Han Kon-ju 

President | Chung Youn-boo / Monica 

Special Advisor 

Dr. Shin Kook-hwan, Dr. Yang Seung-taik 

Dr. Kim Hak-su, Dr. Youn Hwa-Jin 

Advisor 

Cha Joo-hak, Lee Sung-man, Lim Kyung-hee 

Executive Vice President (COO) 

Lim Se-jong 

Managing Director 

Seo Doo-won, Henry Chun 

Chief Editor 

Monica Chung 

Supplement Director 

Kim Joo-hyung 

Managing Editor 

Staff Writer 

Assistant Editor 

Chun Go-eun 

Lee Kyong-hwan 

Nick Antolini 

Staff Reporters 

Yeon Choul-woong, Ryan Schuster, 

Bang Jung-hyun, Lee Kyung-min, 

Daniel Ko, Song Kyu-yeol, Lee Si-young 

Yoon Yo-tam, Steve Kwak, Kim sun-hong, 

Park Se-jin, James Lee 

Realtime News Team 

Oh Hae-young, Lee Chung-moo 

Jeon Kyung-sook, Koo Won-hum, Sam Roe 

Columnists 

Ko Ki-wan, Kim Kyung-nam 

Moon Kim, Park Se-jin 

Lee Edward, Lee Jun-young 

Freelance Reporter 

Matthew Weigand, Tim Alper 

Photographer 

Shin Sung-won 

Marketing Manager 

Kim Jae-hwan 

Knowledge Information Team 

Chung Young-tae, Cho Hee-sang 

Business Manager 

Circulation Manager 

Administration Manager 

Sales Manager 

Publication Team Manager 

Financial Auditor 

Financial Secretory 

Correspondents 

Kim Chang-ho 

Park Mi-jung 

Kim Si-hwan 

Yoon Jong-jin 

Ko Yeon-sang 

Choi Eun-kyung 

Cho Hye-kyung 

N.America 

Illinois | Steve Kwak, yoon Yo-tam 

Boston | Kim sun-hong 

New York | Park Sejin, Kim In-sik 

Wasington D.C. | Lee Jun-young, David J.Ahlgren 

San Fransicso | Seth Hutchinson 

Europe 

Germany | Agnieszka Wykowska 

France | Mario Mongilardi 

United Kingdom | lgor Verner 

Southeast Asia | Lee Jin-bok 

Far East | Kim Moon-soo 

China | Cathy Ding 

Oceania | You In-kyung 

SW Asia | Akram Koultakji 

M.East | Chris Christodoulou 

Magazine Design | Kim Seung-o 

46 India special 

Two Heads are Better than One 

Korea and India make a determined 

effort to control Asia 

47 University 

Expect The Unexpected 

SNU research team led by Professor 

Park Byung-gook presents something 

innovative 

48 India special 

Information Technology in India 

50 Buddhism in India 

52 How to.. 

How to...Promote Your Products 

54 Electronics Special 

Memoir of TFT LCD 

56 Colum 

Samsung Electronics of 

the Bio Instruments Industry 

58 Colum 

Talking Business and Economics 

With a Prominent Professor 

59 Analysis 

Is Sunflower Oil The Next Fuel? 

60 Investment Guide 

62 Technology 

KERI Selects Ten Technologies 

That Will Shake The World 

KERI in concert with George 

Washington University and KISTI 

64 Policy 

All Alike, All Different 

The newly merged telecommunications 

market will wipe away cultural 

paradigm 

66 News in Brief 

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by Air Mail | Newsstand in South Korea: US$ 10.00(12,000 won)per copy | Within South Korea: US$110.00 (132,000won) per year (12 issues) | Asia: US$ 150.00 per year (12 issues) | 

N.America, Europe and Middle East: US$ 200.0 per year (12 issues) | Africa, Central and South America and South Pacific: US$ 225.00 per year (12 issues) 

8 KOREA IT TIMES | February 2010

Editorial 

2036, 

the End 

of the 

World 

The Bible speaks of two meteors hitting 

the earth; one in the sea and one on land. 

Revelation 8:8 - 11 depicts, "The second 

Angel trumpeted. Something like a huge 

mountain blazing with fire was flung into 

the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, 

a third of the living sea creatures died, and 

a third of the ships sank. The third Angel 

trumpeted. A huge Star, blazing like a 

torch, fell from Heaven, wiping out a third 

of the rivers and a third of the springs. The 

Star's name was Wormwood. A third of 

the water turned bitter, and many people 

died from the poisoned water." Is this 

how our planet will meet her demise like 

it is depicted in the Bible with a blazing asteroid 

falling from the heavens? Thus, 

there have been many predictions from all 

over the world and through the ages and 

some believe it will be a theatrical event 

and they call it end of the world. 

There have been many end of the world 

predictions over the centuries. From the 

Mayas to Nostradamus and from mythology 

to science. For example, the year 

2000 was supposed to be the end of days 

because in numerology, if you divide 2000 

by three, you will get the devil's number 

666.666. Biblically, May 21, 2011 is the 

equivalent date to the date when God shut 

the door on Noah's ark. Another example 

is the ancient Mayans and the grand cycle 

of evolution will culminate on the winter 

solstice of December 21, 2012. And this 

will end the 5,125 year Great Cycle of the 


Editorial 

Ancient Maya Long Count Calendar. In 

addition, the famous prophesier Michel de 

Nostradamus or more formally known as 

Nostradamus also depicts 2012 as the end. 

Nostradamus's most famous prophecies 

are the predictions of Napoleon, Hitler 

and 9/11. Thus, the one that seems the 

most statistically probable is 2036 because 

the asteroid Apophis will supposedly collide 

with the Earth. 

Apophis was discovered in 2004, by astronomers 

and is named after the Egyptian 

god of "uncreation". The size of Apophis 

is a 300-metre-diameter chunk of rock. At 

first there was a 2.7 percent chance that 

Apophis would hit the Earth. However, 

NASA recalculated the luckily hood of a 

collision as of now the prediction is 1 in 

250,000 chance of a collision. Nevertheless, 

Russia does not believe in NASA stats and 

is persisting that our lives are in danger 

and that Apophis will be closer to Earth 

than the TV satellites. In turn, this might 

make 2036, the year when we all perish in 

cataclysmic event. 

In the event of this cataclysmic event, 

the rock would hit with energy equivalent 

to a 500 megaton nuke barrage. Or if more 

than half of all the nuclear weapons in the 

US arsenal went off. To put this into perspective 

the size of Seoul is 233 square 

miles and one megaton nuclear bomb creates 

a firestorm that can cover 100 square 

miles. A 20 megaton blast covers 2500 

square miles. Thus, the destructive power 

from a 500 megaton nuke is enormous. 

The threat of an asteroid crashing into 

Earth has captivated the imaginations of 

many movie audiences. For example, remember 

in the movie Armageddon, 

NASA discovered that there is an asteroid 

roughly the size of Texas heading towards 

the Earth, and when it does hit the Earth, 

the planet itself and all of its inhabitants 

will be obliterated. The military decides to 

fire a nuclear warhead to blow up the asteroid. 

It turns out that Russia has seen 

this movie a few too, many times and is 

working to develop a very realistic plan to 

counter such a threat. They will design defensive 

measures against Apophis or future 

asteroids. One of Russia's defensive 

strategies is to deflect the asteroid by using 

nuclear weapons. Another strategy is to 

use a spacecraft to deflect the asteroid out 

of the Earth's orbit. Anatoly Perminov 

who is a Russian rocket scientist and a mechanical 

engineer insists that we should 

develop a multimillion system to prevent 

Apophis from colliding with the Earth. 

Apophis just that word will strike fear into 

the hearts of men and women. 

Apophis will be visible with the naked 

eye in 2029 as a point of intense torch 

burning across the sky. Yet in 2029, 

Apophis probably will not collide with the 

Earth. The most spine-chilling outcome is, 

if Earth’s gravity affects the path of 

Apophis, it will swing back around and 

2036 will be the end of the world. 

Real-time News 

JDC, Singapore- 

Based SUTL Signed 

MOU for Jeju Marina 

Development 

Jeju Free International City Development 

Center (JDC) signed an MOU with 

Singapore-based marina development 

and operation company SUTL for the 

development of Jeju marina. JDC on the 

12th held an MOU signing ceremony at 

the 11th floor of its headquarters, inviting 

JDC employees, including Jong-il Byon, 

chairman and CEO, and Arthur Tay, 

chairman of SUTL, to sign the MOU. 

Under the MOU, JDC will receive consulting 

from SUTL, ranging from the 

planning to development stages of the 

marina project, which will become a new 

growth driver for value-added business. 

The major points of the MOU are providing 

consulting service during the stage 

of planning for the marina facilities, soliciting 

potential investors jointly with JDC 

according to prearranged plans, and participate 

in investment, development and 

operations when establishing a JV company. 

In particular, JDC plans to utilize 

SUTL's network, which has successfully 

developed and operated world-class 

marinas, to attract investment for the project. 

Last year JDC invited a SUTL delegation 

to Jeju to explain the investment 

environment, and Byon made a personal 

visit to "One 5 Marina Club" in Singapore 

to pursue investment in Jeju. During the 

meeting, SUTL expressed its strong interest 

in the project and desire to make direct 

investment when the project plan is 

finalized. With the participation of 

SUTL, JDC is expecting Jeju Marina 

Develop-ment, which had been seen as a 

idle land, to be facilitated through the 

company's world-class knowhow. 


Forecast | Prospects of Korea Electronics Industry in 2010 

The Outlook on the Korea's 

Electronics Industry 

The outlook on the electronics industry 

The Korean economy has been showing signs of rapid recovery 

since the second quarter of 2009. Asset prices started to go 

back to normal levels and private consumption has been on the 

rebound, boosted by economic stimulus packages. In addition, 

exports have bounced back by volume since June of 2009. Real 

economic indicators have been improving and leading economic 

indicators are pointing to a continuous economic recovery in the 

future. 

However, on the grounds that one-off factors - such as the low 

base effect from the previous year, economic stimulus packages 

and exchange rate effects- have played a large part in fueling the 

rapid economic recovery, the Korean economy is highly likely to 

grow at a slower pace in the future. In the first half of 2009, government-led 

spending and investments in public works paid off, 

while increased consumption of durable goods, driven by economic 

stimulus packages, came into play after midyear 2009. 

somewhat hampered by advanced nations' debt restructuring, the 

expansion of protectionism, and so on. 

International oil prices have been rising faster than expected 

owing to financial factors such as a weak US dollar. As the global 

economy takes a turn for the better, high oil prices are expected to 

linger for some time. However, in terms of fundamentals, demand 

is not as strong as it used to be, so the probability of additional 

gains in international oil prices stays low. 

The global economy is on the rebound 

The global economy has entered a recovery phase, ending the 

chapter of the global economic recession, brought on by the global 

financial turmoil, but the recovery pace is expected to be moderate. 

Judging from economic indicators, it is fair to say that the 

real economies of leading nations have started to turn around 

since the second half of 2009. 

While advanced economies are likely to grow a mere one percent 

in 2010, emerging markets are expected to lead the global 

economic recovery. The recovery of global trade is projected to be 

The Korean economy grows 4.8 percent 

thanks to the low base effect 

In 2010, S. Korea is expected to see its economy continue to 

pick up - though, at a slower pace, with projected GDP growth of 

4.8 percent in 2010 thanks to the low base effect stemming from 

the first half of 2009. The low base effect is likely to widen the gap 

between economic growth in the first half of 2010 and that of the 

second half. Except for the low base effect, a real economic recovery 

or a sensible economic recovery will be much more modest. 

When the low base effect from the first half of 2009 is excluded, 

the second half of 2010 is likely to see the Korean economy rise 

3.3 percent. 

There are fear factors such as the possibility of the global economy's 

double-dip recession on the heels of exit strategies and the tapering 

effects of economic stimulus packages; and the probability 

of increased volatility in international oil prices and exchange 

rates that would follow possible dips in the value of the dollar. 

Rising inventory levels of major industries, however, are likely to 

jack up economic growth for 2010. 


Forecast 

The 21st century's living 

room might not just be a 

living space, but also 

a total multimedia space 

In the mid term, on the grounds that the global export market is 

on shaky ground as there is likely to be a long way to go before 

the tumbled global trade goes back to pre-recession levels, the economic 

recovery, this time around, will be milder. Facility investment 

is expected to post double-digit growth thanks to recoveries 

in consumption and exports and the low base effect. 

Automobiles, displays and semiconductors are expected to spearhead 

growth in facility investments. 

Export gains and trade surpluses 

In 2010, the global economic recovery is projected to ramp up 

exports and imports. Despite a strong won, the US-led global economic 

recovery will help S. Korea's exports climb around 13 percent. 

Imports are expected to soar as much as 20 percent, boosted 

by recovering domestic demand, rising international raw material 

prices, increased imports of intermediate goods (caused by export 

booms) and the low base effect from 2009. As imports are likely 

to outrun exports, S. Korea's trade surplus would hover around 

US$ 24 billion, a steep fall from 2009. 

Customs-cleared exports – which dropped 13.8 percent yearon-year 

to US$ 363.9 billion in 2009 – are expected to rise 12.8 

percent to US$ 410.5 billion in 2010. On the other hand, customs-cleared 

imports that shrank 16.7 percent to US$323.6 billion 

in 2009 are projected to zoom up by 19.6 percent to US$ 

386.9 billion in 2010. S. Korea's trade balance is expected to 

dwindle to US$ 23.6 billion in 2010 from US$40.3 billion in 2009. 

The IT industry drives up domestic demand in 

manufacturing 

The release of Windows 7, the World Cup 2010 in South 

Africa, the expansion of smartphone markets, and increased demand 

for LED and solar cells are likely to boost domestic demand 

in the IT industry more than in any other industry. 

Sales of displays, in particular, are projected to surge 41 percent 

thanks to the low base effect and booming front-line industries. In 

the non-IT industry, domestic demand for general machinery and 

steel will gain 10 percent thanks to a rebound in construction and 

facility investments. And demand for textile and textile chemicals 

will slowly inch up, while that for automobiles and shipbuilding is 

likely to be in the doldrums. Sales of automobiles are expected to 

lose 1.4 percent due to weakened purchasing power resulting 

from mounting household debts and the expiration of "tax deductions 

for clunkers" program. 

Production of the IT industry is projected to pick up thanks to 

gains in exports and imports. The low base effect and recoveries 

in exports and domestic demand will help most industries turn 

around. The IT industry will be the driving force behind the production 

growth in manufacturing. The production of displays is 

likely to rise 11.2 percent, while that of semiconductors and information 

& communications equipment is predicted to increase 6-7 

percent. On the other hand, the production of home appliances is 

forecast to gain a disappointing 2.1 percent as the levying of individual 

consumption tax on home appliances puts a damper on 

the sales of big ticket items. 

Exports go up 10.8 percent 

Although a strong won can put downward pressure, exports 

are expected to jump 10.8 percent, remaining similar to 2008 levels, 

as exports to emerging markets, led by China, continue to 

grow. The IT industry – whose exports are expected to climb 

15.2 percent thanks to such improvements in export conditions 

as the World Cup 2010 in South Africa and the launch of 

Windows 7 - is likely to lead export activities in manufacturing. 

Exports of semiconductors, displays, information & communications 

equipment, and home appliances are expected to advance 

17.0 percent, 15.1 percent, 14.3 percent and 13.4 percent respectively. 

Of the total exports, the combined share of shipbuilding, 

information & communications equipment, automobiles, and 

semiconductors is forecast to amount to 41 percent. Each of the 

four industries has an around 10 percent share of the total exports. 

Imports go up 12.4 percent 

In 2010, the revenues of the top 10 major industries are projected 

to gain 12.4 percent due to the low base effect from 2009 

when their revenues tumbled 24 percent, but still they are expected 

to fall short of 2008 levels. 

The IT industry's imports will rise 14.8 percent, boosted by increased 

demand for parts imports for export goods, growing reimwww.koreaittimes.com 

13

Forecast | Prospects of Korea Electronics Industry in 2010 

deductions for clunkers" program. In the post-crisis periods, S. 

Korea's export gains, relative to other rivaling economies, are estimated 

to have rested largely on exchange rate effects and major 

economies-boosting efforts. 

When S. Korea is compared to Japan who has a similar trade 

structure, S. Korea's relative export booms seem to be attributable 

to price falls and the effect of payability, brought on by the weak 

won. Exchange rate effects and decreased demand for high-end 

Japanese goods during the financial crisis are responsible for 70 

percent of S. Korea's relative export booms. 

portation of products and parts produced overseas ,and foreign 

brands' inroads into the Korean market. The slump in exports 

and imports in 2009 was largely due to a decrease in unit prices 

that came on the heels of global recession-triggered volume reductions, 

a weak won and a drop in raw material prices. As for exports, 

by volume, they reversed course and ticked up after June of 

2009. A strong won, the global economic recovery, and rising oil 

prices have started to push up the unit prices of exports and imports. 

Exports of IT goods such as displays and semiconductors 

are showing signs of rapid recovery. 

The global economic recession has made a dent in S. Korea's 

exports, but, in view of major economies, S. Korea has fared well 

in relative terms. When post-financial crisis export growth is compared, 

S. Korea's export loss is milder than other major 

economies. After the global credit crunch struck, flagship export 

items have seen their market shares significantly increase in the 

global market. Since these relative booms are believed to hinge on 

exchange rate effects, the appreciation of the won is predicted to 

detract from the booms in the future. However, in light of the 

long spell of a weak won and the fact 

that the won-dollar exchange rate, unlike 

other major currencies, is still at 

high levels compared to during the 

pre-financial crisis periods, the relative 

booms are estimated to continue 

for the time being if the won-dollar exchange 

rate slowly goes downward. 

The real economy has been showing a 

faster-than expected recovery, propped 

up by the Korean government's aggressive 

economic stimulus packages 

and recovering asset prices. One-off 

factors, such as economic stimulus 

packages and a weak won, need to be 

taken into consideration. Private consumption 

posted year-on-year growth 

of 0.6 percent in the last third quarter 

due largely to the government's "tax 

Exports of home appliance are expected to 

advance 13.4 percent 

Amid improving consumer confidence, helped by wide-spreading 

optimism about the Korean economy since the second half of 

2009, domestic demand for home appliances is projected to gain 

3.8 percent in 2010, breaking the cycle of decline in 2009. 

Exports of home appliances are likely to advance 13.4 percent 

in dollar terms in 2010, bolstered by the World Cup 2010 in 

South Africa, enhanced branding power of S. Korean white 

goods suppliers, reinforced competitiveness, expansion of overseas 

economic cooperation, and the continuation of China' unrivalled 

economic growth. 

In dollar terms, exports are expected to grow, but a strong won 

is likely to send the won-converted value of exports growth into 

turning negative. In addition, expected sluggish growth in domestic 

demand is likely to weigh down the production of home appliances 

that is forecast to edge up a mere 2.1 percent in 2010. On 

the other hand, imports of home appliances will surge 14.8 percent, 

dwarfing export gains, on the back of the low base effect 

from the previous year and the strong won- which have pushed 

down the prices of imports, fueling demand for high-end and lowend 

imported goods, and parts needed 

to manufacture export goods. 

The 21st century's 

cutting-edge 

home appliances 

Exports of information & 

communications equipment 

are likely to jump 

14.3 percent 

Domestic demand is forecast to rise 

15.1 percent year-on-year, shored up 

by an increase in the shift from 2G to 

3G mobile phones, expanded smartphone 

markets, high demand for 

equipment needed to build telecommunications 

networks, and the release 

of Windows 7. Exports of information 

& communications equipment 

are predicted to climb 14.3 percent 

year-on-year thanks to the recovery 

of the global mobile phone mar- 


Forecast 

Samsung PAVV 

makes change 

in picture quality 

ket, the growing global market for 3G and 

smartphones, rising demand for information 

devices at the tail of the release of 

Windows 7, and the low base effect from 

2009. Although the overseas production of 

cell phones is likely to increase, production 

of cell phones is likely to gain 7.1 percent 

year-on-year thanks to the overall recovery 

in domestic demand and exports. Imports 

are forecast to ascend 13.8 percent yearon-year, 

boosted by growing demand for 

information & communications equipment, 

increased parts imports for booming 

mobile phone exports, global information 

& communications equipment giants' forays 

into the Korean market- for instance, 

Apple's iPhone. 

Exports of displays are expected 

to jump 15.1 percent 

Domestic demand for displays is projected 

to zoom up by 41 percent as the release 

of Windows 7 would drive growth in 

demand for IT equipment and a drop in 

LCD TV prices would boost demand. 

Exports are also likely to post a 15.1 percent 

hike as growing demand for displays, 

helped by the World Cup 2010 in South 

Africa, is expected to offset other pricelowering 

factors and the previous year's 

impressive export gains. 

Production is predicted to increase 11.2 

percent as the World Cup 2010 in South 

Africa, booming exports, and the low base 

effect overshadow oversupplies in the first 

half. Imports will escalate 10.6 percent as 

demand for IT equipment shows signs of 

improvement and domestic shortages of 

IT goods would lead to more demand for 

imports. 

Exports of semiconductors 

are predicted to ascend 17 

percent 

Domestic demand for semiconductors 

is expected to mount 7.4 percent as exports 

of DTV, smartphones, and vehicles 

boomed, and promotion of the green grow 

industry led to growing demand for LED 

and solar cells. 

Exports of semiconductors are likely to 

surge 17 percent thanks to expected computer 

replacements and high demand for 

netbooks on the heels of the release of 

Windows 7. Production of semiconductors 

is expected to gain 6 percent as rivaling 

nations delay their facility investments, 

hampering the speedy expansion of supplies. 

Imports of semiconductors are predicted 

to soar 15.8 percent as the domestic 

production of system-on-a-chip (SoC), 

needed for digital home appliances and 

mobile phones, is not possible in S. Korea, 

and export markets for applied products 

continue to expand. 

Yeon Choul-woong / bruceyeon@koreaittimes.com 

[Source : KEA] 


Cover Story 

e-Book Revolution 

Apple, Iriver, Samsung, Barnes and Noble All in Competition 

The digital trend has changed our life style. Now we listen to digital music on a small 

portable device and watch movies using DVD, Blu-ray Disk, or sometimes files downloaded 

from bittorrent. The digital movement has finally come to printed media. Some people 

still prefer an old style book reading because the feeling of turning pages cannot be replaced 

with e-book readers. However, the technology has brought many advantages to e- 

books over paperbacks. Thousands of books can be stored in one device that is usually thinner 

and lighter than most textbooks. It is cheaper to produce, easy to distribute, and more 

convenient for sharing content with friends and colleges. Most of all, e-books are environmental-friendly. 

The digital content can be distributed over various networks without cutting 

down millions of trees. Books will not go away any time soon, but the digital movement 

will only gain momentum. More and more people are changing to digital media and 

various electronic products are created to improve our reading habit. 

Amazon - Kindle 

Since Amazon, the online shopping 

mall giant, released its first e-book reader, 

Kindle, in 2007, it changed the e-book industry. 

Amazon Kindle used the electronic 

paper display which closely resembles 

prints on a paper. The device has great 

readability without causing eye strain and 

has a long battery life which has made it a 

popular choice for e-book readers. After 

the great success of Kindle, Amazon 

launched two new e-book readers last year 

- Kindle 2 and Kindle DX. Kindle 2 has a 

6-inch display with 16-level gray scale in a 

thickness of 9.1mm. The device can store 

up to 1,500 books in a 2GB internal memory 

and the battery lasts approximately for 

50 hours. Three months after releasing 

Kindle 2, Amazon released a bigger model, 

Kindle DX. It has a 9.7-inch display 

with 4GB storage which can hold approximately 

3,000 books. 

