LTW - Peninsula Tensions, Bball Fixing, & Tourism Rank

1. National

1) Korean peninsula turning into an Ice Age

The tension between South Korea and North Korea getting tight as the South Korea-U.S. annual joint exercise called Key Resolve got kicked off on Mar 11.Kim Jon-un keeps pouring out hostile verbal threats against the U.S. and South Korea such as “We will drive the enemy the into a fire pit,” “We can make a pre-emptive nuclear attack against the U.S.” and “the Korean War armistice agreement is no longer valid.” South Korean military issued a strong warning in return, vowing that there will be 10 times of retaliation , and that North Korean military headquarters would be annihilated once South Korea is attacked. While the U.S. is installing 14 additional missile interceptors in Alaska, South Koreans used to crying wolf from the North remain calm as they believe “barking dogs do not bite.”

  

Kim Jong-un probably learned escalating rhetoric from my wife. If I do not behave the way my wife wants, she first threatens “I will buy a Gucci watch.” If I still do not move, her rhetoric ratchets up to “I am going for my 3rd Prada purse.” If I still won’t budge, she will scream “I will have Lotte Department store make an expedite order for 10 Louise Vuitton handbags!”

2) A basketball star charged over game fixing

Kang Dong-hee was a Korean version of Isiah Thomas of Detroit Pistons in the 90’s, and is now the manager of Dongbu Promy pro basketball team. He was charged last week for his role in fixing games in March 2011 for 50 million won from two brokers. An arrested broker confessed he had received money from other people who purchased Sports Toto (Lotto) tickets and given portions to Kang. There were other game fixing scandals with other sports in the past, but it was the first time an incumbent manager was directly involved. 

  

Basketball is the 3rd most popular sports after baseball and soccer, but Korean basketball players are not really impressive. Most the Top 10 scorers in Korean Basketball League are Americans who have no chance of playing in NBA, and Korean national basketball team has failed to go to the Olympics after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Korean national basketball team has a chance to go to Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 only if all of the players become transgenders.  

2. Economy

1) South Korea ranked 25th in tourism competitiveness

In the 2013 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum that ranks 140 nations in 14 categories such as policy regulations, environmental sustainability, safety and natural and cultural resources, Korea ranked 25th this year, up from 32nd in 2011. Korea earned 4.91 points out of 10, ahead of tourist nations such as Italy (4.90), Greece (4.75), Malaysia (4.70) and Turkey (4.44). Switzerland was the top with 5.66, followed by Germany/Austria, and Spain. The U.S. ranked 6th, and Japan move up to 14th from 22nd in 2011. China dropped to 45th from 39th two years ago.

   

While the land mass of South Korea is very small, the same size as Indiana, it has many resources to attract tourists. Korea has distinctive four seasons, has many mountains that cover 70% of the land, is surrounded by seas with many islands and has historical sites with a legendary founder who was born 4,346 years ago. Tourists can also experience 100 degree hot capitalism while watching a minus 30 degree cold communism just 2km away north of DMZ that use nuke bombs for fireworks show. 

3. Auto Industry

1) 8 million Hyundai cars sold in the U.S.

Hyundai reached a new milestone in Feb, selling its 8 millionth vehicle in the U.S. 27 years after it launched Excel in 1986. Hyundai sold its 5 millionth car in 2007, and took just six years to reach 8 million. Eight million accounts for 20% of Hyundai’s total sales overseas, and over 6 million were shipped out of Korea.  The best selling model was Sonata which sold 1.94 million units since its launch in 1989, followed by Elantra which sold 1.91 million. As Hyundai sells nearly 500K cars a year in the U.S., it would be in less than four years to hit another milestone with 10 millionth in the U.S.

 

Hyundai Excel was an instant hit, selling over 170K in the first year, but Hyundai had to pay for its poor quality reputation that dragged Hyundai’s sales less than 10K a month level until late 90’s when Hyundai’s sales finally took off with Chairman Chung Mong-ku’s quality first campaign. Hyundai turned into a joke stew for Jay Leno in the 90’s, and Hyundai was ‘Wrong made Honda’, according to Jay Leno. 

