South Korea’sFuture Place inthe Economy

(“The World Factbook”)

Current Situation:

South Korea’s economy now has hit a plateau, so their future

economic growth will depend on the redefining and

restructuring of their economic policy,

by possibly “encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship,promoting by merit rather than seniority and opening the doorto immigrants” (Ramstad).

(Conerly)

Strengths

- has had quick growing economy (Conerly).

- increase in newer technology, industrialization (Forsberg).

- big market in exports (Conerly).

- People look up to their technology and their growth fromexports and use them as an example (fastest broadbandconnection in the world) (Forsberg).

- Very innovative– building Songdo, the “city of the future”=green +high tech (Day).

- Beat out china and japan because they sell things cheaper

(Day)

Challenges- Threat of North Korea

- Europe’s debt crisis is greatly affecting Korea’s exports (Seo)

- Government is too involved with economy and is supporting thebig “chaebol” companies who do not need help ("South Korea'sIndustrial")

- Stuck on Confucian values

- Value of won decreasing (Conerly).

(“South Korea’s Industrial”)

Challenges cont…

- Job Conflicts (High Unemployment among the educated)

- Not enough people to for jobs– low birthrate and agingpopulation (Ramstad).

- Lack of women in the workforce because of culture(Ramstad).

- People are not applying to lower-paying/ lower- skilled jobs(Ramstad).

- Rare permanent immigration bc work law only thempermits them to stay at Korean- own companies for 5years (Ramstad).

(Ramstad)

Future Position in theWorld Economy?

Currently South Korea has the…15th best economy in the world$25,255 per capita income6% annual growth, soon to be 3- 4.5%South Korea wants to have… by 2018World’s 7th largest economy$40,000 per capita income7% annual growth

If they have more productivity improvements and greateremployment of women and the elderly, South Korea may reachtheir targeted goal (Ramstad).

("The World Factbook")

(“South Korea’s Industrial”)

What Korea Plans on Doing…- Korea plans on introducing 9 new innovative

technologies, one being Wi-Bro, to help raise the Koreangross domestic product to $20,000 per capita from $12,600in 2003 (Forsberg).

- Expanding their technological experience to othercountries, starting with the United States (Forsberg).

- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak acknowledgesthat there needs to be reform of the social norms,practices, and traditions in order to advance and believesthey should try and change (Ramstad).

- Making inroads in to other emerging markets such asIndia (Seo).

(Arnoldy)

Suggestions from Other Observers…- Focus on smaller companies

- Stop investing in “zombie” and bankrupt firms (Noland)- Needs to promote merit instead of seniority (Ramstad)

- Allow more immigration (Ramstad).

- Keep up with the consumer boom (Noland).

- Korean government needs to stop micromanaging theeconomy ("South Korea's industrial")

- Slow growth rate, prevent further inflation

(dkpopnews.net)

Thank YOU!

(“The World Factbook”)

Work CitedConerly, Bill. “South Korea Economic Forecast, 2012-2013: A Business Perspective.” Forbes 27Dec. 2011: n. pag. Forbes. Web. 6 May 2012.<http://www.forbes.com/ ‌sites/ ‌billconerly/ ‌2011/ ‌12/ ‌27/ ‌south-korea-economic-forecast-2012-2013-a-business-perspective/>.Day, James. “Songdo in South Korea leading charge to become city of the future.” Metro 10Jan. 2012: n. pag. Metro UK. Web. 1 May 2012. <http://www.metro.co.uk/‌tech/ ‌886852-songdo-in-south-korea-leading-charge-to-become-city-of-the-future>.Forsberg, Birgitta. “The future is South Korea - Tech firms try out latest in world’s most wiredsociety.” San Francisco Chronicle 13 Mar. 2005: n. pag. SFGate. Web. 8 May 2012.<http://www.sfgate.com/ ‌cgi-bin/‌article.cgi?f=/‌c/ ‌a/ ‌2005/ ‌03/ ‌13/ ‌BROADBAND.TMP&ao=all>.Levitt, Aaron. “Keep An Eye On South Korea.” Investopedia. Investopedia ULC, 15 Sept. 2010.Web. 1 May 2012. <http://www.investopedia.com/‌stock-analysis/‌2010/‌Keep-An-Eye-On-South-Korea-EWY-SKOR-BICK-SKM-PKX-LPL0915.aspx#axzz1tj2rKVkx>.Noland, Marcus. “Economic Reform in South Korea: An Unfinished Legacy.” Peterson Institutefor International Economics© Peterson Institute for International Economics. Peterson Institutefor International Economics, 6 Apr. 2002. Web. 4 May 2012.<http://www.iie.com/ ‌publications/ ‌papers/ ‌paper.cfm?ResearchID=458>.Ramstad, Evan. “The Miracle is Over. Now what?” The Wall Street Journal 8 Nov. 2010: n. pag.The Wall Street Journal. Web. 3 May 2012.<http://online.wsj.com/‌article/ ‌SB10001424052748704791004575519703277433756.html>.Seo, Eunkyung. “S. Korea Trims Growth Forecast on Europe Woes.” Bloomberg Businessweek16 Apr. 2012: n. pag. Bloomberg Businessweek- News from Bloomberg. Web. 9 May 2012.<http://www.businessweek.com/‌printer/ ‌articles/ ‌45106?type=bloomberg>.“South Korea’s industrial giants- The chaebol conundrum.” The Economist 31 Mar. 2010: n.pag. The Economist. Web. 9 May 2012. <http://www.economist.com/ ‌node/‌15816756>.“The World Factbook- Korea, South.” Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency,26 Apr. 2012. Web. 8 May 2012. <https://www.cia.gov/ ‌library/ ‌publications/‌the-world-factbook/‌geos/‌ks.html>.