The strength of Kindle is not just in 

hardware, but in content. Currently, over 

400,000 books are available to download 

16 KOREA IT TIMES | February 2010 

for Kindle devices. E-books can be downloaded 

over AT&T's 3G wireless network. 

Amazon is trying to pursue its success in 

the U.S. to the global market. Amazon released 

international versions of Kindle in 

over 100 countries. The combination of 

hardware and large content has made the 

Kindle a leader in the e-book industry. 

Barnes and Noble - Nook 

The biggest off-line book store chain in 

the U.S. could not just sit and watch the e- 

book trend go by. Barnes and Noble have 

challenged Amazon Kindle with its new e- 

book reader named Nook. On Nov. 2009, 

Barnes & Noble launched the 6-inch e- 

book reader with dual screens, a 6-inch e- 

ink main display and a 3.5-inch color 

touchscreen LCD on the bottom as the input 

device. Nook users can see the book 

cover on the bottom screen and choose to 

read a book on the main screen. The device 

does not have a physical keyboard, 

but a virtual keyboard on the LCD screen 

that makes it easy to search and type. The 

Nook 

storage consists of 2GB internal memory 

and a microSD slot which can be expanded 

up to 16 GB which translate to approximately 

17,500 books and magazines. 

Unlike Kindle, Nook has a unique sharing 

feature. Most purchased e-books can 

be shared with friends or families, who 

have Nook or Barnes and Noble e-book 

application, for up to two weeks at a time. 

Nook is based on Google's Android platform 

and more applications are expected 

for the device.

Amazon Kindle 

Samsung - E6/E101 

Samsung has been quiet on e-book devices, 

but it is time for Samsung to jump 

on the e-book reader bandwagon. Korea's 

biggest electronic company has introduced 

two e-books at CES 2010 - E6 and E101, 

which have a 6-inch and 10-inch e-ink displays, 

respectively. It has a sliding keyboard 

with a stylus pen. Since the device 

does not use a backlight, it can last up to 

two weeks with a 4-hour charge. It supports 

802.11 b/g wireless and Bluetooth, 

but no 3G support. Samsung partnered 

with Google to provide public domain 

books and the content can be shared with 

other e-book reading devices. The interesting 

feature is the touch screen that can be 

used to write notes. 

Iriver - Story 

Iriver is known for its portable audio 

and video electronic devices, but since the 

portable device market is oversaturated, 

the company stepped into the e-book reader 

territory. Iriver's e-book reader, Story, 

has a 6-inch e-ink display support various 

file formats including PDF, ePUB, TXT, 

PDF, DOC, PPL, XLS, HWP, ZIP 

(JPEG, BMP, PNG), and it also supports 

(MP3, WMA, OGG) with voice recording 

feature. Iriver made a partnership with 

Kyobo a Korean book store, to provide 

content in Korea. 

Samsung's 

E6 and E101 

Apple - iPad 

The recent announcement of Apple's 

iPad made great buzz around the tech industry. 

iPad is not a traditional e-book 

reader that uses e-ink technology, but it is 

a tablet device with iBook application that 

can be used to read e-book content along 

with numerous other features. Apple also 

announced the iBookstore to sell ePub 

content by signing with several publishers. 

Although iPad does not have a hundred 

hour long battery life or super readability 

outside like other e-book readers, it has 

many advantages over them. iPad uses a 

IPS LCD screen for its vibrant color display 

which is great for books and magazines 

with lots of pictures and photos. 

Also, the movie or interactive function can 

be added to the content. The touch screen 

is quicker and more responsive. Itune is 

what made iPod a great music player and 

App store is what made iPhone a great 

smartphone. The iBookstore will make 

iPad a great device for avid e-book readers 

and it may raise the bar for the new e-book 

industry. 

There are a lot of e-book readers available 

on the market. Although many of 

them share common features, each device 

has its own unique functions with some 

strengths and weaknesses. The combination 

of innovative hardware with good 

content will lead the e-book market. This 

year may well be the turning point for the 

e-book industry with so many products 

and content development. Newspapers, 

magazines, and books will be delivered to 

your e-book reader instead of your front 

door. 

Chun Go-eun /clairbear@koreaittimes.com 

Song Kyu-yeol / song@koreaittimes.com 


Interview 

Convergence of IT and 

the 2018 Winter Olympics 

2018 PyeongChang Olympics Bidding Committee and Samsung Group 

turn the heat up to combine IT with the Olympics 

We drank a bitter cup of defeat twice, 

but we will most certainly succeed on our 

third. If ‘PyeongChang dream’ comes 

true, Korea emerges as a country that hosted 

all four global sports event following 

the 1988 Seoul Olympics, 2002 World 

Cup, 2011 Daegu World Championship 

in Athletics. This places Korea second only 

to Japan in Asia and earning the privilege 

to host the Olympics, more than ever, 

is getting one step closer to being recognized 

as a developed nation. However, 

Korea has to face its rival countries, 

Munchen, Germany and Annecy, France. 

The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics 

Bidding Committee and Samsung Group 

are hoping to host the 2018 Winter Olympics 

and if so, they will incorporate IT in their 

own separate ways to boost Korea as a 

high-tech, IT nation. 

"I cannot guarantee that PyeongChang 

will be the host city for the 2018 Winter 

Olympics, but I am convinced that the 

possibility will increase if Koreans collaborate 

on their efforts, even wishing upon a 

star, to organize the games. Currently the 

government, KOC, game organizers, and 

other groups are supporting the bidding 

committee to host the 2018 Winter 

Olympics. Moreover, we are parading our 

immaculate facilities of Olympic stadiums, 

convenient transportation network, 

and our most proud 'Dream Program' to 

persuade and assure IOC members that 

PyeongChang city should host the game," 

said Kim Jin-sun, Governor of Gangwan 

province and also co-chairman of bidding 

committee for the 2018 Winter Olympics, 

during an interview with Korea IT Times 

on February 3. 

Q: What specifically is the situation on 

developing stadium facilities and building 

infrastructure to host the Olympic 

Games? 

A : First to keep in mind is that there must 

be thirteen stadiums to host an Olympics 

Game. Now, we have a total of seven stadiums; 

biathlon, cross country, ski jumping, 

are being held at Alpensia, alpine skiing at 

YongPyong resort, curling at GangNeung 

indoor ice rink, and freestyle skiing, and 

snowboard at Phoenix Park. Each of these 

stadiums epitomizes world-class level 

qualities, but we are continuing to improve 

their worth. 

Q : What do you consider as Pyeong- 


Kim Jin-sun, Governor of Gangwon province(Co-Chairman of 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Bidding Committee) 

Chang’s strength that 

makes the city have the 

right to host the 2018 

Winter Olympics? 

A : PyeongChang has quite 

a savory arrangement of 

stadiums, in which every 

stadium takes half an hour 

from Alpensia stadium. 

Plus, we have persistently 

practiced the ‘Dream 

Program’ that supported 

the IOC in its endeavors for 

the Olympic Movement and 

for the record, 806 youths 

from 42 countries that have 

participated for 7 years. In 

addition, governmental 

agenda strongly entails the support of hosting 

the game and national spiritual mobilization 

is 91.4 percent and PyeongChang 

alone is 93.4 percent which means that national 

unity is concentrated and determined. 

Q : What are the special programs focused 

on IT technologies that Korea, 

known as IT nation, is proposing to create 

a new version of the Olympics? 

A : Incorporating IT technologies into 2018 

Winter Olympics is to draw a whole new picture 

of the Olympics, namely “Dream 

Olympics.” Korea has long since been striving 

to be a role model of IT country and has 

been concentrating its energy on constructing 

IT infrastructure so that cuttingedge 

service is everywhere. Not to mention 

Korea proved its state-of-the-art technology 

in 2002 FIFA Korea-Japan World Cup and 

2005 APEC summit. Thus, we will provide 

ubiquitous environment to IOC board members, 

athletes, media, and visitors to give 

them everlasting surprises of IT technology 

combined with U-Games. To give you a basic 

scope of these particular IT technologies, 

first there is u-facility service that provides 

a similar atmosphere that of the real stadium, 

augmenting athletic performance. 

Second, u-accommodation service takes 

the responsibility of full accommodation 

including room and board and also offers 

video-telephony through mobiles. Third, u- 

transportation service presents electronic 

map and transportation information via u- 

gate PDA. Lastly, u-media service uses personal 

device WiBro and provides high-tech 

services to reporters and journalists to aid 

them in writing real time articles and transferring 

information on spot. 

Q : If Korea gets to host the 2018 Winter 

Olympics, how will you return the honor 

to the country? 

A : In this case, the whole country will 

spread the Olympics Movement, turning up 

a notch on expanding the base. Also, we will 

expand ‘Dream Program’ to nurture more 

talented youths. Most importantly, we will 

transfer the Olympics fever to ease the tension 

between North Korea, contributing 

peace between the two Koreas. 

Q : So all this boils down to this one 

question, what is the possibility for 

Korea to host 2018 Winter Olympics? 

A : Well, I cannot give you the exact numerical 

data but Asia, especially Korea’s popularity 

in winter sports has significantly increased 

over the past few years and we 

have strongly reinforced Olympics 

Movement. I expect to see a huge leap in 

our country’s national brand and enormous 

economic ripple effect if we have the honor 

to host the game. 


Bang Jung-hyun / jbang@koreaittimes.com 


3D Convergence 2010 

It’s 

Raining 

3D! 

3D is on fire. The 3D movie Avatar is 

sweeping 2D movies with a broom, and 

many fans already await the next 3D 

movie such as Alice in Wonderland. This 

is the era where 3D has proven to be the 

focal point of Hollywood. Korea is 

launching 3D television programs this 

year and industries are also gearing up for 

the 3D era including medical, advertisement, 

and construction. 

3D advertisements will soon conquer 

the air, and museums are envisioning exhibits 

in 3D. Cyber construction engineering 

and management is already happening. 

By constructing a building in virtual 

space, will result in a more accurate and 

satisfying experience than ever before. 3D 

endoscope, 3D Computed Tomography is 

on way into the medical field for better patient 

care and this is all the beginning of 

the 3D movement. 

"When 3D technology tops the previous 

business or traditional industry, it becomes 

a whole new industry. This is the 3D convergence 

industry or business," defined by 

President Kim Eun-soo of KICS. 

Creation of a new higher-value added 

industry is the 3D Convergence. At the 

'3D Convergence 2010' Forum on February 

11, 3D masters from industries, institutes, 

and research centers will garner together at 

the Seoul, Press Center. At the forum 

there will be many subjects to discuss such 

as "how to develop and expand the 3D 

convergence industry?" 

It is an urgent matter to set a strategy to 

compete in the global 3D content market. 

Since 3D movies and broadcasting content 

are in the hot zone, a spotlight goes to 

the promotion of business. The current 3D 

technology can also bring a revolution to 

the performing arts industry. In theater art, 

virtual performance can be given in the 

open air by recording the previous play. 

The high image quality makes the characters 

look like real characters performing on 

the stage. The problem here, once again, is 

not how to apply 3D technology into the 

traditional industries, but how is Korea going 

to be noted as the top competitor in the 

global market. 

Core Technology 

The '3D Convergence 2010' forum is a 

big party of 3D researchers. This means 

that the forum will discuss heavily on the 

subject of core technology. How will we 

develop core technology and to process 

patents? How to expand it further to an international 

standardization? 

Hologram 

The current 3D technology is the sparrow 

type, which hurts the viewer if seen 

for a long period of time. The only solution 

to this problem is the hologram. 

Korea is in the process of developing hologram 

technology. Hologram TV and technology 

will soon be commercialized. The 

forum will discuss on the note of dividing 

roles in order to dominate the future 3D 

market in advance with the next generation 

technology. 

iPoint 3D 

Safety Guidelines 

'3D Convergence 2010' Forum is expected 

to emphasize the necessity of safety 

guidelines. How to prevent dizziness for 

viewers, how to accommodate viewers 

with less stress, and other safety guidelines 

will be discussed. 

Evaluation and Verification 

It is obvious that more 3D content will 

shower the movie and broadcasting industry, 

but where are the standards for broadcasting 

equipment? Evaluation and verification 

standards or even a certification 

process will be suggested at the forum. 

From IT Strength Country to 

3D Strength Country 

Korea's strength lies in IT and with the 

highly competitive display technology. 

The 3D era is just around the corner, and 

the best government policy is needed. 

Many voices will suggest ideas to penetrate 

the 3D global market." Just like a 

World EXPO, some annual events like a 

3D Festival will be ideal," added President 

Kim Eun-soo of KICS. 

The fire is on, and 3D is cooking. What 

spices would '3D Convergence 2010' 

bring? 






Wonderful KOREA 

Major Four Projects 

Being Pushed to 

Attract 10 Million 

Foreign Tourists 

Shin Dong-bin, chairman of the VKC 

The Visit Korea Year Committee 

(VKC) has been making a strong push for 

four major projects in 2010 to attract 10 

million tourists a year, a top official of the 

committee said. "On the occasion of the 

2010-2012 Visit Korea Year, the committee 

is exerting all-out efforts to herald the 

brand of South Korea to foreign countries 

and improve quality of the nation's 

tourism industry," Shin Dong-bin the 

chairman of the VKC, said. 

In an interview with Korea IT Times, 

Shin said, "By doing so, we aim to attract 

more than 10 million foreign tourists every 

year, attain over US$13 billion in tourism 

revenue, and secure No.21 position in 

terms of the global tourism competitiveness." 

Related to this, the committee is actively 

pushing for four major projects this year – 

differentiated overseas marketing by market, 

affluent incentives for foreign tourists 

when they visit Korea, special events offering 

something to see and enjoy. There is 

also a campaign to improve greeting services 

for foreign tourists, which enables 

them to feel welcomed when they arrive in 

Korea. 

Special Tourism Sales 

Promotion Team 

"As an initial step, we will dispatch a 

special tourism sales promotion team to 

China and Japan to attract tourists from 

neighboring countries. We will also stage 

active PR marketing by holding regular 

explanatory meetings to introduce Korea's 

tourism resources to foreigners at overseas 

offices of Korea Tourism Organization," 

stated the VKC chairman. 

In particular, he said, “The committee 

will engage in active promotion activity to 

help foreign tourists attend such global 

events to be held in South Korea such as 

the World Design Capital Seoul 2010, the 

World Championships in Athletics Daegu 

2011 and International Exposition Yeosu 

Korea 2012.” 

Shin expressed, "Along with this, the 

committee will implement a program to 

decentralize foreign tourists centering on 

Seoul to provincial regions and attract 

more foreign tourists by offering incentives 

to shopping centers and lodging facilities." 

To let foreign tourists see the attractive appearances 

of provincial regions in the 

country, VKC has decided to hold the 

2010 Hallyu Festival in Gyeongju, the 

World Food Tourism Festival in Jeonju, 

and Busan’s Fireworks Festival. 

Shin stated, “For development of highquality 

tourism products linked with the 

festivals, the committee is maintaining 


Wonderful KOREA 

close tie-ups with relevant provincial governments.” 

He went on to say, "In addition, 

it will stage the welcoming service 

campaign for foreign tourists with the start 

of the inauguration of the Smile Supporters' 

group comprising college students." 

Korea's Tourism Resources 

For a successful Visit Korea Year, the 

committee plans to actively push for four 

major tourism areas such as medical services, 

meetings, incentives, conventions 

and exhibitions (MICE), ecology and performance 

– in which South Korea has 

strong competitiveness, Shin proclaimed. 

"We can develop truly high-valued 

tourism products by promoting and 

spreading 'hallyu (the Korean wave),' image. 

For instance, Korean culture experience 

and products developed by hallyu's 

star Bae Yong-joon, that featured travelling 

to the most beautiful places in the 

country, were sold out even if the price 

was relatively high at KR₩ 140,000- 

400,000," stated the VKC chairman. 

When asked about the current situation 

of Korean culture's globalization and the 

brand value of South Korea. Shin said, 

"Korean culture's globalization now 

stands on a toddler stage. South Korea also 

ranks 42 in global tourism competitiveness, 

much lower than its neighboring 

countries. By publicizing the brand of 

South Korea to foreign tourists and promoting 

Korea's tourism image during the 

Visit Korea Year, we aim to jack up the 

nation's ranking of tourism competitiveness 

to 20 in the world." 

Noting that major foreign countries are 

striving to attract more foreign tourists as a 

means of promoting their state image and 

bolster state competitiveness. Shin reinforced 

that South Korea is also necessary 

to increase the number of inbound foreign 

tourists in order to reduce deficits in the 

country's tourism balance and strengthen 

competitive power of the domestic 

tourism industry. 

In line with this, Korea declared 2010- 

2012 as the Visit Korea Year at the Cabinet 

meeting to strengthen competitiveness of 

the domestic tourism industry, presided 

over by President Lee Myung-bak, on 

March 28, 2008. 

"During the period, we will make best 

efforts to promote the image of South 

Korea to the world and implement a variety 

of short-term and long-term projects to 

attract more foreign tourists. In particular, 

we are seeking private companies' active 

participation in the campaign to lure more 

foreign tourists this year," said the chairman. 

As an initial event for the Visit Korea 

Year 2010, the committee plans to hold an 

event welcoming foreign tourists. Under 

the project, VKC will present a bouquet of 

flowers to first foreign visitors at Incheon 

International Airport, Gimpo International 

Airport and Jeju International 

Airport. 

Along with this, the committee will operate 

PR booths for foreign tourists at major 

tourist spots across the country, including 

Haeundae in Busan, Homigot in 

Pohang and Jeongdongjin in Gangnung, 

Shin concluded. 

Lee Kyung-min / info@koreaittimes.com 


Hot Issue 

Universal Studios 

Starting in March Koreans will no longer have to travel to 

other countries to adore Universal Studios. Soon, Koreans 

will be able to hop on a train, bus or drive to Hwaseong in 

Gyeonggi-do to find Asia's largest theme park. According to the 

Ministry, "Korean consortium signed a deal to break ground in 

March of next year for Asia's largest theme park in Korea's 

Gyeonngi Province alongside U.S.-based Universal Parks & 

Resorts." 

Universal Studios is a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of 

the six major American movie studios. Founded in 1912 by Carl 

Laemmle, It is one of the oldest American Movie studios still in 

continuous production. NBC Universal operates a number of 

theme parks based around the movies it has produced. 

Korea is the fifth nation out of G20 nations to have a global 

theme park. There are many types of theme parks around the 

world, but the crème le crème are Universal Studios and 

Disneyland and their economic rewards are enormous. To have a 

global theme park is on many countries agenda, but the countries 

that have one are US, France, Japan, China and the one in 

Signapore is still under construction. Universal Studios Parks and 

Resorts operates in Orlando, Florida, US. 

3G-City - Globalization, Green and Grace 

Hwaseong is renowed for Monumental Stele for Kuksa 

Chingak, Bronze Bell of Paldal Gate, Hwaryong Hall and the 

Hwaseong fortress. At the time the fortress was built using the 

best of eastern and Western methods, combining mud and stone 

fortifications. In 1997, Hwaseong was selected as a World 

Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO because of its high technical 

scientific distinction as an early modern military structure. As of 

now with Songsan Green City, Universal Studios and the possible 

development of a Natural History Museum will make 

Hwaseong high tech distinction for the 21 century. 

As of now the population of Hwaseong is about 330,000 people. 

When they complete Songsan Green City, and Universal 

Studios the population is estimated to be 550,000 by 2020 and in 

2025 the population is to be about 1,350,000 people. 

To look to the future of Hwaseong, it has done a SWOT analysis 

for investing. First, is strength 

they have a lot of land, clean environment 

and to make it a transfer 

hub. Second, is weakness 

Hwaseong is a underdeveloped 

area and there are negatives images 

about the city. Third, is opportunities 

to develop the west 

coast belt, to have future potential, 

expand transportation and 


Hot Issue 

is Coming to Korea 

to make Hwaseong an epicenter. Fourth, is threats due to the future 

population increase there will be an influx of development. 

This spectacular resort, named 'Universal Studios Korea', cost 

KRW3 trillion (US$2.67 billion). The construction of Universal 

Studios Korea draws on major Korean conglomerates such as 

Lotte Group, Posco, E&C and other local companies. Universal 

Studios Korea will be like no other Universal Studio park in the 

world. Korea's multi-resort complex will include retail outlet, golf 

course, theme park, water park, city walk, theme hotels, and condominiums. 

In 2013, to make easier access to Universal Studios the main 

access road or national highway (77) will be completed. The highway 

will be four lanes or six lanes. Ministry of Land, Transport 

and Maritime Affairs announced there will be transport network 

improvement to make easier access by subway and the line name 

is Sinansan. The Ministry wants to have the stops Won-si and 

Universal Studios finished first, due to the recent significance of 

Hwaseong. 

Officials from the provincial government and investors signed 

the agreement to develop the Universal Studio theme park located 

70 kilometres southwest of Seoul. The theme park will be approximately 

2.97 million square metres. This theme park is three 

times as big as the park in Osaka and twice the size as the resort in 

Orlando. 

Gyeonggi Governor Kim stated, 

"This project will eventually provide 

Universal Studios in 

Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do 

new jobs for around 10,000 people and generate indirect employment 

for around 100,000, and I am confident that Korea's west 

coast region will eventually turn into a 'gold coast." CEO Thomas 

Williams of Universal Parks and Resorts said, "The company 

chose Hwaseong because the region had 'flat land' and a 

'seashore.' Director Steven Spielberg, a creative consultant to 

Universal Parks and Resorts, has decided to take part in the project." 

By creating new growth engines for employment and the 

development of a green city the sky is the limit for the future of 

Hwaseong and it will defiantly live up to its name 3G city. 

Ryan Schuster / rs@koreaittimes.com 


Successful Story | There Is a Story for Success of Korean cultural content going abroad 

Success 

Does 

Not Happen 

Overnight 

Content producing companies talk about their success stories going worldwide. 

What is the story behind Korea's success in culture content around the world? According to Robert Frost, "Two roads diverged 

in a wood, and [Korea] took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference." In a period of such fast growth in technological 

advancement, securing manpower and other methods that go by the book are cliché. Instead, Korean culture content 

took creative and ingenious ideas that go overboard, embracing all the possibilities. The Korea Trade Investment Promotion 

Agency (KOTRA) acted as a strong advocate on Korea's culture content business for the past year, helping domestic culture content 

to impact globally and in the process, KOTRA unearthed 21 keynote, successful cases. 

Korea's culture content companies appreciate the very essence of animation, which is a fresh and an innovative story. Without 

an unusual, but also unique storyline, culture content businesses cannot get their foot in the door and flourish in the global market. 

What content-obssessed 

experts have to say 

Toonzip features 'DoDoPam' animation 

that is set in New York City, where 

trapped aliens strive to escape from the 

earth by working as babysitters. Its genre is 

adventurous comedy that encompasses a 

creative and such a bizarre narrative that 

grasps people's attention. 

Tooznip 'DoDoPam' 


'I Prin' is Sieun Design's self-made 3D 

animation that is about three cute and 

adorable female main characters who get 

accepted into Academy Royale in the 

imaginary world and strive to become 

princesses. Its characters are praised for ingenious, 

friendly and emotional qualities 

and further inspired Cyber Group Studios. 

A France animation company will jointly 

produce 'I Prin'. 