2) Kia having an issue over a name

Kia’s new concept car Provo introduced at Geneva Motor Show last week is making a brouhaha in Britain and Ireland as it sounds like a celebration of terrorism. Prove is the street name for the dominant branch of the outlawed Irish republican Army which killed some 1,800 people during its 1970-1997 campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the U.K. British lawmakers appealed in the House of Commons to Kia to ditch the name. Kia insisted ‘Provo’ was to mean ‘provocative’ and said it would not use it in the U.K. or Republic of Ireland. Kia is not the first one with name problem. Mazda’s LaPuta launched in 1999 means ‘prostitute’ in Spanish.

 

Other Korean companies have the same problems. Korea’s No.3 bank Hanbit changed its name to Woori Bank in 2002, which means ‘Our Bank.’ While many foreigners may have worry to deposit money in Woori Bank, the names still remains Woori.  Another company is SoHeung Forging, which had supplied parts to a Metaldyne plant in Indiana. A sigh of relief that SoHeung’s business was with automotive parts, not with private parts. 

Regards,

H.S.

LTW - Back in Blue, Worm Diplomacy, & H Power

1. National
1) Park returns to Blue House after many years
President Park Geun-hye was sworn in as the 18th president on Feb 25, returning to Blue House (Korean White House) 33 years and 3 months after she had to leave following her father’s assassination. Park pledged to stimulate the flagging economy and warned North Korea that it will end up the “biggest victim” of its nuclear ambitions. Her speech much focused on economic revitalization. Mentioning the “Miracle on the Hangang River” his father achieved, Park promised she will create a second Miracle on the Hangang River. She used the words “Korean people” 57 times and “happiness” 20 times during the speech.
    




Hangang is the river that cuts through Seoul from east to west. Though her father was criticized for his dictatorship and playboy life, he is polled to be the greatest of the nine presidents after 1945 liberation, thanks to his role in economic development. If Park Geun-hye does create the 2nd Hangang Miracle, no Koreans would care even if Park Geun-hye makes more boy friends than Paris Hilton.

2) NBA rebound king meets Kim Jong-un
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman sat next to Kim Jong-un last week, watching the Harlem Globetrotters match against North Korean team with the young leader and drinking Coca Cola. “You have a friend for life,” Rodman told Kim who is known to be a diehard NBA fan from his high school days in Swiss. Rodman praised Kim as “awesome and honest guy” and hoped his visit would break the ice between the U.S. and North Korea. Rodman’s visit was the 2nd visit by American celebrities this year after Google’s Eric Schmidt visit in January. The U.S. State Dept. made little of the visit, just commenting Rodman is only an American individual.
    

In the interview with ABC’s This Week after the visit, Rodman said that the only thing Kim wants from Obama is just a phone call, that Obama and Kim can be good friends as both are basketball fans, and that the U.S. and North Korea don’t have to have a war. I had never thought the “Worm” in NBA would later become the prime candidate for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

2. Economy
1) Companies get slapped over dispatch workers
The Supreme Court ordered GM Korea CEO to pay a fine of 7 million won and upheld criminal charges for having dispatch workers build vehicles along with regular employees. The Ministry of Employment and Labor also discovered that 1,978 sales workers of suppliers to E-Mart, Korea’s largest retailer, were illegally put to work, and ordered E-Mart to hire them legally. If E-Mart refuses, it will have to pay a fine of 10 million ($9,234) for each of illegal employee. Under the current labor law, any form of dispatch work is deemed illegal except for some fields that require special expertise and technology,
 
 It was very rare for companies to have outsource employees through dispatch work in the past. Even the cooks or security guards were hired as regular employees. That practice changed from 1987 when the union got much powerful following the democracy movement in that year. The demands from the unions have often gone beyond common sense, however, and the companies had to use outsource employees or temporary workers to get around all the hassles with hard line unions. The union activists demand that the dispatch work system be eliminated for more regular employees, but they seem not to acknowledge they were the very reason temporary or dispatch workers have been mass created for the last 26 years.

3. Auto Industry
1) Hydrogen-fueled cars in production at Hyundai
Hyundai celebrated the first production of the hydrogen-powered Tucson at the production line dedicated solely for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at its Ulsan plant. The Tucson is powered by 100kw fuel cell and two hydrogen storage tanks, and can drive up to 594km (369miles) on a full charge with 27.8km per liter (65.4 miles per gallon) fuel efficiency. Hyundai plans to sell 1,000 Tucsons by 2015, all in the overseas market as Korea does not have hydrogen infrastructure yet.  Hyundai proudly announced it is minimum two years ahead of competitors like Mercedes-Benz, GM or Toyota in hydrogen fuel cell technology.
 

