Ged Carroll

Category: korea | 韓國 | 한국 | 韓国

Annyeonghaseyo – welcome to the Korean category of this blog. This is where I share anything that relates to the Republic of Korea, business issues relating to Korea, the Korean people, Korean culture and the Korean language.

At the time of writing this category descriptor its been about 10 years since I have last been able to visit Korea. In that time the country has risen on the world stage.

There have been continual disputes with Japan and more recently continual bitter disputes with China. The Japanese disputes are related to history and territory. Korea had been occupied as part of the Imperial Japanese empire. Independence came with the end of the second world war.

The Chinese disputes are more complex. Chinese investors are buying up Korean property particularly in Seoul, Busan and Jeju island, while many Koreans can no longer get on the property ladder. Chinese tourists blitz Korean shops in a similar way to what they’ve previously done in Hong Kong.

Chinese nationalism has seen claims made on Korean cultural assets from the national dress to kimchi. Finally China has interfered in Korea’s efforts to defend itself from the threat in the north.

Often posts that appear in this category will appear in other categories as well. So if Samsung launched a new smartphone that I thought was particularly notable that might appear in wireless as well as Korea. If there is Korean subjects that you think would fit with this blog, feel free to let me know by leaving a comment in the ‘Get in touch’ section of this blog here.

  • The North Face and Nike

    The North Face and Nike on marketing

    The North Face seems to have just peaked on its cultural moment in Korea. The North Face jackets are worn by all strata of society. Below is a Korean blog post that compares Its winter coats with different types of high school students as the brand has become so ubiquitous in South Korean school yards and on the backs of consumers during the winter months.

    The bottom of the blog post goes on to compare The North Face with the duffle coats worn by previous generation of school children in a mocking way.

    it is as much the winter uniform of the Korean salary man as his tie.

    The North Face sees itself as a technical brand rather than a true luxury brand, but the vast majority of its jackets don’t see the mountains and ski slopes for which they were originally designed. It has begun to treat itself as a premium brand with its purple label retro designs and different fabrics like Harris Tweed – currently exclusive to the Japanese market. But how can this be maintained if the brand becomes this overexposed?

    It is not a corner that it can easily get out of and technical innovation in the clothing design will be of limited use.

    North Face overexposure

    Part of the problem is the nature of Korean society itself which has a certain conformity to it. This means that once a trend picks up, it goes everywhere. But then because it goes everywhere it has a finite life. A small amount of tastemakers move on and the cycle begins again.

    The next winter jacket might be Canada Goose or Moncler.

    Contrast this with Nike: The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about how Nike and Footlocker maximised revenue from the Jordan franchise through careful timing of limited product releases. More marketing related posts here.

  • Gucci + more news

    Gucci

    Shenzhen sweatshop allegations force Gucci to act – FT.com – PR nightmare and management FAIL for Gucci. The Gucci story is unusual in that it affects service workers. Luxury in Asia requires a certain servility of service that I find uncomfortable and the Gucci story of long oppressive days for retail staff sounds emblematic of it. That its happening in the Gucci Shenzhen store doesn’t surprise me at all

    China

    China Favors Direct Investment to Create ‘New Blood’ in Europe – WSJ

    Maersk builds LatAm “reefer” factory | FT.com – because the cost of production is growing faster in China than Latin America

    Consumer behaviour

    What Wealthy Women Really Want – WSJ

    For Their Children, Many E-Book Fans Insist on Paper – NYTimes.com – the tactile arguments for toddlers are the same reason why I prefer print books

    Culture

    Alan Moore – meet the man behind the protest mask | The Observer – it was a nice literary tail for the Guardian to loop back with Alan Moore

    Paris Review – The Art of Fiction No. 211, William Gibson – interview with the cyber punk don

    Economics

    Housing prices fall in Chinese cities – FT.com – property developers and small businesses have been suffering

    Brussels warns on risk of UK double-dip – FT.com – UK economy stagnating and government’s deficit reduction strategy isn’t working according to a European Commission report – a deep and prolonged recession complemented by continued market turmoil cannot be excluded

    The way (not) to rein in the yen – FT.com – A more aggressive quantitative easing programme, targeting 10-year government bonds instead of shorter maturities, would contribute more decisively to ease the pressure on the exchange rate. More importantly, it would also stimulate the largely stagnant domestic economy (paywall)

    The Long Haul to Capitalizing on Web Trends – Digits – WSJ – According to comScore Inc., almost 62% of the ads shown on Facebook in the July through September quarter came from advertisers that are not among the top 1000 digital advertisers in the U.S.; on Yahoo Inc., just 23% come from such small advertisers. These sorts of Facebook advertisers range from nail salons marketing to people who live a particular town, to recruiters targeting employees at a specific company – going down the long tail due to targeting ability, not great on context like Google local search though