BI Group, animation producing company 

specializing in infant and child education, 

also ensued to win contract with foreign 

buyers. This company realized that 

reasonable price and quality competitiveness 

alone cannot progress and improve 

their status. Hence, the company developed 

'Muffy and Jemjem' where its storyline 

suits children's mind and culture on a 

Muffy ad Jemjem 

universal level. The basic summary goes 

on like this: Once upon a time there were 

Muffy and Jemjem, two intern devils, liv-

Successful Story 

ing in the underground world. They desperately 

wanted to become full-time, official 

evil devils. In order to become that 

bad devil, they have to commit 100 sins on 

earth; however, they begin to learn love 

and many children and teachers on earth 

grew fond of them. Applauded Muffy and 

Jemjem's story and the two companies are 

deciding to carry out a joint production. 

Sunjin Entertainment is in the process 

of negotiation with America's Eagle 

World Media. The two animation giants 

met at 'Korea Media & Content Market' 

held in LA last December, commissioned 

by KOTRA. More specifically, they are 

discussing about remaking Sunjin's children 

drama into an American version and 

exporting its publication rights. Sunjin 

Entertainment's children's drama narrates 

between good and evil under the theme of 

Asian oriental thoughts and Western zodiac 

signs. Eagle World Media is also considering 

broadcasting their remake around 

America, Canada, England, Australia and 

other English speaking countries. This 

would be beneficial for Korea if the two 

companies close the deal because this 

would be the first joint production with 

foreign companies. 

On that note, Nextki is also a culture 

content producing company where its employers 

ponder on the most innovative 

and radical stories day and night. This 

company operates its own story-telling research 

facility, content research, and development 

center. It has developed more 

than 100 characters, solutions and storytelling 

content. The company has been operating 

for two years andit has attained results 

by exporting content to five countries 

such as China and Hong kong. 

Existing online soccer games allow a 

user to control 11 in-game players. A 

Korean game maker BIGSUN soft, however, 

developed "BIGSUN Soccer", in 

which 11 users take part in playing a fullsided 

soccer match of 11 vs. 11. "BIGSUN 

Soccer" is designed to allow users to play 

soccer in a spirit of teamwork as if they are 

really involved in a soccer game. Buyers 

from China and the EU are showing high 

interest in the game, so a slew of contracts 

are likely to be signed in the near future. 

Designstorm came up with the idea for 

a soccer-themed animation. Designstorm, 

a Korean computer animation studio, is 

currently developing a full-HD animal 

soccer game, called "Dreamkix", in order 

to take advantage of the football fever in 

the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup 

in South Africa. In the brand new animation 

"Dreamkix", Roy the dog, a shortlegged 

Dachshund, heads up a hodgepodge 

soccer team, which is pitted against 

the opposite world-renowned, formidable 

team that is made up of a lion, an elephant, 

a seal, an eagle, a buffalo, and so 

on. Designstorm is now discussing contract 

terms with buyers from the EU and 

South America. 

FIX Korea, a Korean software development 

company, in partnership with 

Minh Le, one of the original creators of 

Dream Kix 

the world-famous Counter Strike (a tactical 

first-person shooter video game) to develop 

a new first-person shooting game, 

called "Tactical Intervention (TI)". The 

soon-to-be developed shooting game, slated 

to be commercialized in June of this 

year, is going through the alpha testing 

phase, but FIX Korea has already inked a 

contract with Mayn Interacive, who publishes 

games in the U.S. and EU. 

RoC Works, a Japanese game publisher, 

is developing a fantasy Massive Multiplayer 

Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), 

called "Maestia", with the help of veteran 

game developers, who have at least five to 

six years of experience in game development. 

RoC Works seems on track to sign 

Tactical intervention(TI) 

contracts with German buyers within the 

first quarter of this year. 

On the other hand, KOTRA mentioned 

that exporting cultural content takes much 

more time and energy than any other exporting 

item. Generally, a one-year negotiation 

period is required to complete safety 

tests, consumer surveys, and localization 

work. In addition, KOTRA stated, 

"Cultural content developers, most of 

whom are SMEs, turned out to have been 

greatly helped by supportive institutions 

such as KOTRA." Hong Seong-wook, 

CEO of Grafizix that signed a contract in 

June of last year, gave thanks to KOTRA 

by saying, "A variety of projects and buyer 

surveys initiated by KOTRA have been 

very helpful to us." KOTRA supports cultural 

content developers, the include annual 

participation in the French exhibition 

"MIPCOM Junior", and "Korea Media & 

Content Market (KMCM)", which is held 

in South Korea and L.A. 

Cho Hwan-ik, President of KOTRA 

said, "Even though our efforts for supporting 

the exports of S. Korea's cultural content 

kicked into high gear just last year, 

they are already paying off. Our content 

developers' prowess in developing creative 

stories has lit up the prospects for exporting 

cultural content." 




Products 

South Korea's 

Hit Export Goods in 2010 

The top 20 most promising Korean exports have been handpicked by Korea Trade 

Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). The agency issued a report titled "1,000 

promising exports in 2010", which lists 1,027 export products, expected to be propitious 

in overseas markets. The agency conducted research, focused on SME-manufactured 

goods, to narrow the 1,027 export products down to a short list of the top 20 star export 

items on the basis of overseas market growth and the competitiveness of Korean goods. 

Star export items 

LED light bulbs, LED/LCD TVs, optical 

cables, smartphones, and set-top boxes 

are picked as star export items, thanks to 

their superior competitive edges and fastgrowing 

overseas markets. LED light 

bulbs have been in the limelight thanks to 

the government’s intervention to boost incentives 

for energy-efficient bulbs and consumers' 

growing awareness. In particular, 

the ban on the sale of incandescent light 

bulbs -scheduled for 2012 in the EU and 

2014 in Russia- is projected to further expedite 

the spread of LED light bulbs. The 

export of LED/LCD TVs is likely to 

zoom up as well, as digital cocooning and 

the analog-to-digital transition have driven 

up demand and Korean HD TV makers 

have emerged as premium brands. 

Besides, efforts from governments to expand 

optical cable networks and electricity 

grids have lit up the prospects of exporting 

optical cables. Set-top boxes have also 

made the list due to the expansion of digital 

and satellite broadcasting. 

Flagship export items 

Automobile parts, netbooks, valves, and 

tires are selected as flagship export items. 

The market for these items are not growing 

as fast, but with their high quality, 

price competitiveness, and increased 

brand awareness is likely to boost their 

market shares. The export of auto parts are 


Asus etbook_EeePC 

expected to climb because Korean cars 

have made a good showing in the global 

market and global car makers' endeavors 

to cut costs have led to outsourcing the 

production of auto parts. Subsidies, handed 

out by mobile carriers in North 

America and the eurozone for netbook 

purchases to retain subscribers over the 

long term, is expected to jack up demand 

for netbooks. In addition, the export of 

valves will be scaled up by the recovery in 

industrial production; greater price competitiveness 

and improved brand recognition 

will boost demand for tires as well. 

Future export items 

Parts for photovoltaic power generation 

and wind power generation, medical 

equipment, GPS navigation devices, and 

electric transformers are chosen as future 

export items. Future export items are the 

ones whose quality and price competitiveness 

fall short of their rivals, but markets 

iStation the GPS 

navigation v43 black 

for them are growing at a fast rate. 

However, once their competitiveness is 

enhanced, their market shares are expected 

to explode. 

As a growing number of nations require 

the use of renewable energy sources, markets 

for parts for photovoltaic power generation 

and wind power generation are 

likely to be significantly expanded. Still, 

compared to advanced nations' products, 

Korean-made products have made a lackluster 

in the market. However, with continued 

improvements in quality have 

made them well received among international 

buyers, raising the prospect of their 

making forays into the relevant market. 

Thanks to the efforts for upgrading outdated 

electricity generation facilities in North 

America, the Middle East, and Africa, the 

export of electricity transformers are also 

likely to rise. 

In particular, the ongoing efforts to replace 

outmoded electricity generation fa-

Products 

The top 20 most promising export items in 2010 

LG LED TV - 

Xcanvas 

cilities in the U.S, is projected to push up 

demand for ultra-high voltage transformers 

in the next 20 years. Now, ultra-high 

voltage transformers are in such short supply 

in the U.S., fueling expectations of 

ramped-up imports. Although in terms of 

technology, Korean transformers trail behind 

EU-made and Japanese-made ones, 

the development of eco-friendly technologies 

and improved price competitiveness 

have been bridging the technology gap. In 

addition, medical equipment and GPS 

navigation devices made the list of future 

export items. 

Niche-market export products 

On the list of niche-market export products 

are air purifiers, cosmetics, heat exchangers, 

security devices, digital door 

locks, energy-saving cooking utensils and 

heating apparatuses. Niche-market export 

products are the ones that have a great 

chance of being exported in large numbers 

if regionally or periodically special consumer 

needs are met in a swift and flexible 

manner. Demand for air purifiers have 

continued to rise in China, Japan, and 

Southeast Asian nations, owing to the 

swine flu scare. Air purifiers have been flying 

off the shelves in wildfire-prone areas 

in the West of the U.S., creating a niche 

market for Korean-made air purifiers. 

Korean cosmetics also earned a spot on 

the list, as the global economic recession 

has fired up women’s desire to look their 

best without breaking the bank on clothes 

and shoes. In particular, consumer awareness 

of Korean cosmetics has been growing 

day after day in China, Japan, and in 

Asian-Oceanic countries. Besides, security 

devices and digital door locks are expected 

to sell well in Central and South American 

nations with high crime rates. While the 

export of energy-saving cooking utensils 

and heating apparatus is predicted to go 

up as more people cook at home amid the 

global economic recession. 



Academia 

Step to Globalization 

KICS's Major Plan to Strengthen IT Convergence 

President of KICS, 

Kim Eun-soo 

With such novelty concept and revolutionary 

mind at that time, Korean Information 

and Communications Society 

(KICS) was established by a visionary professor 

named Cho Jung-hyun at Kwangwoon 

Univeristy in 1975, reaching a milestone 

of 35 years. Having thirty five years 

of long history and tradition, KICS has become 

one of the most recognized information 

and technology (IT) societies in the nation. 

KICS is embedded with the perseverance 

and dedications from past presidents, 

staff, and all members. 

KICS has approximately 15,000 members 

and has been participated by around 

200 other organizations and special member 

companies. Furthermore, KICS is very 

active in various academia fields such as 

holding numerous domestic and international 

symposiums, publishing KICS 

newspapers, domestic journals, and JCN 

international journals. Thus, they became 

a leading society around the world by establishing 

its international chapters in the 

U.S. and China. 

New Hope with the New 

President 

The society is led by its president Kim 

Eun-soo. Kim Eun-soo is a professor at 

Kwangwoon University in the Department 

of Electronics Engineering. President Kim 

assumed the position this year, which is 

exactly 30 years after he was first introduced 

to KICS in 1980. "I am filled with 

emotions when I look back at KICS’s last 

35 years at Kwangwoon University, and I 

get the sense of responsibility from the 

dedications that has been shown by my 

predecessors." Professor Kim was a visiting 

professor at California Institute of 

Technology in the Department of 

Electrical Engineering. In addition, several 

of his previous research laboratories are 

honored by the Ministry of Science and 

Technology of Korea and the Ministry of 

Communication and Information of 

Korea. Furthermore, he served as a president 

in various organizations, including 

"Society of 3D Broadcasting and Imaging 

(S3BI)". Professor Kim also has 50 patents 

and published 500 papers in international 

journals and conferences, and he has dedicated 

himself to bring unmatched energy 

and uncanny experience to KICS. 

The recent IT industry trend indicates 

that a new industry paradigm is forming 

with collaboration and convergence of the 

traditional industries and the environmental 

related IT industries, such as green IT, 

energy IT, and smart grid industries, 

rapidly making the mark in the market. 

Consequently, Professor Kim and KICS 

are putting a conscious effort to assume as 

a paragon for such a trend. 

"We have plans to expand the domain 

of our activity in 2010 from traditional IT 

industries to more contemporary industries, 

such as IT convergence industries, 

green IT, and smart grid industries. For 

such endeavors, we KICS already found 

"3D Imagine Society", RFID/USN 

Society, Bio IT Convergence Society, and 

Digital Cable Society in 2009. In 2010, 

we are going to add various fields such as 

Green IT Society and Smart Grid Society 

as well by establishing IT Convergence 

Societies that deal with broadcasting, shipbuilding, 

automotive, and construction industries," 

said President Kim. 

Symposiums 

For the further advancement of IT and 

related convergence industries, KICS 

plans to hold various symposiums to provide 

new solutions and alternative ideas. 

For example, KICS has already started 

with "IMT-Advanced Technology Strategy 

Workshop" in January. In 2010, KICS is 

preparing to host about 10 different symposiums, 

such as Smart Grid, Green and 

Energy IT, Electric Automotive, LED 

Communication Convergence, and 3D 

Convergence Workshops. 

Global Conscious 

KICS is pushing forward for new international 

academic enterprises, such as 

CDMA International Conference (CIC), 

by which KICS promises to mature more 

globally. It has successfully hosted such international 

conferences in the past in 

which participants can freely share new 

 


Business 

KEPCO Signs an Uranium 

Mining Partnership with Areva SA 

On February 4, Korea Electric Power 

Corp (KEPCO) signed a deal in Paris to 

jointly develop uranium mines with 

French nuclear giant Areva SA. The recent 

deal came after KEPCO's purchase of a 10 

percent stake in Areva SA's Imoureren 

uranium mine (the world's No. 2 uranium 

mine) in Niger on December 14 of last 

year, and is expected to give the statecontrolled 

South Korean utility wider access 

to other Areva-owned uranium projects. 

KEPCO's acquisition of a 10 percent 

stake in the Imoureren mine gives it the 

right to secure approximately 18,000 tons 

of uranium. In other words, the Korean 

utility company will be able to bring in an 

annual average of 740 tons of uranium 

for 24 years from 2013 to 2036, which accounts 

for nearly 15 percent of South 

Korea's annual uranium consumption, 

estimated at 5,000 ton (as of 2010). 

State-owned Areva SA is the world's 

fourth largest uranium company that 

boasts a whole range of nuclear facilities, 

from the development 

of uranium 

mines to nuclear fuel 

reprocessing. In addition, 

it has six uranium-producing 

mines around the 

world and a good 

track record in mine 

development and exploration, 

and produces 

6,500 tons of 

uranium per year (as 

of 2009). 

In a meeting with 

AREVA CEO Anne 

Lauvergeon, KEPCO Chairman and 

CEO Kim Ssang-soo stated, "KEPCO's 

goal is to procure up to 50 percent of uranium 

demand from its own-developed 

foreign mines by 2020. The latest deal 

with Areva will help us take a giant step 

towards achieving this goal." 

KEPCO has already acquired a 17 percent 

stake in Canadian uranium company 

Denison Mines 

and is currently 

involved in two 

KEPCO signed a deal in 

Paris to jointly develop 

uranium mines with 

French nuclear giant 

Areva SA 

uranium exploration projects in Canada. 

This year, KEPCO looks to continue to 

buy uranium mines or mining companies 

in uranium-rich nations in Africa and 

Central Asia. 

Oh Hae-young / info@korea.com 

ideas and policies on future IT convergence 

related industries or markets in the 

world. This is expected to be carried forward 

in October of this year. 

KICS plans to institute new chapters in 

Vietnam, a country considered by many 

as the heart of South East Asia. With 

such addition in South East Asia and already 

established chapters in the U.S. and 

China, KICS can now undoubtedly make 

Korean IT technology and IT convergence 

technology recognized and appreciated 

throughout the world. 

Cooperation 

"We assure to provide our utmost efforts 

to continue and to pursue further cooperation 

that has started last year with 

Korea Digital Multimedia Broadcasting 

(DMB) and Korea Association for 

Telecommunications Policies so that 

these two organizations can promote our 

country's broadcasting and communication 

industries to arise and advance," 

President Kim stated. 

KICS has planted many seeds to harvest 

in the upcoming years and their endless effort 

is promised with the newly elected 

president Kim Eun-soo. 



Policy 

The world map 

of Narajangteo 

PPS Aims to Export E-Procurement 

System to Africa, Latin America 

The Public Procurement Service (PPS) 

plans to export Korea ON-line E- 

Procurement System (KONEPS), called 

the "Narajangteo" in Korean, to countries 

in North-West Africa, Asia, and Latin 

America. "Through exports of the nation's 

e-procurement system, we plan to build 

close cooperation with the countries and 

spread the Narajangteo to their neighboring 

countries in the near future," a senior 

PPS official said. KONEPS is an electronic 

procurement system that systemizes all 

procurement businesses into one and it 

will effectively provide public institutions 

with materials, facilities and services they 

need at a proper time. 

A official stated, "In keeping with Korea's 


hosting of G20 meeting this year and 

Korea's joining of OECD's Development 

Assistance Committee (DAC), we are making 

all-out efforts to actually contribute to 

economic development of developing 

countries through the setup of e-procurement 

system." In line with this, PPS is 

moving to hand down its successful experience 

& know-how on the Narajangteo 

and advanced procurement system to developing 

countries, not to mention exporting 

e-procurement system. 

PPS and Costa Rica sign on MOU to benchmark 

Korea online E-Procurement System (KONEPS), 

called the Narajangteo 

MOU Conclusion with 13 

Countries 

Currently, a growing number of countries 

hope to benchmark Korea's Narajangteo 

to improve their procurement systems. 

Related to this, 13 countries, including 

Vietnam and Costa Rica, concluded a 

memorandum of understanding (MOU) 

with the PPS. It also conducted feasibility 

study on construction of e-procurement

Policy 

system in seven countries such as Vietnam, 

Pakistan, Georgia, Mongolia, Costa Rica, 

Uzbekistan and Tunisia. Under the 

MOU, government officials from Vietnam 

and Colombia visit the PPS more than 

once a month to receive education on 

Korea's Narajangteo system. 

In the process of spreading Narajangteo 

system to foreign countries, Korean firms 

are expected to get more chances to advance 

into overseas markets. "For instance, 

many Korean companies are participating 

in feasibility study on construction 

of e-procurement system and other 

projects to build relevant facilities in foreign 

countries, including Tunisia, 

Indonesia, Vietnam and Costa Rica," he 

said. Through the project to spread 

Narajangteo to foreign countries, Korea's 

software and IT consulting companies are 

accumulating their know-how on overseas 

projects and improving their international 

competitiveness. 

Ceremony of Narajangteo which completed on 

Sept, 2009 in Vietnam 

Narajangteo also conducted in Uzbekistan 

Overseas Spread of the Brand 

of Korea Via Narajangteo 

Korea is now facing a new turning point 

to herald its national brand to foreign 

countries on the occasion of its joining of 

OECD's Development Assistance 

Committee (DAC). It is because that if 

Korea extends financial assistance to developing 

countries, construction of procurement 

system to use the aid funds becomes 

an important task for the countries. 

By handing down Korea's successful 

know-how on operation of Narajangteo and 

advanced procurement system to developing 

countries, Korea can play a leading role 

in dealing with international issues and enhancing 

transparency of assistance, he said. 

Exports of Narajangteo 

Korea exported Narajangteo system, 

which is regarded as "e-procurement best 

practice model" in global society, to 

Vietnam and Costa Rica for US$3 million 

and US$8.3 million, respectively. The 

Narajangteo system was completed in 

November 2004 in Vietnam with the 

US$3 million assistant funds from 

KOICA. 

With the nation's first export of the 

Narajangteo system, Korea has built a 

close relation with Vietnam, establishing a 

bridgehead for Korean companies to advance 

into the Southeast Asian market in 

the near future, the official said. It is the 

great achievements of economic diplomacy 

as Korea's IT companies built e-procurement 

system in a foreign country, he 

said. In Costa Rica, the Mer-Link (e-procurement) 

system is being built for completion 

in March 2010 with the country's 

own budget of US$8.4 million. PPS dispatched 

relevant experts to Costa Rica to 

transfer technology and consulting service 

on construction of e-procurement system 

and its operation, he said. "This project 

will provide PPS with golden opportunities 

to advance into Latin American region 

down the road. In particular, Latin 

American countries are paying keen attention 

to e-government system nowadays. 

Accordingly, not only PPS but also 

Korean companies are expected to have 

good chances to enter the Latin American 

market in the near future," said the official. 

Introduction of Narajangteo 

Narajangteo carries out all procurement 

businesses between some 40,000 public institutions 

and about 170,000 supplying 

companies through online. It has grown 

into the world's big e-procurement market 

with an annual trade volume of about 

KRW86 trillion. A PPS official stated, "It 

is the nation's comprehensive electronics 

procurement system propelled by the government 

of Seoul to realize e-government. 

By making all government procurement 

administrative procedures online, it offers 

one-stop procurement service for both 

public institutions and supplying companies." 

He continue to say, "It is aimed at carrying 

out the procurement business effectively 

and rapidly, enhancing transparency 

of the nation's procurement administration, 

and saving expenses through removal 

of ineffective administrative businesses." 

One of the biggest characteristics 

of Narajangteo is the integration of all 

public institutions, including state institutions, 

provincial governments and public 

corporations, into a single network. In addition, 

all procurement procedures have 

been simplified and standardized through 

procedures of the system, doubling transparency 

and effectiveness. 



Nuclear 

The Best Nuclear Power 

Plant Design by KOPEC 

KOPEC’s world-class design technology lays the foundation for the 

successful construction of nuclear power plants in the UAE 

At the end of last year, the entire nation reveled in the news 

that S. Korea won a US$40 billion deal to build four nuclear reactors 

in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and hailed the first export 

of Korean-style nuclear power plants in history. S. Korea 

winning this landmark nuclear deal has triggered so much interest 

across the political, social, economic spectrum that Korea's 

President Lee Myung-bak paid special visits to the construction 

sites of the nuclear power plants in S. Korea and announced 

"Strategy for exporting S. Korea's nuclear power plants". The 

presidential announcement to make the nuclear power industry 

one of S. Korea's new growth engines has further heightened public 

interest in nuclear-related companies such as the Korea Power 

Engineering Company (KOPEC), which specializes in designing 

nuclear power plants. 

KOPEC was established in 1975 as a public enterprise to wean 

S. Korea off its dependence on foreign nuclear power design technologies. 

KOPEC is an engineering company that boasts worldclass 

technology for designing, engineering, and constructing nuclear 

and fossil power plants. In particular, KOPEC is the only 

nuclear power plant designer in the world that is capable of designing 

core parts of both architect engineering (A/E) and 

Nuclear Steam Supply Systems (NSSS), and has been serving as 

the backbone of S. Korea's nuclear power industry. 

When KOPEC was created, S. Korea was a complete stranger 

to designing nuclear power plants. KOPEC officials dispatched 

its engineers to nuclear powerhouses such as the U.S. and 

European nations to learn advanced nuclear technology, and 

went to great lengths to achieve technological independence. As a 

result, KOPEC succeeded in independently designing nuclear 

power plants in such a short period of time, and has comprehensively 

designed a total of 20 nuclear power units in Kori 

,Yonggwang, and Ulchin. 

Now, KOPEC is building Shin-Kori Units 3 and 4 and Shin- 

Ulchin Units 1 and 2 - which will be the first APR1400 (the 

Korean Next Generation Reactor) nuclear power plants. The 

APR1400 design is the unit that S. Korea put on the table in its 


bid for the UAE nuclear deal. In other 

words, all the Korean-style nuclear power 

plants, whose safety, efficiency and price 

competitiveness have been recognized internationally, 

owe their existence to 

KOPEC's world-class nuclear power plant 

design technology. KOPEC also took part 

in the Korean consortium that won the nuclear 

power deal, issued by the UAE, and 

KOPEC's nuclear power plant design technology 

played an instrumental role in the 

bidding process. 