Located 430km southeast of Seoul, Ulsan is Korea’s Detroit with over 1 million vehicles rolling out from Hyundai’s five factories. The Ulsan plant must be in high alert these days after news of hydrogen Tucson launch. Kim Jong-un might take H-Bomb as his next challenge after nuclear bomb.

2) GM Korea commits long-term investment
Tim Lee, president of GM International Operations, said GM plant to invest 8 trillion won ($7.38 billion) in GM Korea over the next five years. “We do not invest 8 trillion won lightly. We are here to stay and Korea is certainly part of GM’s plan. Our actions speak louder than the rumors that are circulating,” said Lee at its Bupyeong plant. As for the Gunsan plant missing out on the new Cruze model, Lee said GM is coming up with another plan to keep the factory running. Sergio Rocha, president of GM Korea, announced the “GMK 20XX - Competitiveness & Sustainability” plan under which GM is expanding its R&D center at Bupyeong, making it GM’s 3rd largest after the U.S. and Brazil. It will also produce six next-generation GM global vehicles and power trains, including its first global full battery electric vehicle, the Spark EV, at its Changwon plant. GM Korea sold a total of 800,639 vehicles worldwide last year, and only 145,702 units, or 9.6% M/S, in domestic market.
 

As GM Korea’s main Bupyeong is located near Seoul, while Hyundai was in Ulsan, it has traditionally attracted better talented college graduates than Hyundai has. (Not that I was an imbecile.) With some more leg-up support from Detroit, GM Korea people can show much better slam dunk performance than the Worm did in Detroit many years ago.

Regards,
H.S.

LTW - Rocket Launch, Nuke Blast, Super Ads, #1 in Plastic Surgery

1. National

1) North Korea conducts third nuclear test

Kim Jong-un celebrated lunar New Year with his first, the third one to include two from his late father, nuclear test on Feb 12, just a day before Obama’s State of the Union address to send a “Leave me alone” message. The blast was estimated to be 7 kilo ton of TNT, about half the magnitude of Hiroshima.  South Korea has beefed up its military alert one level up, deploying long range cruise missiles to target any part of North Korean territory. While the UN Security Council condemned the test, Chinese government has not expressed as much criticism that the U.S. and South Korea were hoping for. It is reported that North Korea has informed China that there will be one or more tests this year. 

  

More chance for a man biting a dog than China ditching North Korea, no matter what Kim Jong-un does. If the two Koreas get united with South Korea leading the unification process, Chinese soldiers might have to watch muscular American G.I.s lifting their weights across Yalu River, the border between China and North Korea.  

2) South Korea launches its first rocket

 South Korea finally succeeded in launching its first own Naro rocket, placing a 100kg research satellite into orbit on Jan 30. Previous attempts in 2009 and 2010 failed, and the third and final attempt had to be postponed twice due to technical glitches. The Naro rocket was built jointly with Russia which supplied the first stage booster, while S.Korea building the second stage of the rocket and payload. The Naro rocket will no longer be used in Korea’s space program, as the government has begun on a project to develop a wholly indigenous, three- stage rocket by 2021.

South Korean are O.K that it took 56 years to put a satellite into the orbit after Russia’s Sputnik in 1957, but are in shame that it was a month after Kim Jong-un’s successful satellite launch in December. Just the same disgrace 207cm(6’11”) Dominique Wilkins in Atlanta Hawks had to suffer when he lost NBA Slam-Dunk contest in 1986 to his 170cm (5’6”) short team mate Spud Webb.

2. Economy

1) South Korea No.1 in cosmetic surgery 

British Daily Mail reported that South Koreans have more plastic surgery than any other nation. Citing the figures from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS), South Korea had the highest proportion of its population, one in 77 people, having surgery, often to look more ‘Western’ in 2011. One of the most popular surgical procedures is double eyelid surgery, which reduces excess skin in the upper eyelid to make the eyes appear bigger and make them look more ‘Western’. The U.S. was the fourth nation to put needles and knives under the skin, but Americans were for other than double eye lid surgery. 

 

 I was really serious about double eyelid surgery when I was in puberty in the 70’s. All the good looking guys I watch on TV had big eyes, and I got frustrated with my rice eyes. Though the frustration has diminished over time, it has continued until last August when Psy suddenly popped up. My eyes are just a little bigger than Psy’s. 