Since its inception, KOPEC has continuously 

acquired experiences, knowhow, 

and talent through designing nuclear power 

plants. In addition, KOPEC's system of managing feedback 

from previous projects has enabled the optimization of its design 

process. And by taking advantage of IT, KOPEC achieved 4D 

design technology that connects designs to construction processes. 

It was said that KOPEC's expertise and design technology had 

largely contributed to winning the UAE's confidence in S. 

Korea's nuclear technology. 

Furthermore, KOPEC abides by international safety requirements 

for designing nuclear power plants, and KOPEC's standardized 

designs and shortened construction periods have enhanced 

its price competitiveness to a great degree. The issue of 

safety and price competitiveness was the deciding factors in the 

UAE's awarding the multi-billion dollar nuclear contract to S. 

Korea. 

Question and Answer 

Q: How did KOPEC's nuclear plant design technologies contribute 

to S. Korea's winning the UAE nuclear deal? 

A: Under the S. Korean government's pro-nuclear policy, KOPEC 

has built nuclear plants on a continuing basis. KOPEC was created 

with the aim of gaining technological independence in designing 

nuclear power plants. 

Since its inception, KOPEC has invested 10 percent of its sales in 

R&D projects annually, to improve design technology and standardize 

design processes. 

KOPEC's system to manage feedback from previous projects has 

helped optimize its design process. And we have continued to develop 

applicable technology such as 4D design technology that 

connect design processes to construction ones. In fact, our new 

technology has been applied to our nuclear power plants design. 

In addition, KOPEC's continuous participation in the construction of 

nuclear power plants over the past 30 years has resulted in the accumulation 

of ample experiences, knowhow and excellent talent - 

which makes us one of the world's most competitive nuclear plant 

design companies.

Whenever the order placers questioned our 

technological capability in the bidding 

process for the UAE nuclear deal, we countered 

with clear-cut explanations on the 

basis of our technology and knowhow, and 

got our points across to them, thereby 

gradually earning their confidence in our 

technology. 

Q: What is KOPEC'S future plan? 

A: At the end of last month, KOPEC set up a 

division, solely dedicated to the UAE nuclear 

project. KOPEC will handpick the best 

talent with ample experiences and technological 

capabilities to push ahead with the 

UAE nuclear project, and will build a company-wide 

support system in order to get 

the best design work done. 

On top of that, the UAE nuclear project is 

only the beginning. The S. Korean government, 

academia and nuclear-related companies 

including KOPEC have just seen 

their decades-old efforts and attempts 

come to fruition. 

Now is the time for S. Korea's nuclear technology 

to expand its presence in the world. 

KOPEC plans to continue its development 

of technology and engineering talent in a 

bid to help open up new horizons for national 

growth. 


Debate 

Search 

Engine War 

Google vs. Baidu 

The battle of search engines has 

been underway in China for quite 

some time. China's main search engine 

Baidu and it is the fourth biggest 

website in the world. It has a market 

value of US$3 billion, but is it able to 

keep up with Google. Google has accumulated 

65 percent of the US 

search traffic. This made it the number 

one website in the world, with 157 

Million US visitors. It is a testing time 

for the Chinese as well. With China's 

variant of market socialism with its 

totalitarian political set up still hold 

up? Is Google able to withstand the 

competition from Baidu? Which 

search engine is the sure thing? 

Yes 

For the west Google represents openness, 

truth and unfiltered information access. One 

of Google's mantras is 'you can make money 

without doing evil'. This is how Google 

makes their revenue by generating it from offering 

search technology to companies and 

from the sale of advertising displayed on 

Google's site. The presence of Google in 

China has always been regarded as motivation for Chinese Internet businesses and efforts 

to innovate. Cash is king and Google sits high on this throne. 

Google's share of the Chinese market has risen markedly in recent years, to 35.6 percent 

in 2009. Nevertheless, the market share in China is too, big to quit due to the fact 

the China will have the most Internet users in the world. Google has lower risk proposition 

delivering a potentially higher reward, making it the better choice. 

No 

Two thousand nine was a good year for Baidu which boasted a 58.4 percent market 

share. If Google steps out of China, Google's 30 percent share will be re-distributed between 

the other three main players Yahoo, Bing and Baidu, but most likely, Baidu will 

take the remaining shares. Baidu has the major chunk of advertising with 59 percent 

while Google has 30 percent. China needs foreign companies like Google for technological 

creativity. China has done a superb job of developing its manufacturing sector, but 

the country still does not compare when it comes to technological innovation. Although 

Baidu, will immediately benefit when Google vanishes. Baidu in fact has 73 percent of 

China's 338 million users and has captured most of the Chinese search. Also, Baidu has 

announced a deal with mobile carriers to test mobile applications. 

These facts are good, but Baidu still has many unknown variables to make it the sure 

choice. The main example is when do you know if insiders are selling their own shares 

or what if the government takes control of Baidu? 



Samsung History 

Samsung Group, Korea's largest conglomerate, 

celebrated its 100th anniversary 

of the late Hoam Lee Byung-chul's 

birthday at the Hoam Art Hall in Seoul 

from February 4, and carried on till 

February 10. On this particular occasion, 

Lee's family, both former and incumbent 

Samsung executives, other entrepreneurial 

leaders, politicians and bureaucrats attended 

and commemorated Lee's 100th birthday. 

Thus, all the attendees honored and 

paid respects to a man whose epic career 

spanned Korea's conglomerate formation, 

from the decades of harsh authoritarian 

rule to its transformation into a capitalistic 

economy. The event held an opening 

concert on February 4, in which featured 

soprano Jo Su-mi, violist Kim Jee-yun, pianist 

Kim Young-ho, and the Bucheon 

Philharmonic Orchestra. Meanwhile, 

Lee's exhibition took place throughout the 

event period, presenting Lee's drawings, 

photographs, and sayings. On the last day 

of the event, an academic forum was held 

at Shilla Hotel in Seoul, where many noted 

scholars filled the seats and delivered 

critical lectures. Among them was 

Harvard Business School professor Tarun 

Khanna who gave a lecture on the growth 

of Korean economy and the roles of entrepreneurs. 

Who is Hoam 

Lee Byung-chul? 

"Infinite technological innovations and 

progressive development of revolutionary 

technologies will revive Korean economy 

and sustain economic prosperity, given 

that Korea lacks natural resources" said 

Hoam Lee Byung-chul, founder of the 

Samsung Group and the father of Korean 

industry. Time and again called 'the richest 

man in Korea,' he carved out Samsung 

Group from a small exports company in 

1938 into one of the largest Korean corporations. 

He stayed loyal to his own way of 

thinking, in which robust business contributes 

to the nation's well-being and society. 

Thus, the nation and its corporations 

are inseparable and are joined at the hip. 

Such ideology may well be stemmed from 

Lee Byung-chul (left), Samsung Group's founder, and Lee Kun-hee (second from the left), 

former chairman of Samsung Group, are having a meeting with other board members in 1978. 

Hail the Father 

of Business, 

Lee Byung-chul 

Celebrated its centenary year of Hoam Lee Byung-chul’s birthday 

his childhood background where he was 

born during the time of Japanese reign, 

and Korea was dependent upon Japanese 

rule. In other words, among many factors, 

he realized how a country is vulnerable 

against lack of vigorous ventures keeping 

the nation afloat and that the nation's stake 

was poised on the edge of the chair without 

the existence of strong capitalism. 

Hence, it is not surprising that he placed 

business in the service of his country. Lee's 

unflagging efforts to construct and embed 

free enterprise in Korea to strengthen the 

nation earned him the reputation as a passionate 

champion of economic prosperity 

and welfare. His efforts led to an unprecedented 

thaw in relations with the government 

and cultivated capitalist ambition in 

the forthcoming future. 

What nurtured Samsung to 

the top was in Hoam Lee's 

management skill 

Lee Byung-chul held keen insight that 

cultivated a huge enterprise while avoiding 

a mess of pottage and also possessed 

laudable leadership. He maintained his 

principles throughout his life that a chairman 

of a company should consider three 

basic ideas while balancing these three: 

market, people, and management. Also, 

he trusted his employees with all his heart 

that he let the person in charge to take care 

of the work, without his direct supervision. 

The most interesting choice he made for 

the company's security and well-being was 

selecting a psychologist as his consultant 

instead of a business specialist. He recognized 

that management is not about playing 

with numbers, but managing people; 

also, he understood that his employees are 

the most valuable assets to his company. 

Samsung History 

Samsung Group gave birth to the notion 

of conglomerate. President Park 

Chung-hee staged an anticorruption campaign 

in 1961. At the time, Lee was resid- 


Starting from the left is Lee Kun-hee, Lee Byung-chul, 

and Lee Myung-hee (late Lee's youngest daughter) at the 

opening of Shinsegae department store 

Lee Byung-chul being awarded on honorary 

doctorate at Boston College in 1982 

ing in Japan, refusing to go back to Korea 

and confront the incumbent president, because 

he did not want to walk into the 

mouse trap where he will be the main target 

as the richest man in Korea. 

Nonetheless, he and President Park 

made a deal that ultimately became the 

pillar for Korea's conglomerate. The deal 

is as follows: Samsung is allowed to keep 

the business running, but it has to be the 

carrier that implements governmental projects 

that are in concurrent with President 

Park's plan. Although the deal draws a picture 

of Lee succumbing to the government, 

such plan established the nature of 

Korean economic system, in which the 

government and the business circle formed 

a common ground of interest that will benefit 

the two. Thus, business profits the 

companies earn in Korea can well be interpreted 

as the government partially subsidizing 

in one way or another. Samsung, 

however, in a long term, made progress 

day after day and month after month that 

it now sees record profits and revenue. 

It started as an exports company in 

1938, and soon mushroomed and employed 

well over 400,000 employees and 

manufactures electronics, vehicles, chemicals, 

and textiles, ships, and runs hotels in 

its subsidiaries. Now Samsung Electronics 

is known to be one of the top 10 brands in 

the world and it operates in five major 

business areas: Telecommunication, 

Digital and Home Appliances, Digital 

Media, LCD, and Semiconductors. 

Intimidated and revered by Japan, Taiwan 

and other countries worldwide and not to 

Hoam Lee Byung-chul, practicing calligraphy. 

He is writing 'modesty' in Chinese characters 

mention domestically, Samsung 

Electronics with its hard-line expansion 

had managed to crush market share of 

every company to become the top manufacturer 

of DRAM, home appliances, 

flash memory, DVD-combo players, and 

several other devices and is now the forerunner 

in plasma displays and next generation 

mobile phones. Recently, Samsung 

even became a dominant player in notoriously 

selective Japan. 

Samsung's development in 

chronological order 

At the age of 26, he used his father's inherited 

money to start a rice mill in his 

home town, Kyungnam. The venture 

went off to a rocky road so he moved to 

Daegu and began a trucking and real estate 

business naming it Samsung, which 

means 'three stars'. To make it worse the 

business went bankrupt due to credit 

squeeze that came from Japanese invasion 

of Manchuria. However, Lee got back on 

the rails and started business where he 

added domestic and international trading 

to the former trucking and real estate business 

that he had originally started from. 

And that is how Samsung Trading 

Company developed in the midst of tense 

situation in the Korean peninsula. In 

1953, he started the foremost sugar refining 

company in Korea called 'Cheil Sugar'. 

Cheil meaning 'first' flourished afterwards 

and made high profits. In 1952, he established 

additional subsidiary called Cheil 

Wool Textile Company. Since then, 

Samsung Electronics emerged and had become 

the dominant group even outshining 

worldwide leader Intel in investment for 

2005 fiscal records. In 1971, Samsung 

Electronics succeeded exporting domestic 

TVs to overseas for the first time and invented 

the world's fourth VCR consecutively. 

From then on, Samsung produced 

color TVs for the first time in Korea in 

1976, and was rated as number one blackand-white 

color TV manufacturer in the 

world. In this fashion, Samsung went 

from success to success; riding on the crest 

of a wave and with no doubt Lee planted 

the seeds of these successes. He also served 

as chairman of the Federation of Korean 

Industries, a prominent business organization 

that is comprised of the country's leading 

business executives. 

Samsung Empire 

There are four major groups that culminate 

Samsung Group and they are 

Hansol, CJ, and Shinsegae group. Cheil 

Jedang, known as CJ, is a Korean conglomerate 

that diversified from its mother 

company, Samsung. It is owned and operated 

by Lee Jae-hyun, the grandson of 

Lee. It also opened a chain of multiplex 

movie theaters under the name of CGV. 

The Shinsegae Group is mainly known for 

its department stores and is managed by 

Lee's youngest daughter, Lee Myung-hee. 

As of today, Samsung Group has 64 subsidiaries 

and employs roughly 30,000 employees 

and combines for revenue of KR₩ 

200 trillion (US$172.3 billion), occupying 

approximately one-fifth of Korea's gross 

domestic product (GDP). 



Energy Efficient products 

The Most 

Energy-Efficient 

Home 

Appliances 

The top 9 most 

energy-efficient models 

Out of the products in 2009, required to 

deliver energy efficiency labels such as refrigerators, 

air conditioners, drum washers, 

and dish washers were picked on a pilot 

basis to make the list of the top 9 most 

energy-saving products. For refrigerators, 

LG Electronic's 752l "R-T758VHHW" 

came out on top in the category of "more 

than 500l (with a dispenser or a home 

bar)". In the category of more than 500l 

(without a dispenser or a home bar), 705l 

"5ED5FHKXVT", produced by US 

Whirlpool and imported by Electrom, was 

number one. In less than 500l refrigerators, 

the winner was 178l 'HFD- 189LC', 

produced by HISENSE of China and imported 

by Halla Welthtech. Among 10kW 

to 17.5kW air conditioners, Samsung 

Electronics' 10kW "AIXC4H100B3/RIXB 

HF035B2" topped the list. 

Among 4kW to 10 kW air conditioners, 

Samsung Electronic's 6kW "AF-V15HGA" 

ranked first, and 2.5kW "RAS-07SKCV- 

K", manufactured by Toshiba of Japan 

and imported by Carrier, finished first 

among less than 4kW air conditioners. In 

the category of 7kg-15kg drum washers, 

Daewoo Electronic's 7kg "DWD-700 

WNM" showed the highest energy efficiency. 

Among dish washers for fewer 

than six people, Tongyang Magic's 

"DWA- 1650P" was the best, while "FA- 

VORIT 60870" (for up to 12 people), produced 

by Electrolux and imported by Core 

Incorporated, came in first place. 


Energy Efficient products 

Real-times News 

World's First 

AMOLED With 

Touch Function 

Cutting-edge home appliances are on diplay at 

Samsung Electronic's booth in KES 2009 

Expectations of energy conservation 

If a household replaces a third-most energy efficient home appliances 

with the best energy-efficient ones - for example, with the 

number one energy-efficient 750l refrigerator, the number one 

6kw air conditioner, the number one 7kg drum washer, it can 

save up to KR₩ 107,000 (667kwh per year) and 450,000 ton of 

CO2 can be reduced nationwide per year. 

Paying keen attention to energy efficiency for home appliance 

purchases will lower consumers' electricity bills and contribute to 

the international efforts to tackle the issues of CO2 greenhouse 

gas emissions and global warming. The Ministry of Knowledge 

and Economy plans on reinforcing its efforts for energy efficiency 

by putting energy efficiency labels on 10 more items-such as rice 

cookers and home boilers-starting in 2010. Since home appliance 

manufacturers have been working hard to develop technologies 

for energy efficiency, the standard of energy efficiency ranks 

will be adjusted upwards in stages. 

Oh Hae-young / info@koreaittimes.com 

On January 31, 2010, it was announced that Samsung 

Mobile Display will begin mass producing the world's first 

touch function AMOLED panel starting in March. This 

product is known as Samsung's 3.3 inch WVGA (480X800) 

resolution AMOLED. 

Its characteristics include a touch screen component and a 

simple manufacturing process. Until now, touch screen 

products were made by separately connecting the display 

and the touch panel. However, Samsung placed a touch sensor 

(on-cell) over the mirror display and made it evaporate. 

The touch sensor's thickness is 0.001 mm, which allows the 

screen to provide clear, high-quality images. This marks the 

first time that a touch sensor was placed over an AMOLED 

substrate. 

A company representative stated, "Through mass production, 

we want to make this touch embedded AMOLED 

panel number one in the LCD and AMOLED market. 

Also, we want to mass produce touch screens and construct 

a system so that we can expand the display market." 


Open Incheon 

Comming Soon: 

Ubiquitous 

Business Town 

planned for 2010 to 2014. The main 

goal of Incheon is to become a hub of 

Northeast Asia in business, IT, BT, trading, 

and education and more. To accomplish 

the goal, Incheon has set a slogan 

to build "Compact, Smart, and 

Green" City. 

Commissioner 

Lee Heon-seok 

Asia has risen as one of major economic 

sectors of the world. With the growing 

economic power of China, especially, 

Northeast Asia takes an important role in 

the global economy. Korea is geographically 

surrounded by countries like China, 

Japan, and Russia. Being close to global 

economic leaders could be either an advantage 

or a disadvantage. Korea is looking 

to survive and compete in a fierce global 

market. Among all cities in Korea, 

Incheon is striving to become an enginge 

of growth for the Korean economy through 

Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ). It 

has been six years since IFEZ has started 

and the second phase of development is 


IFEZ's 3 main strategies - 

"Compact", "Smart", and 

"Green" City 

"Compact City" means the autonomous 

city built in a highly concentrated area, but 

it is very efficient at the same time. The concept 

was applied to IFEZ's Songdo City. In 

a radius of 5 km, there are buildings for 

businesses, residence, education, hospitals, 

shopping, and tours. The 68-story NEATT 

(Northeast Asia Trade Center) will be completed 

this year and the 151-story Incheon 

Tower is expected to be finished by 2014. 

Near the offices buildings, there is Songdo 

Central Park where sea water is used to 

build lakes in the park. Many international 

schools such as North Carolina and New 

York State Universities are ready to be 

opened in 'Songdo Global Campus' Also, 

Seoul National University and Johns 

Hopkins University will manage the international 

hospital together. "Songdo is a 

self-sufficient city with highly concentrated 

development," said the Commissioner 

Lee Heon-seok. The successful cases of 

compact city like Crossing of Mountain 

view, U.S. and Roppongi Hills, Japan 

show the future of compact city. From urban 

planning to development, Songdo is 

on the track to become the best decentralized 

compact city. 

"Smart City" is based on IT technology 

to raise the standard of living. From planning 

to development, the cutting-edge 

technology becomes the foundation of the 

city's infrastructure. According to the 

Commissioner, the city-wide network 

"will greatly improve the communication 

among people, businesses, and government." 

Incheon has recently introduced a 

city model so, that visitors can experience 

the future of Incheon. The advanced ubiquitous 

technology was applied to improve 

the communication through wired and 

wireless portals and various devices. 

Traffic, security, disaster prevention, and 

public information is linked to the city 

management system to achieve the true 

ubiquitous city. 

Commissioner Lee explained, "We 

hope that when the project is completed, 

residents will experience many great bene-

Open Incheon 

Compact and Smart City 

fits. Smart homes will get smarter, and all 

the information in the house can be monitored 

and controlled with a touch of finger 

tip on a mobile device." The traffic can be 

managed more efficiently which will encourage 

more businessmen or businesswomen 

to work at home communicating 

through video conference. Would it not 

be great to spend less time on the road?" 

All the technology is ready to be applied 

and implemented, and the future of smart 

city is just around the corner. 

"Green City", the last strategy, IMFZ 

will have 32 percent of green space ratio 

including various parks and lakes, which is 

highest ratio among Korea's metropolitan 

new towns. 429,000 m 2 central park is located 

at the center of Songdo City. 

Especially, the city is planning to reduce 

30 percent of carbon dioxide compared to 

other major cities, receiving renowned 

'LEED-ND' eco-friendly development certification. 

The compact smart city concept 

greatly influences the green environment. 

Most buildings and facilities, which residents 

need, are located inside the city. 

Convenient and fast public transportation 

will be available, but the city will promote 

walking and bicycling for residents' health 

and environment. Pedestrians and bicycles 

have a priority over automobiles in the city 

planning. Eco-friendly green city development 

is a global trend, and IFMZ will lead 

the green movement with a brand new city 

from the ground up. 

Incheon's globalization with 

international investments 

Korea has assigned Incheon Free 

Economic Zone to bring global companies 

to Incheon by providing the environment 

for their business in Asia. Incheon has a 

world class airport, seaport, and infrastructure 

to support business operations. Thus, 

all major Asian cities are located within 3- 

hours. IFEZ consists of three cities, 

Songdo, Yongjong, and Cheongna city. 

Among those cities, Songdo City is designed 

for international businesses in a 5.7 

km 2 area with over KR₩10 billion investment. 

The first phase of the project 

was finished last year and the whole development 

will be completed in 2020. Major 

global companies have their eyes on 

Incheon. On December 18 of last year, 

"We signed a MOU with GE to establish a 

GE global U-health R&D center for the 

first time in Asia," said the commissioner. 

GE will invest US$41.3 million for the 

R&D center in next five years. The center 

is a part of GE's 'healthymagination' 

movement to improve technology and 

quality of life while cutting health care 

costs. Also, the world's biggest computer 

networking company, Cisco, has signed 

MOU to establish Global Center in Songdo 

city to build an intelligent city based on 

ubiquitous networking technology. Cisco 

will invest US$1.1 billion to build the 

Global Center and takes in charge of technology 

and solution to build the smart 

city. Cisco will use the Global Center to 

test their ubiquitous city development 

business and make it into a center of global 

ubiquitous city projects. It is significant for 

IMFZ have global companies like GE and 

Cisco. When more companies get involved 

in the IMFZ project, Incheon will 

truly become a hub of Northeast Asia. 

Incheon-the place for 

holding international events 

G20 summit will be held in Korea on 

November of this year, and Incheon's 

Songdo city is considered as a prospective 

place for the summit. If IMFZ is chosen 

for G20 summit, it would be good chance 

to promote the city globally. Incheon is also 

scheduled to have 2014 Asian Olympic 

Games. The city of Incheon still has a lot 

to prepare for the international events and 

building IFTZ cities. However, the partnership 

and collaboration between government 

and business corporations will 

brighten the future of 'Compact, Smart, 

and Green City'. 



Finance 

Great 

Innovation 

Campaign 

by KODIT 

Ahn Taik-soo, chairman and CEO of KODIT 

The Korea Credit Guarantee Fund 

(KODIT) will actively push for the "great 

innovation" campaign this year under the 

slogan of "New Challenge! New Change!" 

"Based on confidence and creative challenging 

spirit earned in the process of tiding 

over the economic crisis, we will push 

ahead with the great innovation campaign 

to improve managerial efficiency and bolster 

competitiveness," said Ahn Taik-soo, 

chairman & CEO of KODIT. Related to 

this, KODIT has designated the "innovation 

day" twice a month and all the company 

staff will participate in an innovation 

meeting to seek ways of creating more 

jobs, establishing effective managerial 

strategy, and developing new projects. 

Differentiation of Credit 

Guarantees in 2010 

Ahn said, "KODIT will also expand 

and differentiate its extension of credit 

guarantees this year. We will expand the 

total volume of credit guarantees by KR₩ 

700 billion from KR₩ 42.3 trillion in 

2009 to KR₩ 43 trillion in 2010." The total 

will break down into KR₩ 38 trillion 

for general credit guarantees and KR₩ 5 

trillion for P-CBO. Ahn reinforced the 

fact, "This year, we will push ahead with a 

two-track policy for guarantee assistance. 

We will strengthen support for enterprises 

with high growth potential. At the same 

time, we will differentiate guarantee assistance 

by carrying out a restructuring program 

for marginal companies." 