2) Korean companies or a Korean in Super Bowl ads 

While few Koreans have watched Super Bowl between the 49ers and Ravens itself, many Koreans had watched some of its commercials on TV news and internet. Koreans were gleeful that the ads from Samsung, Hyundai and Kia were among the $4 million per 30 seconds commercials, but they were more excited to watch PSY singing “Crackin’ Gangnam style” in Pistachios commercials. It was probably the first time for most of the Koreans to hear of Pistachios.  The ads by Samsung and Kia were named by the Huffington Post as two of the nine Super Bowl ads worth seeing. 

 

 Samsung’s commercial called it San Francisco ‘fifty minus oners’ for 49ers, and Baltimore ‘black birds’ for Ravens, to make fun of Apple’s patent lawsuits against Samsung. It also called it ‘Big Game’ for Super Bowl. Well, there is better word for Super Bowl to avoid lawsuit.  Call it ‘Super Ball’, as this is how 99 percent of Koreans would spell when they are asked to spell, well, Big Game. 

2. Auto Industry

1) Hyundai Sonata tops in J.D. Power dependability ranking 

Sonata ranked top in its mid-size sedan category in a vehicle dependability study by J.D. Power. Sonata scored 94 points to beat Camry(104), Accord (107) and Altima(110). The study was based on a survey about 202 vehicle problems with parts such as the engine or transmission given to the customers who bought their cars between Sep 2009 and Feb 2010.  It determined each car’s score based on the number of problems per 100 vehicles reported by owners of 3-year-old models, so the lower, the better.  By brand, Kia ranked 13th and Hyundai 14th. Kia jumped three spots from last year, while Hyundai took a dive to14th from fourth. 

   

. The Sonata being marketed currently is the fifth generation. The first generation Sonata debuted in Aug, 1988, and it was the model that was also produced in Hyundai’s Bromont plant in Quebec, Canada. The first overseas plant for Hyundai, the Bromont plant had a grand opening on Jul 4, 1989, but had to be closed in October 1993 due to falling sales. The total Sonata produced in Bromont was 99,995 from my memory with vehicle ID numbers. Don’t call Apple’s lawyers if my number is wrong, but it was definitely just a few short of 100,000 vehicles. 

2) Fiat returns 

With sharp increase of import cars in recent years, taking nearly 10 percent of domestic market, Fiat had a launching ceremony in Seoul to introduce Cinqueneto and Freemont models in Korea, 16 years after it pulled out of Korea in 1997 during the Asian Crisis. Massimo Roserba, head of Asia-Pacific region, said Fiat can be a good fit for Koreans interested in fuel economy. The Cinquento and Freemont to be supplied from Mexico are to be sold at eight show rooms throughout Korea, with Cinquecento price ranging from 26.9 million won($24,780) to 29 million, nearly 15% lower than its competitor BMW Mini Cooper. 

 

Fiat has a long history with Korea. It had relationship with Kia Motors from 1971 to manufacture Fiat 124, and Fiat 132 until 1981. After Kia stopped the production of Fiat 132, Kumho and Hanbo had imported Fiat models from Italy until 1997 when it pulled out. Fiat probably decided to come back to Korean market buoyed by the success stories of Italian brand Prada and Gucci in Korea. Fiat’s first task for the same level of success is to get my wife’s full support.

Regards,

H.S. 

LTW - Thick Glass Ceiling, Minor Baby Boom, & NK Anger

1. National
1) North Korea in anger over a slap in the face by UN
Just hours after the UN Security Council’s unanimous decision to sanction North Korea over a rocket launch in Dec, North Korea vowed to boost its nuclear program. North Korea said there will be no more denuclearization talks “due to the U.S.’s worsening hostility toward North Korea.” North Korea also lashed at China for its agreement on the UN sanction by saying “ Big counties had been pressured by the U.S. and relinquished basic principles that must be protected.” It has threatened “strong physical countermeasures” against South Korea if Seoul directly takes part in the sanctions. A report from Johns Hopkins University said North Korea’s third, Kim Jong-un’s first, nuclear test is imminent.