In particular KODIT will extend KR₩ 

23.6 trillion in credit guarantees to companies 

creating future-oriented growth engines 

and KR₩ 12 trillion to those creating 

new jobs. "To support exporting companies 

that lead the economic recovery 

and green growth-oriented companies that 

propel new growth engines of the national 

economy, we will actively expand credit 

guarantees to them. By doing so, KODIT 

plans to contribute to the government's 

policy to increase more jobs," stated Ahn. 

In addition, "KODIT will play a role of 

"119" by supporting small and mediumsized 

companies that once experienced a 

business failure to help them regain hope 

for the future," insisted Ahn. 

Reform of the Screening 

System to Improve Quality 

of Credit Guarantee 

KODIT has adjusted its screening system 

to improve quality of credit guarantee. 


Finance 

last year. It also mapped out detailed plans in June to carry out 

the 37 tasks under the leadership of the executive director of 

KODIT. 

In August, members from both management and labor union 

participated in the task force for the first time since the establishment 

of KODIT and created the labor-management joint committee, 

a joint consultation body for mutual cooperation and survival, 

Ahn said. He went on to say, "On Sept. 3, labor and management 

finally agreed to introduce a performance-based annual 

salary system and expand the gap in incentive. On Oct. 11, they 

reached an agreement to slash wages and make it obligatory for 

employees to spend 25 percent of annual paid leaves. To keep effective 

organization structure and inject fresh air into the organization, 

KODIT carried out a voluntary resignation program and 

44 employees left." 

The Head office of Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) 

"For the first time, KODIT changed the standard guarantee 

limit from the previous fiscal year's sales to the sales in the recent 

year to reflect latest corporate status. The step is designed to effectively 

cope with actual demands for funds by small and mediumsized 

companies and carry out more reliable guarantee screening," 

said Ahn. Also, KODIT built a future-oriented screening 

system. To support small and medium-sized companies with 

high growth potential, KODIT has decided to apply indicators to 

appraise future growth potential and management ability and adjust 

the credit rating into the maximum of two grades to companies 

that received more than 300 million in credit guarantees. 

The chairman stated, "The reform of the guarantee screening 

system is an epoch-making change in the KODIT history and will 

greatly contribute to improving quality of credit guarantee." 

KODIT Played a Key Role in Tiding Over 

Global Economic Crisis 

In 2009, KODIT played a key role in helping the country to 

wither out of the global economic crisis by extending KR₩ 42.6 

trillion in credit guarantees to enterprises, the biggest annual volume 

since the fund was established. Last year, KODIT supplied 

KR₩ 39.4 trillion in general guarantees to companies. It also 

supported 58,000 newly established small and medium-sized 

companies with fresh funds of KR₩ 17.5 trillion. "It also supplied 

KR₩ 3.2 trillion worth of P-CBO to small and mid-sized 

companies to help them wither out of the storm of the global economic 

crisis," Ahn said. 

In the first half of 2009, the net increase of total loans to small 

and medium-sized firms by financial institutions amounted to 

KR₩ 16.2 trillion. Of the total, KR₩ 7.2 trillion or 44.4 percent 

were extended by KODIT in a form of loans on guarantee. 

Despite the fund's supply of biggest credit guarantees in 2009, the 

default ratio stood at 4.4 percent as of December last year, much 

lower than the 14.5 percent recorded in the 1997-1998 Asian financial 

crisis, reflecting KODIT's efforts to pursue sound guarantee, 

Ahn explained. Thanks to such efforts, KODIT was selected 

as the best institution in terms of management performance 

among quasi-government agencies by the Ministry of strategy 

and Finance in June 2009. 


Introduction of an Advanced System 

KODIT is operating a task force to push for introduction of an 

advanced system. The team comprising 11 staff members from 

the Planning Coordination Department and HR Department has 

suggested 37 tasks, including a method to have efficient organization, 

after one-month study work, which started on April 15 of 


India special | Collaboration between Korea and India 

Members of the ICCK 

gathered at Shilla Hotel 

Two Heads are 

Better than One 

Korea and India make a determined effort to control Asia 

Korea and India decided to hold hands 

and walk down the road to success. Both 

nations have a game plan that will benefit 

each of them, but at the same time, enhance 

Asia on the world stage. Both countries 

will propel Korea-India relations and 

collaborate on science and technology. 

How will science and technology cooperation 

work between Korea and India? 

They already pumped their gas to the max 

and all they need to do is, go. 

President Lee Myung Bak embarked on 

a tour to India, on January 24. This was at 

the request of the President Pratibha Patil 

of India to sign the MOU that states, the 

two nations will jointly promote the development 

of technology. The two nations' 

dialogues were concerned with strengthening 

the national ties and exchanging software 

experts and cultivate skilled manpower 

to generate significant synergy. 

Together, they raised US$10 million for 

the science and technology sector and constructed 

'Science and Technology Cooperation 

Center between India and Korea' 

at Bangalore, India. This facility will be 

operated by Korea Institute of Science and 

Technology(KIST) and Indian Institute of 

Science(IISc). It is concluded that Korea 

will attract and retain high quality IT man 

power and also send Korean job seekers to 

India for IT-oriented job training. In addition, 

they will, in concert, execute research 

on aerospace technology and endorse student 

exchange programs in Korean and 

Indian colleges and universities. 

On January 19, 2010, was the launching 

of The Indian Chamber of Commerce in 

Korea (ICCK) at Shilla Hotel in Seoul. 

"The comprehensive economic partnership 

agreement (CEPA) that took effect on 

New Year's Day will start a new era of strong 

economic cooperation", said Ambassador 

Skand R Tayal, during the congregation. 

He continued to say, "Korea can boast its 

advantage in manufacturing industries, 

while India has strength in know-ledge 

and service industries." Kim Jong-Sik, 

President and CEO of TDCV also said, 

"the ICCK acts as a strategic partner in the 

global marketplace on political, economic, 

cultural, and business leadership." The 

launching of ICCK and with CEPA together 

promoting bilateral economic cooperation 

has opened doors to Korean market 

as well as to Indian market. There are 

50 participating companies for the ICCK. 

India and Korea's trade volume in 2000 

was US$2.3 billion and has increased to 

US$15.6 billion in 2008. Korea invested 

US$2.5 billion last year; India invested 

US$83 million to Korea to strengthen economic 

cooperation. 

On a similar note, Korea will get involved 

in India's Electronic government 

projects and Social Overhead Capital 

(SOC) infrastructure that contends with 

software technology. 



University 

Expect 

The Unexpected 

SNU research team led by 

Professor Park Byung-gook presents something innovative 

Technologies are universal, both 

by nature and by name, mostly in 

abbreviated form. Throw out 

"cell phone", "computer" or "television" 

anywhere and chances are you will not be 

alienated. But Cone SONOS flash memory? 

For this rare technology, we are at 

once baffled by its idiosyncratic term. 

Korean research team from Seoul 

National University (SNU) invented 

'NOR Flash Memory' that processes data 

faster by ten times for the first in the world. 

The research team led by Professor Park 

Byung-gook made it all the more possible 

for next-generation digital devices to be 

faster because NOR flash memory can be 

housed into cell phones, smart phones, 

TVs, and other gadgets. 

Professor Park and his team invented a 

cone-shaped NOR flash memory instead 

of the original, flat shaped, hence, breaking 

the norm. They announced on January 20 

that they succeeded in developing another 

flash memory that has relevant speed and 

data storage that of NAND. 

NOR has been commonly used in cell 

phones for they are fast in processing 

memory storage. NOR and NAND is divided 

by their circuit type and shape; unlike 

DRAM, they are able to continue 

storing information even after the power is 

turned off. Nonetheless, the former flatshaped 

NOR was often criticized for its inefficiency 

because of low accumulation 

Cone SONOS flash memory 

and low capacity. 

SNU research team significantly improved 

information record and deleting 

rate by extending the memory channel to a 

cone-shaped and stretching the travel distance 

of electrons. And by cutting the 

NOR's area by one fifth, they achieved in 

boosting its accumulation rate to the level 

and speed of NAND. All in all, SNU research 

team is applauded for the possibility 

of entering the consumer's market of 

selling NOR flash memory the size of 

32GB. 

"This current technology based off of 

changing the entire shape of NOR has allowed 

procuring the most innovative technology," 

said Professor Park. 

Such research result has already been 

uploaded on the recent IEEE Electron 

Device Letters and is in the process of obtaining 

a patent both domestic and in the 

U.S. 



India Special | about IT Industry 

India's IT growth in the world is primarily dominated by IT 

software and services such as Custom Application Development 

and Maintenance (CADM), System Integration, IT Consulting, 

Application Management, Software testing, and Web services. 

As per India's National Association of Software & Service 

Companies (NASSCOM) latest findings, Indian IT-BPO sector 

grew by 12 per cent in the year 2009 to reach US$ 71.7 billion in 

aggregate revenue (including hardware). Of this, the software and 

services segment accounted for US$ 59.6 billion. 

Moreover, according to a study by Springboard Research, the 

Indian IT services market is estimated to remain the fastest growing 

in the Asia-Pacific region with a Compound Annual Growth 

Rate (CAGR) of 18.6 per cent. 

At present, there are 60 million Internet users in India. 

According to Manufacturer's Association of IT (MAIT), the 

number of active Internet entities rose to 8.6 million by March 

2009 from 7.2 million units in March 2008. A recent study estimates 

that the total PC sale in India is likely to grow by 7 per cent 

in 2009, with total sales expected to cross 7.3 million units. 

Skand R Tayal, 

Ambassador of India 

Information 

Technology 

in India 

The Indian information technology industry has played a key 

role in putting India on the global map. Thanks to the success of 

the IT industry, India is now a power to reckon with. The revenue 

of the information technology sector has risen from 1.2 per 

cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the year 1997 to an 

estimated 5.8 per cent in 2008. 

Outsourcing 

According to NASSCOM, software and services exports (including 

exports of IT services, BPO, engineering services and 

R&D and software products) reached US$ 47 billion in 2008, 

contributing nearly 78 per cent to the total software and services 

revenue of US$ 59.6 billion. 

India continues to be the most preferred destination for companies 

looking to offshore their IT and back-office functions. It also 

retains its low-cost advantage and is among the most financially 

attractive locations when viewed in combination with the business 

environment it offers and the availability of skilled people, 

according to global management consultancy AT Kearney. 

Some recent big deals in the outsourcing space include 

: 

• Tata Consultancy Services is understood to have bagged a 

US$ 248.75 million software implementation contract from 

the Cardiff City Council, UK. 

• Etisalat DB, formerly known as Swan Telecom, has outsourced 

implementation of its software applications and IT 

infrastructure to Tech Mahindra as part of a US$ 400 million 

deal spread over the next 10 years. 

IT enabled Services 

India is referred to as the back office of the world owing mainly 

to the Information Technology-enabled Services (ITeS) sector. 

Software and services exports (includes exports of IT services, 

BPO, Engineering Services and R&D and Software products) 

reached US$ 47 billion, contributing nearly 66 per cent to the 

overall IT-BPO revenue aggregate. 


India Special 

ITeS, which started with basic data entry tasks over a decade 

ago, is witnessing an expansion in its scope of services to include 

increasingly complex processes involving rule-based decision 

making and even research services requiring informed individual 

judgment. It now offers services such as knowledge process outsourcing 

(KPO), legal process outsourcing (LPO), games process 

outsourcing (GPO) and design outsourcing among others. 

India continues to capture a large share of new offshore centers 

being established in Asia. According to a new report by the 

Everest Research Institute, more delivery centers have been setup 

in tier-I and tier-II cities during the second quarter of 2009 as 

compared to the first quarter. 

Moving up the value-chain 

India with its natural competitive advantage is likely to play 

an important role in various segments of the ITeS industry. 

• The Indian animation industry is rapidly growing as a major 

outsourcing hub with a growth rate of 30 per cent. 

• The Indian Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) sector is 

estimated to become a US$ 10 billion industry by 2012, from 

the current size of US$ 4 billion. 

• India is fast becoming a hot destination for outsourced e- 

publishing work. As per a Confederation of Indian Industry 

(CII) report, the industry is growing at an annual rate of 35 

per cent and India's outsourcing opportunities in the valueadded 

and core services will help make the publishing BPO 

industry worth US$ 1.46 billion by 2010. 

• As per a CRISIL study, engineering services outsourcing 

(ESO) is poised to be the next big opportunity in the Indian 

outsourcing services industry. The ESO sector is likely to 

grow at a compounded rate of 26 per cent and post revenues 

aggregating around US$ 7.5 billion by 2012. 

• The market for recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) continues 

to grow at a healthy rate notwithstanding the tough 

economic condition with the number of deals signed rising 

in 2009. 

Recent Deals 

The cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) involving 

Indian IT and IT-enabled companies increased by nearly 12 per 

cent between January 1 and December 15, 2008 to US$ 3.22 billion 

(in 98 deals) compared with US$ 2.88 billion (in 159 deals) in 

2007. The average deal size in 2008 increased to US$ 32.86 million 

(as compared to US$ 18.15 million), according to Grant 

Thornton India. 

Etisalat DB Telecom, a new entrant in the Indian telecom 

space has awarded an end-to-end outsourcing contract to three 

Indian BPO service providers - Tech Mahindra, Aegis and 

Conflux. The deal, spanning over five years, is valued at over 

US$ 161.3 million. 

Indian IT majors Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys 

Technologies and Wipro Ltd, besides global IT giants IBM and 

Accenture, have bagged a five-year US$ 1.5 billion outsourcing 

deal from BP (British Petroleum), the world's third-largest petroleum 

refining company in the world. 

CEPA 

A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) 

between India and Korea has become operational from the beginning 

of this year. CEPA is more than a normal free trade agreement 

and covers services sector also. An important provision of 

CEPA is that it eases the entry of Indian professionals in 163 

types of occupations into Korea for contractual work. These include 

ICT hardware design engineers, LAN engineers, web masters, 

database programmers and internet engineers. 

Prestigious Indian IT companies like Tata Consultancy 

Services (www.tcs.com), L&T Infotech (www.lntinfotech.com) 

, WIPRO (www.wipro.com) , Nucleus Software (www.nucleussoftware.com) 

have their offices in Seoul and have been working 

for their Korean clients for several years. 

We hope that, in the years to come, Indian IT companies 

would enter into major collaborative projects with Korean companies 

which would further enhance the profitability and efficiency 

of Korean corporate sector. 


India Special 

Buddhism in India 


India Special 

Nalanda 

University 

Kushinagar 

Buddha 

India has a rich cultural heritage reflecting a glorious past in almost 

all spheres of life, social, economic, educational, academic, 

cultural and, most importantly, spiritual. India is the origin of 

Buddhism and is one of the most popular religions in the world. 

Buddhism started in India and the various sacred grounds are situated 

in this holy country. The message of Buddha spread rapidly, 

penetrating caste and class barriers. Buddha preached that the 

way to salvation was not dependent on God of Divine Grace, but 

on understanding the way things really are. It is essentially concerned 

with all living, suffering beings caught in the treadmill of 

desire and craving. 

Buddha's life is based on various locations such as Bodhgaya, 

Kushinagar, Varanasi and Nalanda in India. It was in Bodhgaya 

under the Bodhi tree that Gautam attained enlightenment to become 

Buddha. King Ashoka erected a shrine near the Bodhi tree, 

which was replace by Mahabodhi Temple. And Kushinagar is 

where Lord Buddha passed into Mahaparinirvana. The famous 

sites are Mahaparinirvana temple and Ramabhar Stupa where 

Buddha was cremated. Nalanda University, established in the 

fifth century B.C., was one of the greatest monastic universities of 

the ancient world. But it was damaged or destroyed by the Turks 

in 12 century. There is also the city of Varanasi which is a city situated 

on the bank of the River Ganges. Varanasi is a holy city in 

Hinduism because it is one of the most sacred pilgrimage places 

for Hindus of all denominations. Hindus believe that bathing in 

Ganga remits sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a 

person's soul from the cycle of its transmigrations. 

And India has Bihar a cultural village of the country. To boost 

Buddhism Relates and complete the course of the Buddhism sacred 

ground tour, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India 

and the Department of Tourism, Government of Bihar, with 

technical support of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara organized a two 

day International Buddhist Conclave entitled "Experience 

Buddhism - In the Land of Origin" in the vibrant environment of 

Nalanda and Rajgir, adjacent to Bodhgaya. The conclave will 

help wide-rage of people to enrich their experience with local culture 

and encourage and involve the local community to conceive, 

establish, and grow viable and sustainable livelihood through pilgrimage 

tourism ventures. 

There is large number of other Buddhist sacred sites in India, 

and people from all over the world are eager to visit the destinations 

to follow the footsteps of the Buddha. India is obviously the 

most important country for Buddhism believers and many scholars 

keep study in order to complete the trace of Buddha's life. 

Also, the demands of Buddhism sacred ground tour packages are 

increasing in South Korea and several travel agencies have been 

operating the products for Korean Buddhists so it is expected that 

the number of the pilgrimage tourists will increase. 

Thus, it will be a great opportunity to know real India if you 

visit the religious historical country exploring the sacred grounds 

of the Buddha. 

Provided by India Tourism 


How to.. | How to promote your products and find what you want 

http://www.koreaittimes.com 

How to... 

Promote 

Your 

Products 

Korea IT Time's clients have been sending 

their products or asking us where to 

buy the products that we post. Since this is 

uncharted territory, we have decided to 

create our own ‘Trade Market' page. As 

you may see already, the Korea IT Times 

has a new area on the main page 

(www.koreaittimes.com) called Trade 

Market. 

When entering the page ‘Korea IT 

Times - Trade Market' there is a dropdown 

list showing three categories. There 

are three categories: buy, sell and etc. The 

default view is to show all the categories, 

but you are able to categorize it by selecting 

your preference and then click on the 

‘Go' button. Also, more conveniently you 

can choose which category you want by 

using the tabs on the top that are labeled 

accordingly. Also, on the right-side there 

are six smaller buttons. The first, button is 

for a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed a format 

for delivering regularly changing web 

content. RSS will allow you to easily stay 

informed by retrieving the latest products 

and information from our website. The 

second, button is about the board skin and 

the developer. The third, button is for tags. 

If somebody added tags to their post you 

are able to view it here. The fourth, fifth 

and sixth buttons allow you change the 

default look of the page. For instance, you 

could click on the fifth button to show the 

title and information about the post for 

each product on the site. 

To add a post to Korea IT Times - 

Trade Market click on the button ‘Write'. 

This is where you are able to add your 


How to.. 

product. There are four required textboxes. The first required 

textbox is author, second is password, third is title, and last is content. 

Email and homepage are optional. There are also, three 

checkboxes. The first, checkbox is ‘Secret'. This is if you want to 

make your post invisible to other people. The second, checkbox is 

‘Allow Comments'. This is used if you want people to post comments 

about your product or not. The third, checkbox is ‘Allow 

Trackbacks'. This allows you to receive emails when somebody 

posts comments about your product. 

To add pictures there are two ways you can do it. First, you can 

add a picture by clicking on the ‘URL' button. Here you are able 

to add the image by using a web address. Or you could add the 

picture by using html. This is useful if you are using an online 

photo gallery. Just copy the http address and insert it into the 

html editor view. Second, way is to add a picture by clicking on 

the button ‘Attach'. After finding the desirable picture click on 

‘Insert to Content'. 

Opening up your own Trade Market of your product. This 

could be away to share your portfolio of the product or products 

that you've done so far. Away to make sure everybody knows 

about it. If the stars align, you've done all you can, and your fortune 

is right, it can all come together to be a successful marketing 

tool. 

How to Promote Your Products 

It is not good practice to reach your target customers through 

one media source as you risk losing everything all at once so; this 

is why Korea IT Times will definitely be useful for your business 

sales. Here are a couple ways to get successful business leads for 

your product. 

First, do not shy away from any negative feedback. These are 

things that will get you to improve your product. It is impossible 

to have a perfect product that everybody loves. Some products are 

unfinished or in ‘beta' testing this will help you get your product 

notice and away to offer assistance. There a lot of people who go 

online to look for unfinished products - they understand things 

will be rolled out at different stages. Second, create colorful product 

images and show them in the most professional way possible. 

Make sure the pictures are not used with a disposable camera this 

could personally sabotage your chance of closing a future deal. 

These are just a couple easy ways to promote or get a name for 

your product. To make sure your business lead trade market efforts 

pays dividends, you need to focus on multiple media channels 

and this is where Korea IT Times will help. By targeting customers 

who are spending their time online, not to shy away from 

negative feedback, create professional messages to capture the potential 

customers as close to the point of buying as possible, and 

to close them into sales as quickly as possible so that you can get a 

high return on investment. 



Electronics Special | Electronics 50 Years 

Tracing 50 Years of Korea's 

Electronics Industry Development 

Memoir of TFT LCD 

The eighth installment in a twelve-part series - Ed. 

President of Korea Nitto Optical 

Corporation, Kim Hong-in 

A Fateful Meeting 

Tokyo, 1990 - a New Project Business 

Plan Researcher from Samsung spotted 

the strangest yet most incredible device 

while visiting NTT Docomo. Not only 

was it the first time for him to see the 

small flat screen, but this black and white 

display also showed a man jumping rope 

without an after-image. "This is what they 

call TFT LCD," a reporter who accompanied 

him to the site said. 

When a New Business Plan 

Researcher from Samsung 

Questioned What Art Thou 

When most Koreans were still trying to 

get their hands on basic color televisions, 


Japan had already shifted their focus to 

thin film transistor liquid crystal display 

(TFT LCD). Shortly after the visit, the researcher 

Kim Hong-in found a venture 

company Hoshiden whose technology 

strength was equivalent to Sharp. And 

Sharp was the number one LCD company 

at the time. "1990 was the third year of the 

former chairman Lee Gun-hee since his 

succession of Samsung Electronics. When 

I learned that Hoshiden wanted to have 

Samsung as an investor to further develop 

their technology, we organized that nation's 

first LCD panel exhibition at the 

Okura Hotel in Tokyo. We invited the 

chairman Lee Gun-hee to this exhibition," 

Kim Hong-in continued, "The moment he 

saw the 8.4-inch color LCD screen with 

zero after-image, he said, 'This is it!'" 

This is IT 

Half of the TFT LCD technology is 

semiconductor technology. The Golden 

Age for semiconductors was the early 

nineties for Samsung. During a blind 

meeting with Hoshiden's TFT LCD that 

led to a prosperous partnership by sharing 

the common ground. Meanwhile, 

Samsung sought to launch the TFT LCD 

Project as the next generation business. 

"It is then we learned Samsung SDI, the 

Braun tube maker, has already been exchanging 

TFT LCD technology with an 

American venture company. I suggested 

to Chairman Lee Gun-hee to send about 

50 semiconductor personnel to Samsung 

SDI. However, he envisioned a bigger picture 

and encouraged SDI staff and engineers 

to join the semiconductor division," 

Kim Hong-in recalled. 

Road Taken 

Straight from guts and from a scratch, 

Samsung started to research and develop 

TFT LCD technology one by one. "I returned 

to Korea from Tokyo to be in 

charge of the project. The engineers and I 

stayed up most of the nights at the semiconductor 

factory and we succeeded to 

make a pilot line within six months. This 

is when we were recognized in the global 

market as an emerging company. Not only 

we succeeded to develop the top quality 

semiconductor products and we did it 

within a short period of time. Moreover, 

we also came up with a TFT LCD pilot 

line in six months. This was an inspiration

Electronics Special 

for other engineers in the field around the world," said Kim. 

Kim recalled, "Before I became a project manager of TFT 

LCD project, I was at the Tokyo base as a new project business 

plan researcher and planner. I had many friends in Japan and 

when I told them I am about to start developing TFT LCD, they 

smiled and said that every new business takes at least three generations 

to bloom fully." Mr. Kim continued to say, "That was indeed 

true. We considered this as more of a family business. I 

planted a TFT LCD seed with the other engineers and staff with 

frontier spirits, and then the second and the third project managers 

have continuously watered and tended the garden to see the 

TFT LCD fully bloom." 

"To produce a TFT LCD panel that satisfies quality, cost, and 

delivery (QCD), we needed to improve three areas: driver IC, color 

filter, and glass. Even if we have our own LCD technology, we 

predicted that we would still be challenged on the subject of mass 

production if we kept on importing LCD components and materials. 

Having the mass production in three years was the company's 

top priority. We needed to look for companies that have 

much potential to invest and to develop next generation glass, driver 

IC, and color filter. It was hard to persuade them, but I 

knocked on their doors until they all agreed to do so. In three 

years, we were being able to compete against any LCD company 

in the world," Kim explained. 

Legend and Legacy 

Although it was quite a challenge to develop TFT LCD technology 

from a scratch, but the hard work was worthwhile. New 

plants keep sprouting in the display industry, shouting its thirst for 

better technology in the areas of 3D, AMOLED, and flexible display. 

Kim Hong-in has kept a frontier spirit for 26 dedicated years at 

Samsung and is still involved in LCD business. He now is the 

President that produces polalyzing film and is the number one polalyzing 

film company in the world, Nitto Denko. 

"In the process of developing TFT LCD on our own, there 

were overwhelming moments where we felt as though we were 

walking on a long and winding road. But we saw the future that 

lied ahead. We could clearly see that once we overcame the difficulties, 

we could compete in the global display market for the 

next twenty years. Now looking back, we all were happy front 

runners, gardeners, and producers. My personal journey will continue 

to plant seeds in new business areas, and I am sure many 

companies around the world including Samsung will do the 

same," President Kim Hong-in concluded. 

Full Series Schedule 

For those interested in past or future issues of this series, here is 

the full schedule of the series: 

July 2009 : an overview 

August 2009 : the electronics industry is born 

September 2009 : electronics industry gains momentum 

October 2009 : color TV production opens a new vista 

November 2009 : radios, cassettes and electronic watches change 

lifestyle 

December 2009 : the personal computer arrives 

January 2010 : TDX1 introduced into the local network 

February 2010 : TFT LCD allows determination of film thickness 

March 2010 : CDMA comes into commercial use 

April 2010 : u-technologies 

May 2010 : era of IPTV/WiBro opens 

June 2010 : epilogue 


Column 

Samsung Electronics 

of the Bio Instruments Industry 

by Kim Kyung-nam 

Kim Kyung-nam, CEO of Microdigital Co. Ltd. 


According to the newspaper agency 

Samsung Electronics became the world's 

number one electronics company in 2009. 

In other words, Samsung electronics has 

sold electronics or electrical products more 

than any other company in the world. The 

name of Samsung always reminds me of 

Silicon Valley. About 10 years ago when I 

was in Silicon Valley working for the 

Applied Materials, a company manufacturing 

semiconductor equipment, Samsung 

electronics, specifically Samsung semiconductor 

business division, was one of the 

biggest clients. They were really good at 

equipment application and product line 

usage. I believe that Samsung's success 

with IT products and home appliances are 

deeply rooted in their success of the semiconductor 

manufacturing. 

Silicon Valley was literally a boom town 

of the IT business 10 years ago. Everything 

was exciting like driving towards Las 

Vegas and embracing the brilliant neon 

signs. Millionaires, billionaires looking for 

new technologies and talented engineers 

from all around the world filled the cafes 

and restaurants. Whenever I met engineers 

and talked about the job, one of the 

dialogues always intrigued me. "So you 

work at a device manufacturing company? 

My Company makes equipment not instruments." 

Engineers like to sort devices, 

instruments, and equipment. 

IT machinery is not easy to differentiate 

among devices, instruments and equipment 

in the field of bio-technology. If I 

had to, devices can be regarded as simple 

tools and instruments as realization of 

monitoring and controlling biological activities 

by using mechanical and electrical 

modules. Bio equipment is a multiplication 

of bio instruments and definitely complexity 

is a must. 

What exactly is biological 

activity? 

It is a response or a series of responses of 

the biological materials such as blood, 

DNA, cellular material, and water resulting 

from adding external actions such as 

heat, reagent, and nutrients. 

For example considering an instrument 

detecting toxicity of the sewage water, depending 

upon the level of the toxicity the 

degree of the luminescence of the specific 

luminescence bacteria is quantitatively determined. 

In other words, by detecting the 

biological activity of the luminescence of 

the bacteria, the toxicity of the sewage water 

can be precisely monitored.

Column 

Realization is a series of mechanical 

processes replacing 

handwork processes. 

In vivo simulator, a hot theme for anti 

cancer researchers, is a good example of 

the realization. The best method of identifying 

the effects of anti cancer drugs is directly 

medicating drugs to the cancer patients. 

However, clinically-not-proveddrugs 

cannot be treated to the patients except 

in special cases. In this case, the best 

substitute is making and providing an environment 

which is very similar to the patients 

and to do the entire drug tests in a 

controlled environment. Controlling of the 

temperature of the chamber containing 

cells for anti cancer research, blocking of 

the external viruses and other inhabitants, 

providing necessary gases and nutrients 

for cellular respiration and vitality, and 

stimulating mechanical stimuli when necessary 

are parts of in vivo simulation realization. 

What are the basic functional 

groups or modules of the 

bio instruments? 

The basic frame of the bio instruments is 

"automation" technology. Replacing 

handworks by mechanical elements increases 

the reliability and repeatability of 

the bio process. For example, PCR instrument, 

a DNA multiplication instrument 

heating and cooling the DNA periodically, 

dramatically increases the detection 

rate of a certain disease thanks to automatic 

manipulation of the temperature. 

Optical detection is another basic frame 

of the bio instrument. By using the light's 

absorbance, fluorescence and luminescence, 

various natures of the biological activities 

can be detected. 

However, it should be noted that the 

quantization technology is the most important 

when it comes to bio instruments. 

Sometimes the selling price of bio instruments 

depends purely on the level of quantization. 

The more a bio instrument quantized, 

the more acceptable data can be produced. 

Quantization technology is not a 

specific field of technology, but a direction 

and level of technology automation, optical 

detection and other technology it is 

seeking. 

How can we make a compatible 

bio instrument? Is 

the capability of the 

Samsung electronics 

enough to develop and 

manufacture? 

The difference of the general electronics 

industry and bio instrument industry 

should be considered. End users or customers 

of the general electronics are consuming 

the public. A single product with 

standard functions and formats can satisfy 

hundreds and thousands of people. 

Lifecycle of the product is very short and 

consumer's adaptability to new products is 

very high. The most important thing it is 

not necessary to do the man-to-man marketing. 

In the bio instrument industry a limited 

number of users with intensive knowledge 

of processes and bio materials should be 

satisfied with various kinds of products. 

Lifecycle is relatively long and users are 

very conservative to new products. 

Therefore, man-to-man marketing is a 

must. Simply speaking knowing the market 

is very difficult and takes time. 

Making and launching a compatible bio 

instrument can be accomplished by coupling 

the R&D and manufacturing technology 

of the bio instrument company and 

capabilities of the marketing and clients 

handling of the bio infra company. Bio infra 

company is a network company providing 

all the necessary tools, reagents, instruments 

and solutions for the biotech research. 

An alliance between the bio infra company 

knowing the market and bio instrument 

company having the development 

and manufacturing technology with flexibility 

will be the Samsung electronics of 

the bio instrument industry 10 years from 

now. 

Series Schedule 

Nov. 

Human Tissue Culture Technology – Part II 

Dec. 

Alternative Energy: Bio-diesel from 

Micro-algae 

Jan. 

The Importance of Samples: Sample 

Archiving & Research 

D/B management for IT industry is highly 

important. What about samples for the biomedical 

industry? 

Feb. 

What Are Bio Instruments? 

The nature of medical instruments are well 

known. Then, what are bio instruments? 

Mar. 

Idea and Technology Realizations 

Starting from an idea catch up, a prototype 

development process will be described from 

real experience. 


Column 

Talking Business and Economics 

With a Prominent Professor 

Professor Chang Sea-Jin 

As a teenager, we 

are often asked what 

we want to be when 

we grow up. There is 

the traditional response 

of becoming 

the President or a 

politician, but nowadays, 

a good majority 

want to become a 

businessman or businesswoman. This 

winter, I was lucky enough to interview a 

prominent person with intellectual knowledge 

in business and economics - 

Professor Chang Sea-jin. Today, Professor 

Chang is the Provost's Chair Professor at 

National University of Singapore (NUS) 

Business School. Prior to joining NUS, he 

was an endowed professor at Korea 

University for fifteen years and held numerous 

appointments in respected universities 

around the world such as London 

Business School and the University of 

Pennsylvania's Wharton School. 

One of his recent accomplishments was 

publishing Sony vs. Samsung: Battle for 

Global Supremacy - a book translated in 

seven different languages and was voted 

among the top three best business books in 

2008. Through his research, he concluded 

that Samsung benefits much from the 

Korean government, but expects the 

Chinese government to similarly build up 

the world's most powerful company. This 

will be an imminent threat to South 

Korea, since the Korean industry is heavily 

dependent on China. He also claims, 

that within a generation, companies such 

as Lenovo, TCL, and SAIC will dominate 

the world market. Professor Chang also 

believes that it is only a matter of time for 

China to fully establish itself and economically 

surpass the United States. The 

Chinese GDP was extraordinary starting 

from 500 B.C., and its population of 1.2 

billion justifies the high possibility of the 

country's economic rise. In fact, Professor 

Chang plans to publish a book comparing 

and contrasting ten Chinese firms and a 

multinational firm within a few years. 

As a dean's fellow of the University of 

Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Professor 

Chang could have chosen to become a 

businessman. I asked him what inspired 

him to become a professor and his answer 

was quite simple. He loved the great joy 

that comes with teaching bright students. 

Also, he is able to manage his own time 

and have a chance to pursue his own research 

such as Sony vs. Samsung. He has 

taught in several universities worldwide, 

but he believes there is not much disparity 

in education within the undergraduate level. 

Nowadays, many Koreans are studying 

abroad believing that their government is 

not sufficiently supporting academics as 

much as it can. Professor Chang believes 

that Korea has changed a lot in terms of 

education. He also suggests that Korea 

should build more international schools in 

Korea, saying, "It is a good investment." 

Q & A 

Q: People claim that China will economically 

surpass the United States. What is 

your opinion on this? 

A: I agree, and time is the only issue. China 

(and India) always had an amazing GDP 

starting from 500 B.C. 

Q: Who is a more imminent threat to the 

Korean industry? 

A: China is a much more imminent threat. 

They want to build up powerful companies 

such as Lenovo (like Sambo Computer), 

TCL (like Samsung), and SAIC (like Ssang 

Yong Motors). The fact that China is geographically 

closer will also create some 

problems. 

Q: What does the United States think 

about this? 

A: Both countries rely on each other so I believe 

it is a mutual relationship 

Q: You have been a professor at 

Singapore National University and 

Korea National University. How would 

you compare the students? 

A: In the undergraduate level, there is not 

much difference. It's really in the graduate 

level that the difference becomes evident. 

Q: What is your opinion of how studying 

abroad became a fad in Korea? 

A: I think it's good. Many people worry 

about this, but it's actually a great plus to 

Korea's future. Korea changed so much in 

terms of education and the government 

should allow more international schools in 

Korea. It is a good investment. 

Q: What inspired you to teach? 

A: I love to teach bright students - it's a 

great joy - and I can learn from my research 

and can pass it onto others. Most 

importantly, I have no boss and I can manage 

my own time. 

Q: What are your current plans? 

A: I am writing a book comparing ten firms 

in China and one multinational one. I am 

still working on it, but it should come out 

within a few years. 

Kim Sun-hong / info@koreaittimes.com 


Analysis 

Is Sunflower Oil 

The Next Fuel? 

The future of fuel could be sunflowers the same stuff you 

might put on your food or eat at a baseball game. Which 

in turn will be used to power our cell phones and even 

our cars. Hydrogen is the life force for all human beings and is the 

driving mechanism for clean-burning fuel that could break the 

chain that holds us forever to fossil fuels. Hydrogen, is found pretty 

much everywhere. The problem is not finding it the problem 

lies in extracting or separating it. The process of separation requires 

energy. Where does this energy come from? It is a catch 22 

it is produced by burning fossils fuels the same energy that we are 

trying to get rid of in the first place. Also, the process takes more 

energy than that of the amount of hydrogen present. 

Where there is darkness, there is light. Kenichi Honda and 

Akira Fujishima at the University of Tokyo in the 1960s made an 

incredible discovery they were able to split water into two components, 

hydrogen and oxygen. In process called artificial photosynthesis. 

Since then scientists from around the world have been 

building upon on the process of artificial photosynthesis and to 

produce enough hydrogen to make it worthwhile. On January 

22, the Genomics of Sunflower project is funded by Genome 

Canada through the Canadian government, Genome British 

Columbia, the U.S. Energy and Agriculture departments and 

France's National Institute for Agricultural Research are mapping 

the sunflower genome. This is a US$10.1 million government 

funded research project to yield a hybrid sunflower to produce 

food and be turned into fuel. 

By mapping the sunflower genome it will lead to crop improvement, 

weed control and be used for flooring and other products. 

Thus, increasing the complex sugars will make for a viable source 

of ethanol. 

Sunflowers are a US$14 billion per year industry and 32 tonnes 

are produced each year. According to the Renewable Fuels 

Association claimed, "The U.S. has 170 operating ethanol plants 

can produce 40 billion litres of fuel each year, but the majority of 

fuel comes from corn." 

One could argue in 2007 with the total amount of corn crops 

being used for ethanol production in the United States was quickly 

increasing. Experts were blaming it on the extra demand for 

ethanol biofuel. By using an alternate fuel could drive up the price 

of something, that possibility does exist. 

However, biofuels are less expensive than gasoline, diesel and 

petroleum. The price of fuel is expensive and there are countries a 

lot worse than US. Take Asia for example the price of gas in 

Hong Kong averages a staggering US$6.30 per gallon and Seoul, 

South Korea is US$6.06 per gallon. With the continue rise in gas 

prices an alternate fuel source is needed. Thus, during CES 2010 

Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies made a hydrogen fuel cell for 

homes, and can even charge our gadgets. And according to the 

founder of Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, it's just the start of a 

big shift towards "being our own gas stations." 

This is just the tip of the iceberg of alternate fuels and according 

to Environmental Science & Technology stated, "While the researchers 

found algae production to have a greater environmental 

impact than other sources, it remains an attractive source for energy." 

With the mapping of the sunflower genome, artificial photosynthesis, 

hydrogen cell, and algae the future of alternate fuels it 

out of their infancy. 



Investment Guide 

Investment 

Guide 

The sixth installment in a seven-part series 

3. Corporation Establishment 

Types of Foreign Advancement into Korea 

Foreign advancement into Korea for business purposes can largely be divided into 4 

types; a foreigner (corporation)'s establishment of a local corporation, a foreigner (corporation)'s 

establishment of a private business, or a foreign corporation's establishment 

of a local branch or a local office. 

A Series Schedule 

1. FDI System in Korea 

1-1 Foreign Direct Investment 

1-2 Foreign Investment Promotion 

Act 

1-3 Foreign Investment Promotion 

and Control 

2. FDI Procedures 

2-1 Foreign Investment 

Procedures 

2-2 Foreign Investment Report 

2-3 Post Management of Foreign 

Investment 

2-4 Forms 

3. Corporation Establishment 

4. FDI Incentive 

5. FDI Related Law 

Foreign-Invested Companies under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act 

The Foreign Investment Promotion Act and Korea's domestic commercial law apply to investments that a foreigner (corporation) 

makes by establishing a "local corporation" in Korea. To benefit from the protections and benefits of the Foreign Investment 

Promotion Act, the foreigner shall invest a minimum of 50 million. 

The Foreign Investment Promotion Act will also apply to foreign individuals investing 50 million won and more who operate a business 

as a form of "private business." Such an investment will also be recognized as a foreign investment. 

Domestic Branch of a Foreign Company by the Foreign Exchange Trade Act 

A foreign-invested business that generates profits is categorized as "branch." As it is a foreign corporation, such a branch is not considered 

FDI. 


Investment Guide 

An "Office" differs from a branch in that it does not conduct for-profit sales, but instead undertakes a non-sales function such as market 

research, R&D etc. And unlike branches, offices do not need to register themselves domestically, but are given a unique business 

code number at the district tax office which is equivalent to business registration. 

Local Corporation Establishment 

As stated above, the establishment of a local corporation exactly follows the foreign investment procedures, and includes the foreign 

investment notification, corporation or private business registration, and foreign-invested company registration. The following includes 

the details of company establishment and business registration procedures which are significant in establishing a local corporation. 

Types of companies recognized by the commercial law include general partnership company, limited partnership company, incorporated 

company, and private company. As most companies take the form of "incorporated company," the focus will be on the procedures 

to establish incorporated company. 

Type of Stock Company Establishment 

In establishing an incorporated company, there are two ways of incorporation: promotion and subscription. The promotion of a 

company means that promoters accept all shares issued at the time of company establishment. For a subscription-based incorporation, 

promoters accept part of the total shares issued at the time of company establishment and collect shareholders for the remaining shares. 

Depending on the type of corporation establishment, the procedures differ as follows: 

Establishment Procedures of Two Types of Incorporated Companies Incorporated Company 

Establishment Registration 

The registration of incorporated company establishment shall be made within 2 weeks following the completion of the establishment 

inspection of incorporation by promotion, and 2 weeks following the conclusion of the inaugural meeting of incorporation by subscription. 

Pre-registration check shall be done to determine the composition of promoters and whether there are any companies with similar 

names. An incorporated company needs at least 1 promoter. The promoter shall acquire shares in writing and become a shareholder of 

the newly created company. Also, in order to conduct business in any area (Seoul Metropolitan City), the company name shall be 

clearly distinguished from others prior to registration. The company name may be checked in advance on the Supreme Court website 

(www.scourt.go.kr) for Seoul, and at the relevant registry for other regions. 

Source : Invest Korea 


Technology 

KERI Selects 

Ten Technologies 

That Will Shake 

The World 

KERI in concert with George Washington University and KISTI 

Summer of 2020, Wang Jun-gi and his wife wake up on a Saturday morning and activate their cleaning robot in the 

other room via sending wireless electricity that is constructed on their wall and windows. They listen to music from 

one of their many home appliances that became more compact due to the use of direct current power network, and 

do their daily chores. Then they get on their hybrid car that is cost-efficient and go for a drive, enjoying the natural 

landscape where there are no longer electric transmission towers. They park their electric car near the city sidewalk 

and stroll along the beautiful city lighted by LED streetlamps that do not radiate heat. Once they come home, the 

couple sit on their comfortable sofa and take out their flexible, bendable electric device from their pockets to turn on 

the TV. Before they go to bed, Mr. Wang's wife put on a whitening patch, run by a paper battery that makes it even 

more absorbable through skin, and goes to bed feeling very bright. 

The magic behind electrical engineering 

creates clean energy and 

endorses the country's eco-friendly 

environment thus one cannot stop asking 

how will electrical technology transform 

the future landscape after a decade? 

To fulfill people's curiosity, the Korea 

Electrotechnology Research Institute 

(KERI) conducted a research worldwide 

and compiled ten technologies that are most 

likely to come true within the next ten years. 

According to Yoo Tae hwan, the director 

from KERI, the most promising ten technologies 

are selected in the basis of the level 

of completeness, how much social and economic 

ripple effect it will create and feasible 

probability, strictly calculated from statistical 

data. 

The ten brightest electrical technologies 


are in the following order: metal-air battery, 

paper battery, micro development, 

transparent solar cell, wireless power 

transmission, dispersion power, straight 

power network, electric car, flexible transparent 

electrode, and LED technology. 

These ten selected technologies are believed 

to improve people's life style and decrease 

carbon emission level. Moreover, it 

goes along with the world's initiative to 

sharply cut carbon emission by 30 percent 

and the nation's collaborative plan to promote 

green growth. Thus, this list of technologies 

is significant for they will in concert 

construct and transform the world's 

landscape to a more innovative and safe 

environment. 

KERI received related vital information 

considering the selection of the most 

Whitening patch 

by Rocket 

promising technologies of the future from 

William E. Halal, both a futurologist and a 

doctor of engineering at George Washington 

University (GWU). Doctor Halal operates 

science and technology department at

Technology 

GWU called Techcast, an online think 

tank. Korea Institute of Science and 

Technology Information (KISTI) also provided 

their advice on the method of forecasting 

the future. The final list presented 

by KERI is rooted upon the process of survey 

information and scanning, trend and 

quantitative analysis of patents, survey on 

expert's opinion, and comprehensive evaluation 

that have been excavated for six 

months utilizing collective intelligence to 

boot. According to KERI research team, 

electric energy can be classified into four 

stages: production-transportation-storageutilization. 

And this year's chosen technologies 

are evenly distributed to all four 

steps; the list is targeted to satisfy the users 

and selected according to the users' point 

of view instead of the providers who cultivate 

electrical energy. 

Lee Hong-Sik, the head of the research 

department, orchestrated this selection 

project; he said that most of these ten technologies 

might seem familiar to people, 

but the importance lays on the fact that 

this list is in concurrent with the national 

agenda of low-carbon, green growth and 

the world's concerted effort to reduce carbon 

emission by 30 percent until 2020. Lee 

Hong Sik continued, "People should take 

a keen interest in this list not because it is 

eye-catching, but for the reason that a 

team of research specialists from a center 

for electric power have poured 30 years to 

bear these probable technologies which 

will come true within a decade." 

First on the list is metal-air battery: this 

battery can be adopted on to various operating 

fields that require long hours, such as 

a hearing aid, because it has higher energy 

compared to usual kinds. It is a secondary 

cell that bears double mileage when used 

into an electric car. For the future, the research 

is set to advance the current secondary 

cell to fuel cells. Second, paper battery 

resembles a paper, for it is thin and 

bendable and has the best electric-chemical 

ability. Because of it's superior flexibility, 

it is expected to be used on cosmetics 

creating a whole new idea on electric 

chemical. 

Micro energy, also known as ubiquitous 

or harvesting energy, is a technology that 

transforms minor, mundane energies such 

as, vibration, sound, electromagnetic, 

body heat, gravity, wind, light, and oxidation 

into electric energy and thus generate 

an electrical device that lacks batteries; for 

instance, wireless sensor system. Fourth 

on the list is transparent solar cell that can 

metamorphose into a new energy source 

which then gets applied to exterior walls of 

the buildings and windows. Since it has 

the ability to alter the shape of exterior 

walls and windows, for being the main energy 

supply, it is expected to create a revolution 

on the architectural design market. 

Wireless power transmission technology, 

the fifth on the list, sends electric energy 

in the form of electromagnetic that does 

not require electric power lines. Thus, the 

user can send electricity anywhere, anytime. 

It is expected to be applied on longdistance 

wireless charger, ubiquitous wireless 

sensor power provider and other devices 

that can replace wired power charger 

and provider. 

The ten technologies will reshape the future; 

however, first and foremost, it sets a 

forward path for the KERI electric energy 

experts to take and gives the nation an outlook 

on the changing technological advances. 

This will allow it to produce innovative 

technologies that will provide an 

opportunity to lead the global market and 

create a low carbon environment. 