If we think the world would be much safer without Kim Jong-un, we might be wrong. Just look at what is happening in Egypt after almighty Hosni Mubarak gone. Kim, 28, got educated in Swiss with good understanding of democracy and capitalism. The world leaders need to give Kim a firm assurance that he wouldn’t be another Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania even if North Korea opens to the world.

2) More babies born in Korea
According to the government report, Korea’s fertility rate jumped up to 1.3 children per woman last year, the first time Korea to have reached the level in 11 years. The 1.3 mark is important as that level is deemed in the “lowest-of-low fertility” category.  From Jan to Nov last year, 450,600 babies were born, 3 percent up from the same period. The government warned that Korea will become a super-aged society by 2026, in which people aged 65 or over account for 20% of total population if the current rate of low fertility continues.




While the government incentives were the main reasons for the fertility rebound last year, another key reason was that 2012 was the year of “Black Dragon” which comes every 60 years. Koreans believe that the babies born in “Black Dragon” would have more fortunes in their life. Hard to believe? The marriage increased over 8% in Jan and Feb in 2012 over the same period in 2011, but got reduced to -8.3 percent in May, and kept declining throughout the rest of 2012 except for Jul and Oct.

2. Economy
1) Glass ceiling in government remains thick
 According to public information site, Alio(www.alio.go.kr), only 9.1% or 272 executives out of 2,993 state-run institutions are women. Only 16 of 288 public institutions had female chief executive officers, and 149 had no female executives. The worst was the Financial Services Commission, which had only 1 female executive out of 109, less than 1%. . The best was Korea Childcare Promotion Institute where 66.7 percent of the executives were women.  Both ruling and opposition parties have jointly proposed a bill to raise the ratio of female executives to 15 percent in public institutions in three years and to 30 percent in five years.

If it is the glass ceiling in the government institutions, it is 10 inch thick steel plates in private companies as there are probably more female commanders in Al Qaeda than female executives in Korean private companies. There were three females out of 124 colleagues who joined Hyundai together with me on Dec 1, 1986. Two were assigned to the R&D design center where they sketch future models, and one to finance team. All of the three left the company within three years.

2) K-Swiss to be bought by E.Land
 Korea’s E.Land agreed to pay $170 million for K-Swiss to add the U.S. athletic shoemaker’s brands to its portfolio. The K-Swiss stockholder will receive $4.75 per share, 49% more than closing price on the NASDAQ. K-Swiss was not good financially as the revenue in the 12 months through September was $231M, compared with $508M in 2005. Net losses from 2009, 2010, and 2011 totaled more than $160M. E.Land’s business “will provide K-Swiss with the resources and scale to return to its former performance levels,” said Steven Nichols, President of K-Swiss.



E.Land was established in 1980 by Mr.Sungsoo Park who opened a small clothing store in front of Ehwa Women’s University in Seoul at the age of 28. Mr.Park has grown the company over 10 trillion won($9.5 billion) in sales in 2012. A devout Christian, Mr.Park’s success comes from his deep belief in God, and his frugality.  He drives his own Kia Carnival (Sedona in the U.S.), brings his own lunch box, flies in economy class, and stays in a cheap motel when in business trip. To save hotel cost further, Mr.Park makes his employees stay in one room together, rather than two or three.

3. Auto Industry
1) Leave me alone, damn politicians!
 Ssanyong Motors, Korea’s 5th largest automaker which went bankruptcy in 2009 then got bought by India’s Mahindra in 2011, is urging the main opposition party and outside activist groups to stop meddling in the labor disputes, arguing that such interference only makes the matters worse. Ssangyong union also issued a statement opposing the legislative investigation over the layoff of workers at the time of bankruptcy, saying that could jeopardize its corporate image and operations. The union said “Ssangyong’s revival depends on new investment and improved sales, but if politicians beat and shake the company, we all die.” The opposition Democratic United Party is still pushing for the legislative investigation, urging president elect Park Geun-hye from the ruling party to agree to the investigation.
   
Both Ssangyong management and union are preaching the politicians to leave them alone. A husband named Joseph was probably shocked when his wife Mary delivered a baby called Jesus not from his own blood, but Joseph was O.K with it. Over two thousand years have passed since. Why do still people keep talking and arguing about Mary having a baby, when her own husband Joseph had no problem with it?

Regards,
H.S.

LTW - Google in NK, Prez #'s, & Good To Be Born Korean

1. National
1) Google CEO visited North Korea
Google CEO Eric Schmidt and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson made a four day visit to North Korea on Jan 7 despite U.S. government’s opposition. They met with leading North Korean officials, and toured a computer lab at Kim Ilsung University. In the interview at Beijing Airport after the visit, Schmidt said he went to express his view that North Korea will be better off with more cell phones and wider internet use. Richardson said “dialogue rather than conflict” is needed at this time of leadership changes in South Korea and Japan. South Korean government hoped the Americans’ visit will promote peace and stability in Korean Peninsula. Not known whether they met with Kim Jongun.

It might be that the real motive for Eric Schmidt’s visit was to meet with Kim Jongun to transfer his state-of-the-art horse dancing skills he learned from PSY during his visit to Seoul last September.

2) Presidential transition committee kicked off
 President-Elect Park Geun-hye got her presidential transition committee kicked off. The transition committee will get reports from current administration to help Park set up new policies for her 5 year tenure that starts on Feb 25. She also began to meet with envoys from key nations. In a meeting with China’s Vice Foreign Minister, Park said “North Korea’s nuclear weapons can not be tolerated, but added “doors will be open for dialogue and cooperation through a trust building process.” In the meeting with Japanese envoys, Park called for building up mutual trust in accordance with public sentiment.
Park is to meet with the envoys from the U.S. this week.
  
It might be that Park was destined to be the Korean president. Here is why. Park won 51.6% of the vote and her father took power after the military coup on May 16, 1961. She became the 18th president and her father ruled Korea for 18 years until 1979. Park is becoming the president at the age of 60 and her father got killed at the age of 60 by his own KCIA director. The opponent Park defeated last month was Mr.JI Moon, and her mother was killed by an assassin called Mr.SK Moon in 1974. Just a coincidence?

2. Economy
1) Korea ranked 19th best to be born
Korea ranked 19th best country for babies to be born, to the Economist Intelligence Unit, a think tank affiliated with the business magazine. Of the 80- countries surveyed, Korea scored 7.25 points ahead of Japan in 25th (7.08), and China in 49th (5.99). The U.S. and Germany shared 16th spot. Switzerland came first, followed by Australia. The 11 categories of the ranking were geography, demography, social and cultural characteristics, public policy, gender equality, political freedom, health, job security, crime rates, the state of the world economy and future income projected for 2030.
   
 When I was a kid in the 60’s, Korea was one of the poorest nations in the world, with personal annual income of less than $100 when that of Philippines was over $800. I remember my friends lamenting “how happy could we be if we were born in other rich countries like U.S. or Canada!”  Fifty two years have passed since Park Geun-hye’s father took power and initiated economic miracle process. Korea became a nation that my two sons born in Canada chose to keep Korean citizenship by joining the military last September.

3. Auto Industry
1) Denso and Doowon beat Halla, thus Visteon
According to the Korea Economic Daily, Hyundai has begun diversifying its air climate control systems supplier. To the newspaper, Hyundai Alabama has changed its supplier for next generation Sonata from Halla, a subsidiary of Visteon, to Denso. It also reported that Hyundai Beijing will be getting components from Doowon for its new models.  Denso being a keretsu company of Toyota, Hyundai has relied on Halla for the bulk supply of climate controls systems. Halla also has been Hyundai’s good partner with 60% of its sales from Hyundai/Kia. The newspaper said Hyundai may further diversify climate control systems suppliers to meet the interest of global manufacturing sites.
   


 According to another daily called Jose Ilbo, a Hyundai official said the business to Denso and Doowon from Halla has nothing to do with what happened between Hyundai and Halla last September.

2) Subaru and Mitsubishi say sayonara to Korean market
Subaru announced that it will withdraw from the Korean market. Launched in 2009, Subaru Korea was not successful in seducing Korean customers with its Legacy, Outback and Forester models. In 2011, Subaru Korea sold only 664 units, and mere 558 units by Nov this year. CXC Motors, the sole distributor for Mitsubishi in Korea is also likely to end its operation shortly. It has been selling Lancer, Outlander and Pajero, but has sold pathetic 61 units by Nov last year. In the mean time, the import cars took 10.01% of Korean market in 2012, breaking 10% market share barrier for the first time with 130,858 units sold. BMW was the leader with 28,152 units followed by Mercedes(20,389), VW(18,395) and Audi(15,126). The best selling model was BMW 520d which sold 7,485units.