Policy | Korea Communications Commission Conference for 2010 

'PC Revolution' in the 1980s and 

'Internet Revolution' in 2000 

shook South Korea and brought 

up the country as an emerging IT power 

nation. Exactly a decade later Koreans are 

still hoping for another ripple effect in the 

IT market by creating a montage of different 

fields of industries. Korean government 

and telecommunications industries 

convened to blend distinct types of businesses 

such as finance and medical care 

with telecommunications, 3DTV, and 

smart phones. As strange as it sounds, 

Korea Communications Commission 

(KCC) and other government-affiliated 

organizations summoned at Lotte Hotel 

in Seoul on January 21 under the event of 

'Prospect on Telecommunications Industry 

Conference of 2010'. Each organization's 

representatives spoke with one voice 

about the convergence of various ventures, 

that the complex of mobiles, 3D 

and other next-generational projects together 

with technologies from different 

businesses will generate a new domain. 

On this day, domestic firms pinpointed 

smart phone telecommunications, 3DTV 

broadcasting, and eco-friendly multiservice 

as their hefty issue to juggle with. 

Even before the conference and the government 

diving into telecommunications 

market, Samsung, LG, and other telecommunications 

service companies have already 

carried out plans to merge with other 

secondary enterprises. 

What is noteworthy is that Korean government 

is stepping in to support domestic 

telecommunications industry. "The government 

will fully support 3D business 

and announce development program for 

the renewed telecommunications and 

software services that will help them enter 

the overseas market," said the Advisor to 

the President for Information Technology 

department. 

KCC, as well, takes an equal role in this 

project in which it will place importance 

on the so called, 'Green Fusion Service' to 

extend telecommunications service into finance, 

medical care, distribution, and education, 

all in all amplifying its synergy ef- 

All Alike, All Different 

The newly merged telecommunications market 

will wipe away cultural paradigm 

fect. Such organizations' concerted efforts can also be interpreted as supporting Korea's 

three telecommunications giants-KT, SK Telecom, LG Telecom-who strive to form a 

complex service to their customers. 

More specifically, KCC established 'the Committee for the Promotion of Private & 

Public Cooperation' that combines not only telecommunications and broadcasting 

firms, but also different enterprises that specialize in producing software and media contents 

and this committee will take effect from the beginning of second quarter as a 

demonstration project. 

"Telecommunications industry resuscitated surrounding companies in the midst of 

economic recession, but it needs to further develop by extracting new, innovative services 

in the wireless market and expanding pay-per-view system," said Jung Man-Won, 

President of Korea Association of Information & Telecommunications (KAIT) at the forum 

held in Lotte Hotel. He continued to say, "Through converging telecommunications 

with different businesses, we will together reconstruct and empower Korea's 

telecommunications and broadcasting industry. The service sector alone cannot produce 

the same results of exportation as manufacturing sector while it produces larger economic 

ripple effect than the manufacturers." 

Meanwhile, Choi Si-Joong, the Chairman of KCC, said during the conference that 

"one can expect there will be an explosion in Korea's media industry this year and fierce 

competition around the world to procure 3D and smart phone sector will erupt." 


Policy 

division within the IT industry, the well-made plan is off to a flying 

start and expect many more. 

This event was hosted by KCC and jointly led by six other organizations 

including, Korea Association of Information & 

Telecommunications (KAIT), Electronics and Telecommunications 

Research and Institute (ETRI), Korea Information 

Society Development Institute (KISDI), Korea Internet & 

Security Agency (KISA), Telecommunications Technology 

Association (TTA), and Korea Radio Promotion Agency (KOR- 

PA). 


Conference 

held in Lotte 

Hotel Seoul 

Furthermore, according to Kim Heung-nam the Research 

Director at Electronics and Telecommunications Research 

Institute (ETRI), the newly-merged telecommunications compound 

to tear down the former boundary between terminals, network, 

and service sectors and this will lead to a cultural revolution 

that alters the way how people think and react. In other words, by 

converging with other divisions' technologies and services, the 

former telecommunications business structure is going to change 

and the modern, blend of different businesses will affect what new 

cultural paradigm will bring about. 

Such metamorphosis in the IT exemplar will arguably influence 

the market from early this year and will, by and large, be the 

biggest social change of our times. While conventional wire and 

wireless telecommunications market dwindle or remain deadlocked, 

value-added services market such as mobile Internet and 

games will grow exponentially by the expansion of the mobile industry. 

As stated by Bang Suk-ho, Research Director at Korea 

Information Society Development Institute (KISDI), "Wire market 

that was the main asset to the telecommunications will presumably 

shrink by 4.5 percent, but mobile market, together with 

increased production of smart phones will escalate by 3.1 percent 

and generate approximately KRW23 trillion in sales." By that 

yardstick cell phone and TV market gained KRW85 trillion, 

roughly 8.9 percent growth compared to last year. This growth in 

mobile equipment is back in line with gauge prior to 2008 and before 

the financial crisis. 

Generally speaking, Korea holds high place on IT human resources 

and its infrastructure but it lags behind foreign countries 

for its lack of employing those services and disclosing institutional 

regulation. Although it may be seem a bit late to produce a new 

Real-times News 

Apple Puts Ban on 

Location-Based iPhone 

App Ads 

Apple told developers 

that it will not use global 

positioning system to 

distribute locationbased 

advertising 

Without providing any reason, 

Apple has told developers it 

will not accept iPhone applications 

that use the smartphone's 

global positioning system to distribute 

location-based advertising. 

Knowing Apple, we're 

thinking there's a good rhyme and reason for this ban-we're going 

to go ahead and guess Apple's acquisition of Quattro 

Wireless may have something to do with this new ban. 

Quattro's platform is quite keen on distributing mobile ads, 

which is probably why Apple scooped it up. The Mac-maker is 

famous for its secrecy and for preferring to keep things "inhouse." 

Apple is kind of like Robert DeNiro's character in the 

movie Meet the Parents-it has its "circle of trust" and once 

you're in, you're in. 

"If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable 

mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user's 

location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store 

Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the 

App Store," Apple says. At the rate that people buy and download 

apps for iPhone, location-based advertising is looking a lot 

more promising to developers-and now it looks a little clearer 

as to why Apple put the kibosh on that. 


News in Brief 

JDC, Singapore-Based SUTL Signed MOU 

for Jeju Marina Development 

Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) signed an MOU 

with Singapore-based marina development and operation company SUTL 

for the development of Jeju marina. JDC on the 12th held an MOU signing 

ceremony at the 11th floor of its headquarters, inviting JDC employees, including 

Jong-il Byon, chairman and CEO, and Arthur Tay, chairman of 

SUTL, to sign the MOU. Under the MOU, JDC will receive consulting 

from SUTL, ranging from the planning to development stages of the marina 

project, which will become a new growth driver for value-added business. 

The major points of the MOU are providing consulting service during 

the stage of planning for the marina facilities, soliciting potential investors 

jointly with JDC according to prearranged plans, and participate in investment, 

development and operations when establishing a JV company. In particular, JDC plans to utilize SUTL's network, which has 

successfully developed and operated world-class marinas, to attract investment for the project. 

Last year JDC invited a SUTL delegation to Jeju to explain the investment environment, and Byon made a personal visit to "One 5 

Marina Club" in Singapore to pursue investment in Jeju. During the meeting, SUTL expressed its strong interest in the project and desire 

to make direct investment when the project plan is finalized. With the participation of SUTL, JDC is expecting Jeju Marina 

Development, which had been seen as a idle land, to be facilitated through the company's world-class knowhow. 

Does Ericsson Really Want 

to Buy Into LG-Nortel? 

The Swedish telecommunications provider Ericsson pledges to invest KRW2 trillion in South Korea- which was made during 

President Lee Myung-bak's state visit to Sweden in July of last year. This is likely to materialize by acquiring the cash-strapped 

Canadian telecom equipment maker Nortel's controlling stake in LG-Nortel. LG-Nortel is a joint venture of LG Electronics and 

Nortel. There has been a lot of talk inside LG-Nortel and Ericsson, regarding the possibility of launching "LG-Ericsson." Once 

Ericsson buys into LG-Nortel, the Swedish telecom will see their status significantly elevated in the South Korean telecommunications 

market. Last July, Ericsson plans to invest KRW2 trillion into the South Korean market in the next five years. 

At that time, the public stopped short of welcoming Ericsson's announcement with open arms, casting doubt over the amount of 

money invested and the feasibility of its investment scheme. In view of what it would cost Ericsson to acquire Nortel's controlling stake 

in LG-Nortel and to raise R&D funds later on. The jigsaw pieces seem to be fitting together for Ericsson and the completed picture is a 

promise of KRW2 trillion. It has been confirmed the employees at Ericsson Korea are informed that Ericsson is one of the likeliest potential 

buyers of LG-Nortel, and the final-stage of negotiations are underway. It hints that LG Electronics and Goldman Sachs hired 

Nortel to find a buyer and have it tilted in favor of Ericsson. Still, much more needs to be done, including taking care of relations with 

French phone equipment group Alcatel-Lucent, who acquired Nortel's 3G Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) 

unit. 

However, the deal is projected to be finalized no later than March 31. Industry insiders said, "There has been controversy over 

whether Ericsson's purchase of Nortel's majority stake in LG-Nortel is a Korea bound investment. However, if Ericsson finalizes the 

deal, and deliver what it promised last July to emerge as a global 4G market leader at the same time.” 


News in Brief 

Pyeongchang’s Bidding Committee for 

2018 Olympics Sets Up the Environment 

Subcommittee 

Pyeongchang is determined to host an eco-friendly, low-carbon Olympics 

On January 26, Pyeongchang's bidding committee for the 2018 Winter 

Olympics set up the “Environment Subcommittee" in a bid to realize an ecofriendly, 

low-carbon Olympics. The Environment Subcommittee held its kickoff 

meeting at the Bears Tourist Hotel in Chunchon. The Subcommittee appointed 

16 experts on ecosystems, climate chang, and water quality as subcommittee 

members, and Lee Jong-beom, professor of Environmental Science at 

Kangwon National University, as its head. 

At the kick-off meeting, the Environment Subcommittee prepared answers to 

environmental questions, which will be included in Pyeongchang's application 

file. 

The paper discussed specific ways to outsource research activities to achieve a 

green Winter Olympics in 2018. Subcommittee chairman Lee Jong-beom said, 

"When it comes to the environment, Pyeongchang will come up with the most 

detailed and feasible master plan to differentiate Pyeongchang's version of an eco-friendly Winter Olympics from the rest. And transportation 

and management of stadiums will be prepared in a way that could contribute to the international efforts to tackle the issues of 

global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. The Environment Subcommittee plans to meet on a quarterly basis to advise 

Pyeongchang's bidding committee for the 2018 Winter Olympics on the construction of stadiums and the overall management. In addition, 

the Subcommittee will actively provide environmental input into the preparation of the application and candidate city files, 

which will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). 

KDC Operates Total Digitalization System 

On January 27, Korea Digital Communications Corporation (KDC) announced 

that they will open KDC Scan Center, a digitizing documents system, in order to 

support an establishment of electronic documents management system. The KDC 

Scan Center, located in Guro Digital Complex and boasting its 820 spare meters of 

space, has more than 600 millions of word processing capabilities per year. It provides 

total service solutions including consultant, building operating, maintenance 

and management. That deal with overall electric word processing operations, database 

building business solutions and financing operations for enterprises, research 

centers and public organizations. Documents digitization is used to describe the systems that transform all the papers to electronic documents. 

This allows for word processing operations to make exactly the same document as the original. It is expected to reduce a lot of 

time and cost as digital operation can be done online Kim Sang-jin, president of KDC said, "KDC Scan Center will provide us a lot of 

benefits such as increasing work efficiency, enabling faster processing and improving transparency in management because everything 

is done based on electronic certified system. Especially, 16 outsourcing offices that will be established soon in domestic market will be 

connected together through KDC Scan Center." 


News in Brief 

Great Things Come in Small Packages with 

New Mini Phone from LG 

Trendsetting Design and Superb Connectivity Make Touchscreen Phone the Next “Must Have” Device 

LG Electronics (LG), announced its new LG GD880, 

or LG Mini, a new phone that accentuates its trendsetting 

design with a full complement of intelligent features. 

LG Mini is the smallest and slimmest 3.2-inch 

full touchscreen phone on the market today, making it 

the perfect handset for people who want all the communication 

features that today's technology has to offer 

without the bulk and heft of a traditional fullyloaded 

handset. "We developed the LG Mini in response 

to specific requests from actual consumers who 

were unhappy with current full touchscreen phones 

that are too bulky, too clunky and too expensive," said 

Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics 

Mobile Communications Company. "The easily pocketable 

LG Mini delivers great looks at a reasonable 

price, along with the trendy features that people want." 

Thanks to a slim, compact form factor made from the 

highest quality materials, the LG Mini easily slides in a 

shirt pocket or small handbag while still feeling reassuringly 

solid to the touch. Textured metal accents on the 

sides of the LG Mini add to the phone's eye-catching 

looks without detracting from its overall simplicity. On 

the front, a large 3.2 inch touchscreen with an aspect ration of 16:9 extends all 

the way to the edge of the phone, giving it a finish that is as smooth as ice. In addition, 

a button-free face keeps the LG Mini simple and sleek. 

But the LG Mini has much more than just great looks. Besides a raft of staple 

features such as speedy web browsing and fast push email, the LG Mini also includes 

several unique aspects, including Social Network Connect, which makes 

keeping in touch with online friends even easier than on a desktop PC. Popular 

social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are instantly accessible through 

built-in applications and a Social Network Feed provides instant and automatic 

updates of friends and family members on the home screen. Updates also appear 

next to each contact in the Social Address Book. 

What's more, the LG Mini boasts a 5.0 megapixel camera featuring advanced 

face detection which allows uploading of sharp, vivid pictures and 

videos wirelessly to multiple social networks in one simple step. The device also plays music and movies in several popular file formats 

and even includes an FM radio. With HSDPA connectivity at 7.2 Mbps and Wi-Fi, the LG Mini can browse the internet at high speed 

and also provide real-time location information using A-GPS. The LG Mini will be available in Europe starting in March, followed by 

other markets. Prices will vary country-to-country and will be announced separately in each market. 


Relocation of Chinese IDC to 

Korea Opened UP New Possibilities 

Samsung SDS overcame technical difficulties and accomplished the project 

News in Brief 

Samsung SDS, global Information and Communications 

Technology (ICT) Service Corporation, proudly confirmed 

that they finalized their project of relocating OBbeer Inc.'s 

Internet Data Center (IDC) in China to Korea. This project 

took six months, starting from July to December of 2009, 

and during this time there was a two month period of stabilization. 

Samsung SDS executed a series of process – consulting, 

planning, backing up data, transferring IDC, building 

server, storage, security, network – without experiencing 

any hindrance and also effectively used their accumulated 

knowledge and experience. And so Samsung SDS is able to 

provide immaculate IDC operating service to its customers. 

Due to IDC relocation, Samsung SDS is able to provide 

Samsung SDS Server Room 

secure service to users of Korean OBbeer headquarters plus 

40 other chains, because it altogether extended low bandwidth 

found in internal systems and expedited the speed of 

networking between Korea and China. Also, this project made it possible for IDC and its headquarters to be close together, which created 

a new workplace and enabled to offer a converged operating service. "The Recent accomplishments in relocating the data center 

in China to Seoul were difficult due the large amount of data. I also, can imagine there would have been technical difficulties while 

transferring the center between borders. However, Samsung SDS achieved the relocation of IDC which is sensational and through this, 

not only are we able to curb operating costs on the data center and network, but also gain benefits from Samsung SDS's fast and effective 

operating processor," said Park Jong Han, Information Strategy team leader of OBbeer. 

Moreover, "For the future ahead, we will pioneer new IDC service territories with more advanced technology while increasing the 

effectiveness of eco-friendly technology, which will lead the trend of 'green IDC,’” said Park Kwang Young, executive director from 

the department of ICT infrastructure of Samsung SDS. 

Mobile Security Card Smart SD 

SME Networks 

SME Networks have created a SD memory card dubbed SmartSD that provides a wide variety 

of applications such as security for USB data, allowing transport and credit card use. SME 

Networks' representative, Kim Tae-sun, made public on January 24 that the company has developed 

Smart SD memory cards, which is an upgraded version of the former microSD card. The 

SmartSD is able to protect the users' mobile devices against hackers and can also be used for mass data storage. SME Network’s 

SmartSD card represents secure and convenient solutions for many kinds of mobile devices such as smart phones and other portable 

devices with a microSD card slot. This SmartSD card contains a standard flash memory of mass storage capacity with full security operation. 

It protects sensitive company data such as network access, company information, e-mails, and other confidential material. It 

also enables a banking service for smart phones that allows the users to pay bills, transfer money, and access to account information 

while on the move. 


News in Brief 

Is Apple’s iPad a Trouble Maker or 

a Rising Star? 

Apple unveiled its much-touted and wildly anticipated tablet-style 

computer, iPad, only to find itself in for a rude awakening. First, Apple's 

iPad has received a chilly reception in the US market for failing to live up 

to the market's high expectations. Secondly, trademark battles are looming 

large over the new iPad. CNN and the Financial Times (FT) quoted 

IT gurus as saying that whether Apple's iPad would fire up technical innovations 

and content consumption remains uncertain. Gene Munster, 

an analyst of IT market research firm Piper Jaffray, predicted Apple iPad 

sales would reach around 3.5 million this year. 

Taking into consideration the fact that the market for netbooks sold 

33.3 million netbooks last year alone, the predicted sales of Apple's iPad 

would make up as much as 10 percent of the total, this year. However, 

compared to the report cards of Apple's previous iconic products, the 

sales forecast for the iPad is nothing, but gloomy. 3.6 million Mac PCs 

and 20 million iPods were sold in the fourth quarter of last year. Apple 

sold 1.3 million iPhones in the first week of its launch. IT experts at the 

NPD Group (a leading North American market research company) 

iPad 

pointed out, "Apple's iPad has drawn much attention to its slimness, 

small design, and not to mention its lower-than-expected price. However, 

it will not be Apple's next champion in terms of innovation." Some said 

that Apple's iPad would be no match for netbooks. Overall, Apple's iPad is deemed not to be as intelligent as netbooks. Jeff Orr, a senior 

analyst for ABI Research, said, "Apple's iPad is an excellent media player, but even the simple task of sending an email is troublesome. 

Its virtual keyboard makes web browsing tricky." He continued, "In addition, it doesn't have a camera function, making content 

creation impossible." Another analyst said, "Multi-tasking is not allowed on Apple's iPad, so it is not suitable for business purposes." 

Apple's iPad is predicted to have a marginal impact on the eBook reader market. The cheapest iPad model, with Wi-Fi connectivity, 

costs US$499, which can affect the sales of Amazon's Kindle DX, retailing for US$489, and Barnes & Noble Nook, an electronic book 

reader. However, some refute, "As more companies come up with a wide array of eBook readers, prices are going down. So, Apple's 

iPad would not make much difference in the market. 

Forrester Research analyst James M. said, "Those who buy eBooks want the most optimized eBook reader. I presume Apple's iPad 

would not serve as a game changer in the e-reader market." On a brighter note, IT experts agreed that as Apple's iPhone takes credit for 

the smartphone market boom, its iPad can help the eBook market grow big. They also predicted trademark disputes over the name of 

iPad. Japanese electronics company Fujitsu has been producing a handheld computer called " iPad" -which shop clerks use to check inventory. 

STMicroelectronics, Europe's largest chipmaker, trademarked the name "IPAD" for its proprietary semiconductor technology 

in 2000. An American company, called Mag-Tek, has already registered "IPAD" for 

its line of PIN-entry keypads. German conglomerate Siemens also uses the name for 

its engines and motors. Furthermore, a Canadian lingerie company has the right to 

market iPad padded bras. The outcome of the trademark battles can change the 

name of Apple's tablet PC. 


I-Station and TELEFUNKEN Combine Forces 

Expanding into Europe and around the world began in earnest 

News in Brief 

I-Station hoists a sail and leaves on a voyage that it badly wanted. 

I-Station has secured stable distribution network to make way 

for expanding its business in Europe and elsewhere around the 

world that in turn targets the global market. 

According to i-Station, an integrated convergence company, 

TELEFUNKEN and i-Station agreed upon Head of Agreement 

(HOA) on February third to construct omnidirectional cooperative 

ties at i-Station headquarters in Sinsa-dong. HOA is a form of 

an agreement that has legally binding force for reference. TELE- 

FUNKEN stands for innovation and development in information 

and communication technology. Through reaching an agreement 

between the two companies, i-Station decided on TELE- 

FUNKEN as its main distribution channel to Europe and became 

one of TELEFUNKEN's partner firms. 

TELEFUNKEN was first established in 1903 that specializes in Germany's consumer electronics, home electronics, and communication 

devices. Since December 2007, the trademark TELEFUNKEN is with TEELEFUNKEN holding AG, Frankfurt. TELE- 

FUNKEN is currently the owner of more than 20,000 patents and is active in more than 130 countries. 

The biggest disadvantages of a company that strives to enter the global market lies on not knowing the local market's knowledge and 

its lack of experience. However, i-Station will be safe and sound unless the company well utilizes the TELEFUNKEN's accumulated 

marketing knowledge and its procured distribution network. Thus, one can expect i-Station to glide unhampered through the tunnel to 

success and recognition. I-Station and TELEFUNKEN, in concert, plans on developing high-definition (HD) quality PMP and other 

mobile devices and commercialize these products worldwide through taking a step-by-step process with caution. 

"We were stricken with awe when discovering i-Station's finest and innovative design at IFA2009 held in Germany and I am delighted 

and thrilled to make partnerships with i-Station that will pave the way for our company to be equipped with a variety of portfolios 

within the multimedia market," said Hemjö Klein, CEO of TELEFUNKEN. 

On top of that, Dr. Andy JM Park, President of i-Station said, "Consumers will be able to purchase 'i-Station-TELEFUNKEN T9' 

product from the beginning of second quarter of this year and that i-Station will endeavor on increasing sales and expanding market 

share by strengthening marketing strategies." I-Station showcased PMP T9 HD that provides HD image with slim design of 4.3-inches 

last month. 

Seven Future Challenges for the G2 

According to Outlook Weekly, Chinese news week for politics and economics released seven future challenges between America 

and China. The first challenge is the lack of trust between the two countries. America suspects that China will challenge itself for the 

world’s superpower. The second challenge is that the two countries have different views for the world. America wants to be the only 

superpower, but China wants to have many strong countries that cooperate on global issues. The third, the two countries have different 

political and economical systems. This will not help to understand each other. The fourth is their interests for the Asian-Pacific area are 

clashed. Outlook Weekly stated, “China wants the local countries to deal with their own issues, but America does not allow them to.” 

The fifth, they are competing in the field of aerospace and information technology (IT). America leads the way in these two fields, 

but China seems have other plans for aerospace and IT. The sixth, America has many interest groups, and China has many various 

opinions. Sometimes they are too conservative or too liberal; both views are not helpful for Sino-American relations. The seventh, other 

countries do not like the fact that these two countries are doing well together. They want them to compete, not to cooperate. Even 

one country asked America to be a "balancer" for Sino-American relations. 


News in Brief 

Google Confuses Us 

with Its Charming TV Appearance 

We are still puzzled by Google's Super Bowl commercial advertising its "search engine capabilities," 

rather than one of its other products 

Riddle me this, Google execs and PR department: Why did 

Google choose to market its search engine-probably the only product 

that doesn't need advertising-in a very expensive Super Bowl commercial? 