 Hyundai also didn’t do well in Japanese market, and had to withdraw a couple years ago. The withdrawal of Subaru or Hyundai has nothing to do with the public sentiment between Koreans and Japanese. The car markers just need to “build models in accordance with customer sentiment,” to borrow words from Park Gen-hye.

Regards,
H.S.

LTW - Madame Prez, Samsung#1, & NK's Moonie Motors

1. National

1) Park Geun-hye elected as 18th president
Winning 51.6% of the votes, Park Geun-hye of the ruling conservative Saenuri Party won the 18th presidential race, beating Moon Jae-in from liberal Unified Democratic Party. Park became the first female president, and got the honor of being the first child of a former president as she is the daughter of former president Park Jung-hee who ruled South Korea from 1961 to 1979. Park was mostly favored by the voters in the 50s and 60s who were not comfortable with Moon’s left leaning policies. Park’s 5 year term starts on Feb 25 next year. No 2nd term allowed in Korean law.
 




Park owes a lot to Lee Jung-hee, the female candidate with 1% approval rating from the Unified Progressive Party known for its extreme pro North Korea policies. In a live three way TV debates with Park and Moon, Lee kept making rudely vicious comments against Park, but expressed warm words to Moon. This led many to believe Moon was a good friend of Lee. It was a typical case of “You are helping me a lot if you do not help me at all” to Moon. President elect Park might be serious about hiring Lee Jung-hee as her PR woman.

2) North Korea launches rocket successfully
North Korea unexpectedly fired a long-range rocket on Dec 12, putting a satellite into an orbit successfully. This proved the fear that North Korea has the technology to deliver a nuke bomb 13,000km (8,075 miles) away, or any place of U.S. territory. Though the U.N. denounced the launch as the violation of U.N. resolutions against North Korea, no real sanction is expected to take place due to objection from China. After analysis of debris retrieved from the Yellow Sea, South Korean government said Pyongyang had used red fuming nitric acid to fuel the first stage propellant.  That chemical is mostly used for intercontinental ballistic missiles in other nations like Iran.
 




The rocket launch was a Korean version of Sputnik shock. South Korea’s two attempts to launch the Naro rocket for a satellite failed in 2009 and 2010, and the third attempt this year has also been a flop so far, with two abortions just minutes before lift-off. What is more embarrassing is that the 1st stage rocket for Naro was made in Russia, meaning Naro is not wholly South Korea’s rocket. South Korea better pay Kim Jong-un only one tenths of what it paid to Vladimir Putin, and beg Kim to launch the damn Naro satellite rocket for South Korea.

2. Economy
1) Samsung stands tall as #1 cell phone maker
According to HIS iSuppli, Samsung has become the world’s #1 mobile phone maker in terms of annual sales, taking 29% of the global market, overtaking Nokia with 24%. Samsung got this goal achieved 24 years after it began making cell phones. Samsung also maintained its top position in the global smartphone market, with 28% market share, beating Apple with 20%. Nokia, HTC and RIM accounted for 5% each. On a separate note, Motorola, the first maker of mobile phones, announced that it will pull out of Korean market by February next year after losing the battle against Samsung and LG in Korea.
 
Motorola is just another foreign company pulling out of Korea, like Wal-Mart or Carrefour, with no real impact to me personally. The problem is Yahoo as it will end its business as of December 31. I will have to type in all of my e-mail address in my yhs816@yahoo.co.kr account into my Gmail account. The good side of it? I will become #1 in 500 words per minute World Championship after all the e-mail address typing.

3. Auto Industry
1) Unification Church to pass automotive decisions to North Korea
Pyeonghwa Motors’s president Park Sang-kwon said the management control of the joint venture company between South Korea’s Unification Church and North Korea will be taken over by North Korean government, according to Voice of America. “We transfer the right to them to practically run the company,” Park was quoted. Pyeonghwa Motors began operation in 2002, manufacturing about 2,000 vehicles every year with five different Fiat models, but was not making enough money due to lack of economy of scale. The total capital of the company was 43.5 billion won ($40M)) as of 2009.

It is probably a good decision to transfer the right to run the company from South Koreans to North Koreans. North Koreans will soon make Pyeonghwa Motors a bigger company than Hyundai, from what we have seen with the rocket launching.

Regards,
H.S.