That, Google, is the only real question we have for you. 

Why market something that's already a winner in its space and beyond? 

Google's search engine already holds roughly two-thirds of the 

market. What about the Nexus One? The new smartphone has not 

done well in the mobile markets, selling only a mere 80,000 handsets 

since early January. The Nexus One could use a little bit of advertising-aside 

from YouTube-don't you think? 

The Wall Street Journal thinks the endearing Super Bowl advertisement 

was nothing more than Google finally realizing how it can 

market itself-something the company has steered away from and 

seemed to do just fine without. In the past year, Google has promoted its new Chrome browser via television and billboard, but that's 

about the gist of the company's advertising campaign. Baby steps, Google, baby steps-you too could have ads featuring Megan Fox and 

Luke Wilson someday. In case you missed it, here is Google's commercial called "Parisian Love." 

provided by Digital Trends 

Next Generation Korean Online Game Will 

Advance Global Market 


News in Brief 

Watch Live Television While Riding 

Seoul’s Subway 

The Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation plans to provide eBooks on the subway in the second half of this year. Seoul's 

subway stations on lines 5-8 are expected to provide these services. Inside the subway, they plan to put in these eBooks which are 

equipped with LCD monitors and can broadcast real-live TV. You could possibly watch the 2010 FIFA World Cup while riding the 

subway. Seoul's subway system will be the first in the world to provide this service and shows that they continue to strive to achieve the 

motto of "Smart Subway." 

Oom Sung Jik, President of Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation was interviewed by the Electronics Times on February 

7. During his interview, he stated, "Subway passengers will have the privilege of borrowing an eBook. We will equip 20,700 LCD 

monitors with diverse contents and make it available for the passengers. That is the current plan and we are currently trying to propel 

this project." 

About 3.2 million people ride the subway lines 5-8 daily, but only 20,700 will be available. That means less than 1% of the passengers 

will be able to access this service. However, the current construction plan is to charge passengers a higher price during the busiest 

times of the day, including the morning rush hour and the evening rush hour. They are setting this time up as the "PrimeTime". Other 

parts of the day, they plan to set this service at a more inexpensive price. 

UK Company X2 Announces iTablet Device 

X2 has announced its iTablet tablet PC--and best part is, it runs Windows 7. Awkward 

iTablet X2 

Look out Steve Jobs, here comes trouble with a capital "T"-and a lowercase "i" in 

front of it. According to Digital Beat, UK manufacturer X2 Computing announced 

they have a new tablet PC device called the iTablet. X2 has been making tablets for 

a while and for several different reasons-business, military, personal. We haven't 

found too many other US reports of this new tablet device, but with a name like 

iTablet-don't go beating yourself up now Steve-it's bound to be talked about in the 

States soon. 

In fact, the Guardian UK basically reported that the only reason why this tablet 

device got any press today was because of its Apple-like name. "X2 wouldn't normally 

get much in the way of press coverage because it's one of the companies that 

has been quietly supplying tablet PCs to the industrial and commercial markets, 

where they have many uses in retail, healthcare, logistics etc," says the Guardian 

UK. 

According to reports, the X2 iTablet has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 

512MB to 2GB of memory, and a 10.2-inch XGA (1024 x 600 pixel) screen. The 

dimensions are 252 x 192m and the thickness runs from 28mm to 35mm. It weighs 

1.18kg (2.6 pounds). There's a choice of operating system: Windows 7, Windows 

XP Tablet Edition or Linux. 



Incheon Robot Land, Korea’s 

Newest Theme Park, Will Open In 2013 

On January 28, 2010, it was publicly announced that Incheon will open the 

world's first robot theme park in 2013. The theme park will be called Incheon 

Robot Land and construction will begin in June of this year pending the government's 

approval. This theme park will cover 767,287 square meters, about three 

times the size of Seoul Land. The theme park will feature 26 different attractions 

including a twisting rollercoaster known as the Taekwon V mega coaster and a 

4D space ride. A character known as Robot Taekwon Boy has been chosen to become 

the theme park's main representative. 

On January 28, 2010, about 200 people were in attendance at Incheon's 

Aerial view of Incheon Robot Land 

Songdo Convensia to discuss plans regarding this new theme park. On the blueprint 

of the land covering this theme park, they plan to establish public interest facilities, the theme park itself, and other additional facilities. 

At the public interest facilities, they plan to establish a KAIST Robot Graduate School, cutting-edge robot research facilities, a 

robot stadium, robot themed daycare facilities, and Incheon Robot Land's office building. Inside the theme park, they plan to separate 

the theme park into four different sections, including 'Robot Kingdom,' 'Fun City,' 'Robotopia,' and 'Kidbot Village' for the kids. 

They plan to create 26 attractions in which 11 are rides, four are show attractions, four are performances, and seven are general attractions. 

These seven general attractions include robot themed restaurants, robot shops, and a future robots museum. A majority of 

these attractions will be new and never before seen attractions in Korea. 

Incheon Robot Land is expected to open in 2013 using a budget of about KRW20 billion (US18.1 million). Included in this budget 

is the purchases of 340 robots, which will become a promotion for the development of the robotic industry. 

A public hearing will be held next month, in which the representatives of the theme park will submit a practice and execution plan to 

the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and await for their approval. Once all the paperwork is submitted, construction is expected to begin 

in June of this year. As of right now, the plan is to construct most of the theme park by 2012 and then allowing foreign visitors to 

visit the theme park to promote the theme park globally. 

Jun Wie Jin, Incheon Robot Land's representative stated, "Robot related cutting-edge laboratories, universities, business center for 

R&D, a robot graduate school, and a waterpark are being planned to mix with this enterprise and theme park. We plan to empl0y 

about 90,000 employees yearly and to create a work force that can effectively keep the theme park running stably. We all look forward 

to the opening of Incheon Robot Land." 

LG Chem Supply Secondary Battery to Eaton 

Kim Ban-Suk, 

LG Chem Representative 

News in Brief 

LG Chemicals have the honor to supply a secondary cell to commercial vehicles in North America followed 

by sedans. Eaton is number one commercial vehicle component in North America and has more 

than 90 percent market share in the United States. On January fifth, LG Chemicals announced that it will 

supply Lithium ion batteries to Eaton starting in earnest this November and continue for four consecutive 

years. It will begin by a hybrid commercial vehicle to plug-in the hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and expand 

the model to supply. This is a secure beginning as LG Chemicals has been domestically supplying 

GM, Hyundai, Kia, CT&T, and started to make inroads into the foreign market. Not only will LG 

Chemicals sell the battery cell, but also the battery management system (BMS) and distribute it in pack 

form. LG Chemicals will be the first to manufacture the cells at an electric-specified factory and transport 

them to the local subsidiary in the United States where it will be assembled in a pack form. Then, Eaton 

will install it into the power train system of commercial vehicles and supply the complete units to 

Navistar, Peterbilt, Kenworth, and IVECO. 


News in Brief 

Google and Amazon Cook Up 

Some iPad Competition 

Amazon and Google are hoping to upstage Cupertino's latest star, the Apple iPad 

Amazon is understandably a bit troubled by Apple's entry into 

the tablet market. The iPad represents perhaps the most significant 

threat to Amazon's e-Book empire yet (Amazon currently 

holds around 60 percent of the market). 

Apple dealt an indirect blow to Amazon, striking a deal with 

media mogul Rupert Murdoch to sell e-books at a higher rate. 

The move gives Murdoch ammo to make similar demands of 

Amazon, which current sells best-sellers for $9.99. Despite the 

fact that Amazon pays publishers 

the same wholesale 

prices as it does print books 

and that Amazon actually 

loses money to provide e- 

books cheaply, publishers 

are looking to force the company 

to sell them at higher 

prices to avoid customers 

getting used to the notion of 

cheap new books. 

Amazon is looking to 

strike back, though, with the 

acquisition of Touchco, a 

New York startup that began 

as a research project at Google tablet concept 

the Media Research Lab at 

New York University. 

Touchco currently only has 6 employees and has not yet delivered 

a commercial product, but if it can deliver on its claims it 

could be an extremely valuable acquisition to Amazon. 

The company uses a technology known as interpolating forcesensitive 

resistance. It says it can deliver completely transparent, 

touch-sensitive displays at a cost of under $10/sq. foot. The displays 

offer complete multi-touch support and a virtually unlimited 

number of contact points. 

The technology is significantly cheaper than Apple's iPad 

touch technology (if the claims are true). That means Amazon 

may soon be able to launch a multi-touch Kindle variant to compete 

with the iPad, potentially at a lower cost. Humorously, the 

Touchco folks will soon be neighbors to Apple, moving into 

Google's Kindle hardware division, Lab126, which is based in 

Cupertino, California - also home to Apple's headquarters. 

The acquisition could mark Amazon's departure from E-Ink 

technology. Touchco's demonstrated products work primarily 

with LCD screens. And despite the low power consumption and 

reduced eye-strain, Amazon may have other reasons to move to 

LCD screens in the next Kindle as well. Donald Norman, a professor 

at Northwestern University says that E-Ink "is too slow and 

ponderous" for multimedia or reference works. He says that 

Amazon will likely move 

to "switch to some other 

type of display." 

Amazon isn't the only 

one to be cooking up a 

competitor to the iPad, 

though. Google, which already 

mounted an impressive 

campaign against 

Apple in the mobile phone 

arena, is now looking to 

take out the iPad early 

with superior tablets powered 

by Google's new 

Chrome OS. Glen 

Murphy, a Googler who 

helps design the user interfaces 

for the Chrome 

browser and OS, tweeted "Apparently our tablet mocks have 

been unearthed" on Tuesday, dropping a link to image and video 

concepts of a Chrome OS-based tablet. 

The company actually aired the videos two days before the 

iPad launch, but everyone was so caught up in the Apple circus 

that hardly anyone took note. The videos show users interacting 

with tablets large and small and using advanced multi-touch gestures 

to perform functions such as window and stacking. 

A Google tablet would have the advantage of being able to 

leverage Google's largely stable of web apps. It could also use 

Google Books to meet peoples' e-book needs. 



GSMA to Boost Mobile Advertising with 

Industry-Standard Mobile Metrics 

KOTRA published 'A market trend of Japanese 

eco-friendly automobile parts‘ report 

News in Brief 

The sale volume of automobiles has decreased due to the world's 

economic stagnation. Therefore, the Japanese automobile industry 

searched for a solution to overcome the economic crisis. The solution 

is through eco-friendly automobiles such as hybrid electric vehicle 

(HEV) and electric vehicle. As a result automobile parts market 

is naturally moving to an eco-friendly market. 

On January 27, KOTRA's explained, “The Japanese government 

and automobile industry has been increasing production of 

Plug-in Hybrid Concept Car HND-4 by Hyundai 

eco-friendly automobiles, and eco-friendly auto parts such as Auto 

Idling System, Turbocharger Parts, and Harness Power Supply will be a promising field for the Japanese export market.” Fuji Chimera 

Research Institute reported that 2009's actual output of eco-friendly automobiles has increased about 1.5 times compared to 2008. 

Plus, 460,000 cars in 2008 to 720,000 cars in 2009, 2010 projected outout is about 950,000 cars and also the annual production will 

reach about five million by 2030. The total output of existing internal combustion engine parts companies has decreased due to poor 

demand, while eco-friendly auto parts companies withered out of the economic crisis very well. Han Jung-hyun, an official of KOTRA 

said, "So far, the technology barrier of Japanese eco-friendly auto parts market is pretty high, however the market is just the first step of 

the process." He went on to say, "Korean auto parts companies have to target the Japanese market at the very beginning by using 

promising products such as Auto Idling System, Turbocharger Parts, and Harness Power Supply." 

Virgin Introduces the Necker Nymph ‘Underwater 

Plane’ aka Submarine 

Sir Richard Branson is at it again-whether it's luxurious trips to outer space or stylish underwater adventuring, the Virgin Mobile tycoon 

wants to be the first to market it. Virgin Limited Edition announced today it will 

be going underwater with its new Necker Nymph aero submarine. The Necker 

Nymph a DeepFlight three-person aero submarine. Graham Hawkes of Hawkes 

Ocean Technologies, engineer and designer behind the Necker Nymph, likened this 

open cockpit winged sub to an underwater aircraft. Virgin's new Nymph sub will fit 

nicely into the company's other luxuriously designed Necker-named properties and 

transports like the Necker Belle-a 105 foot catamaran-and Necker Island. Sir Richard 

plans to lend the Nymph out to visitors of his high-class hideaway, Necker Island. The 

Necker Nymph can glide through the ocean doing full 360 degree turns while carrying 

Necker Nymph submarine 

its pilot and two visitors on a two-hour trip. "Gliding on the water's surface like an 

aeroplane on a runway, one of the three pilots will operate the joystick to smoothly dive down, and the thrilling experience begins," the 

company says. "Uncover ancient shipwrecks, fly side-by-side with dolphins, or spyhop with whales; the options are endless." The 

Nymph is available to hire for $25,000 a week, but only if your spend at least $88,000 for seven nights on the Necker Belle-we're going 

to guess Sir Richard's motto might be similar to "go big or go home." The sub is expected to be delivered on February 20th of this 

year. 



News in Brief 

iPhone Market Share Gradually Decreasing 

Apple's iPhone 

Last Year's fourth quarter sales volume increased by 18 percent, but market share decreased 

from 18.1 percent to 16.6 percent. When Apple's iPhone was released just a couple 

months ago, customers stormed to mobile stores to purchase this new, must have iPhone. 

However, the iPhone's market share has recently been dropping. On February 3, 2010, Apple 

Insider and Fortune reported that the iPhone's sales volume has increased, but the market 

share is gradually decreasing. ABI Research recently came out with a report showing that last 

year; iPhone's fourth quarter sales volume increased 18 percent compared to the third quarter. 

However, the iPhone's fourth quarter market shares dropped to16.5 percent compared to the 

third quarter's 18.1 percent. 

An analyst stated, "The smartphone market is not growing as people expected." Last year's 

fourth quarter smartphone market included Google's release of the new Android smartphone 

which helped Nokia's selling growth increase by about 26 percent. ABI stated, "Last year's 

fourth quarter sales volume of the iPhone is approximately at US$8.7 million. Many were 

sold at that time, but the market share has decreased. It could be interpreted that the appearance 

of the rival Android smartphone could be a factor." 

Samsung Opens a R&D Center in “Silicon 

Island” in Japan 

Samsung Electronics will open a strategic R&D center early next month 

in Fukuoka (the largest city in Kyushu), the semiconductor Mecca of 

Japan. Kyushu, home to one of Japan's state-of-the-art industrial complexes, 

shows off a stellar lineup of R&D talent of world-renowned semiconductor 

and auto companies. Samsung Electronics' move to locate one of its 

R&D centers in the region is interpreted as its endeavor to keep a firm hand 

on leading core technologies, ranging from semiconductors to the nextgeneration 

green industry. According to the Korea Trade Investment 

Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the world's top maker of memory chips will 

set up a cutting-edge semiconductor R&D center early next month in 

Tenjin, the downtown area of Fukuoka City. The soon-to-be-opened R&D 

center will be the semiconductor giant's fourth R&D center in Japan, and is 

expected to take on approximately 50 employees. Japan has been closely following Samsung Electronics' attempt to open its fourth 

R&D center in the region, because of the region's strategic importance to the Japanese high-tech industry. Kyushu, nicknamed "Silicon 

Island", is densely inhabited by a plethora of prominent semiconductor makers, such as NEC, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Mitsubishi. The 

region alone accounts for nearly 10 % (1 trillion yen or about KRW 12.8 trillion) of the total global production of semiconductors. This 

is why Kyushu has such a high concentration of core R&D talent. Japanese media reported that Samsung Electronics' fourth R&D 

center in Fukuoka would focus on developing next-generation semiconductor technologies for the time being, and move on to obtaining 

green technologies - such as eco-friendly vehicles and solar cells - which are currently building up in Kyushu. While Japanese economic 

circles cast wary eyes on Samsung Electronics' move, some say that Japan needs to proactively join forces with rivals in order to 

prevent industrial decampment, which could result from the ongoing economic recession. 


Time to Respond and Act 

Government discloses the seven action plan to push the public to go green 

News in Brief 

President Lee Myung Bak and Green Committee discuss the seven action 

plan for Green Growth 

The Presidential Committee on Green Growth is pushing 

through legislation to cut down on the country's carbon emissions 

by 30 percent by 2020. Green Growth Korea unveiled its seven 

action plan to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions and 

permit emissions trading. 

Including President Lee Myung-bak and the Green Growth 

Committee, a variety of other organizations gathered in the Blue 

House on the February 3. To discus four major projects to be carried 

out including the seven action plan advocating green environment. 

This act involves methods to trim down carbon emissions, support 

the development of 10 essential green technologies, reduce 

food waste and apply an eco-friendly tax system. The key technologies 

designed to get public to go green include energy-efficient 

light-emitting diodes, solar energy, a smart electricity gird, 

hybrid cars, nuclear reactors, and light-water reactor. 


News in Brief 

Samsung Electronics Unveils Its New eBook 

Reader with WiFi Connectivity 

In the midst of growing interest in eBooks, fueled largely by the launch of Apple's iPad (a 

tablet PC with a built-in eBook reader), Samsung Electronics is about to launch its new WiFi 

eBook reader, creating a buzz in the market. On February 2, Samsung Electronics announced 

that it would launch its new 6-inch eBook reader (model: SNE-60/60K), with WiFi 

connectivity. SNE-60/60K, Samsung Electronics' second eBook reader, features WiFi connectivity 

that the first one did not have. Since WiFi connectivity is considered as a must in 

the promotion of eBooks, the world's largest electronics maker is set to vigorously market its 

WiFi enabled SNE-60/60K in both online and offline stores in order to take on the eBook 

reader market. The newly released WiFi eBook reader is designed to allow users to download 

eBooks at 50-60 percent of general print book prices in chain bookstores – such as 

Kyobo Mungo, the largest and most famous book store in South Korea. On top of that, 

Samsung Electronics has already forged partnerships with major Korean newspapers to enable 

their subscribers to automatically download and clip news articles of their choice 

through its eBook reader SNE-60/60K. 

Samsung Electronics' new eBook reader comes with 2GB internal memory, which is 

about 1400 books or more than 24,000 notes. The new eBook reader, with an e-paper display 

Samsung releases new WiFi eBook 

similar to real paper, adopts chic slide-up design so as to make reading and writing more convenient. 

When the front slide of the new eBook reader is rolled up, users can read books and use other functions without using the 

built-in stylus; when it is rolled down, the stylus will give users access to all of the functions. Free and open eBook standard ePub, PDF, 

and TXT are all supported to provide an effective reading environment. In addition, when users come across a word they do not understand, 

they can click on them with the built-in stylus and look them up immediately in on-board Korean-English and English-Korean 

dictionaries. Furthermore, Samsung Electronics' new eBook reader, equipped with a TTS (Text-to-Speech) engine, can read audio 

books aloud with accurate pronunciation, thereby allowing users to listen to audio books through their earphones on the bus or subway. 

The new eBook reader also features a built-in MP3 player. In addition, thank to the paper-like protection sheet on the screen, 

users can feel as if they write something with a normal pen on real paper. With the built-in stylus, users are able to make annotations in 

their reading sections, news articles, and images. Also, they can insert notes onto their reading sections and news articles. In a strategic 

partnership with Kyobo Mungo, Samsung Electronics came up with its second eBook reader – which is scheduled to sell online and offline 

bookstores of Kyobo Mungo, starting on February 8. 

Meeting Between Journalists and 

Dr. Hans-Ulrich Seidt 

On February 7, President Horst Koehler of the Federal Republic of Germany will visit South 

Korea at the invitation of President Lee Myung Bak and stay until February 10. 

Dr. Hans-Ulrich Seidt, the German Ambassador to Korea, will invite journalists and reporters 

to share thoughts and inputs about President Horst Koehler's state visit to South Korea and the 

pending issue around Korea and Germany's relationship. In addition, the German Ambassador to 

Korea plans to bring up the topic of Korea holding the G20 meeting to the table and discuss 

Germany's stance towards this hefty G20 summit. 

Thus, Dr. Hans-Ulrich Seidt politely asks journalists and reporters to attend to this meeting that 

will be held on February fourth at 11 o' clock at the German Embassy. 

German Ambassador 



News in Brief 

Samsung Electronics Unveils Its New eBook 

Reader with WiFi Connectivity 

In the midst of growing interest in eBooks, fueled largely by the launch of Apple's iPad (a 

tablet PC with a built-in eBook reader), Samsung Electronics is about to launch its new WiFi 

eBook reader, creating a buzz in the market. On February 2, Samsung Electronics announced 

that it would launch its new 6-inch eBook reader (model: SNE-60/60K), with WiFi 

connectivity. SNE-60/60K, Samsung Electronics' second eBook reader, features WiFi connectivity 

that the first one did not have. Since WiFi connectivity is considered as a must in 

the promotion of eBooks, the world's largest electronics maker is set to vigorously market its 

WiFi enabled SNE-60/60K in both online and offline stores in order to take on the eBook 

reader market. The newly released WiFi eBook reader is designed to allow users to download 

eBooks at 50-60 percent of general print book prices in chain bookstores – such as 

Kyobo Mungo, the largest and most famous book store in South Korea. On top of that, 

Samsung Electronics has already forged partnerships with major Korean newspapers to enable 

their subscribers to automatically download and clip news articles of their choice 

through its eBook reader SNE-60/60K. 

Samsung Electronics' new eBook reader comes with 2GB internal memory, which is 

about 1400 books or more than 24,000 notes. The new eBook reader, with an e-paper display 

Samsung releases new WiFi eBook 

similar to real paper, adopts chic slide-up design so as to make reading and writing more convenient. 

When the front slide of the new eBook reader is rolled up, users can read books and use other functions without using the 

built-in stylus; when it is rolled down, the stylus will give users access to all of the functions. Free and open eBook standard ePub, PDF, 

and TXT are all supported to provide an effective reading environment. In addition, when users come across a word they do not understand, 

they can click on them with the built-in stylus and look them up immediately in on-board Korean-English and English-Korean 

dictionaries. Furthermore, Samsung Electronics' new eBook reader, equipped with a TTS (Text-to-Speech) engine, can read audio 

books aloud with accurate pronunciation, thereby allowing users to listen to audio books through their earphones on the bus or subway. 

The new eBook reader also features a built-in MP3 player. In addition, thank to the paper-like protection sheet on the screen, 

users can feel as if they write something with a normal pen on real paper. With the built-in stylus, users are able to make annotations in 

their reading sections, news articles, and images. Also, they can insert notes onto their reading sections and news articles. In a strategic 

partnership with Kyobo Mungo, Samsung Electronics came up with its second eBook reader – which is scheduled to sell online and offline 

bookstores of Kyobo Mungo, starting on February 8. 

Meeting Between Journalists and 


On February 7, President Horst Koehler of the Federal Republic of Germany will visit South 

Korea at the invitation of President Lee Myung Bak and stay until February 10. 

Dr. Hans-Ulrich Seidt, the German Ambassador to Korea, will invite journalists and reporters 

to share thoughts and inputs about President Horst Koehler's state visit to South Korea and the 

pending issue around Korea and Germany's relationship. In addition, the German Ambassador to 

Korea plans to bring up the topic of Korea holding the G20 meeting to the table and discuss 

Germany's stance towards this hefty G20 summit. 

Thus, Dr. Hans-Ulrich Seidt politely asks journalists and reporters to attend to this meeting that 

will be held on February fourth at 11 o' clock at the German Embassy. 

German Ambassador

is Coming to Korea - Korea IT Times

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