    Ideas

    Information: Be careful what you signal | The Economist

    Possibility Is Thrust of 100-Year Starship Study – NYTimes.com – in 10,000 years, the speed of humans has jumped by a factor of about 10,000, from a stroll (2.6 m.p.h.) to the Apollo astronauts’ return from the Moon (26,000 m.p.h.). Reaching the nearest stars in reasonable time — decades, not centuries — would require a velocity jump of another factor of 10,000

    Innovation

    Marubeni Launches 3D Printing Service — Tech-On! – interesting that it is aimed at making precision resin dies etc

    Japan

    Japan’s #1 Mascots: Kumamon, Bary-san, and Nishiko-kun | Japan Probe – Japan seems to have mascots for everything, kind of cool actually

    Japan Today | Toshiba to close three semiconductor plants

    Korea

    South Korea’s economy: What do you do when you reach the top? | The Economist – interesting economic profile on Korea

    Luxury

    Von Furstenberg to Chinese Women: Stop Chasing Men – WSJ

    The rise of quiet luxury: Understated chic that is very, very expensive. – Slate Magazine

    China’s Menswear Market (Quietly) Booming « Jing Daily

    Luxury’s anti-social (media) brigade | FT.com – variable adoption

    Brussels finally recognises luxury | FT.com

    Luxury Second-Hand Shops Spreading Like Wildfire In China | Jing Daily

    The moral of Dior’s numbers | FT.com – Galliano story didn’t affect Dior sales

    Media

    Secret documents reveal the flimsy case for Ofcom to give into BBC’s public TV DRM demands – Boing Boing

    Technology

    HP CEO: Apple will become market leader in personal computers | MacNews

    Wireless

    Nokia’s Microsoft Phones May Not Get Traction, Analyst Says – NYTimes.com – no USP, apart from a bucketload of advertising

  • Mr Pizza in Korea

    Pizza in Korea is a unique experience compared to other countries. Pizzas in Hong Kong were generally more premium and had more of a focus on sea food. Pizza in Korea was remarkably different:

    • Packaging – unlike the UK or most other countries I have been to for that matter, pizza can come in a four-colour patterned box. Part of the reason for this is cultural, Korea like Japan puts a lot of emphasis on presentation of products from product packaging design to the fit and finish of clothing. A second reason for the quality of the packaging is intense domestic competition: in addition to food mega-corporations Dominos Korea and similar brands also has its own giant brand: Mr Pizza with 350 branches in South Korea
    Mr. Pizza
    • Product – whilst UK pizzas follow US influences at the low end of the market and faux foodie Italian accents for ‘posh’ pizzas, Korean pizza options incorporate local foods including kimchi and bulgogi on the menu. This is especially true for this brand, though foreign brands like Pizza Hut try to adapt to local tastes too.

    About the company

    Mr. Pizza was founded in 1990. They have one branch in the US, one in Vietnam, 15 in China and some 350 branches in South Korea.

    They created a mockumentary  video The true origins of pizza as a satirical viral campaign to promote their brand, (presumably internationally). It considers the dish to be a Korean national treasure. However it did touch a nerve amongst other Asian countries as it’s similarity to Korean nationalist fringes meant that some of the film’s satire was lost to the audience.

    The company looked to further differentiate itself to eat-in diners by developing a new store format and sub-brand called MIPIHAUS. The concept of MIPIHAUS is to mix an art gallery environment with their restaurant. MIPI is a contraction of Mr. Pizza and the HAUS is a reference to the Bauhaus art movement.

  • London conference on cyberspace

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British Government has always had the best online presence of all the different government departments, but I still find it interesting that it is they rather than the department of media and culture who are looking to lead a discussion on the future of the web and associated technologies. The FCO are hosting a conference on cyberspace in London on November 1-2, 2011 and are extending it online through social media platforms. I can’t help but feel the dialogue is aimed as much within the UK as internationally.

    Of course, the ironic thing is that the UK isn’t at all progressive in terms of all things internet related compared to the likes of South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Iceland or Finland to name but a few countries. The Digital Economy Bill and actions done by the likes of Ed Vaizey have shown resistance rather than working out how it can benefit from the change. The music industry tried to fight the change and has torn itself apart so it will be interesting to see how that stance will work out. I look forward to following the conference on cyberspace; in cyberspace.

    Find out more here. More online related topics here.

  • Last For One vs Los Angeles Times

    The Los Angeles Times did a short film of Last For One who were made famous in the the documentary Planet B-Boy. The split screen style apes 1960s action film titles.

    The crew are impressive in their skills. In their dedication to the sport in spite of everything that Korea does to them. Top performing Korean athletes are exempted from national service. But the B-Boy crews have to do it, and aren’t allowed to train during their spare time in military service. Yet the government uses them to promote Korea to the world.

    Case in point is this short film from the Korean government’s ‘Dynamic Korea‘ campaign.

    The crew are poor kids from a poor part of Korea. Breakdancing is their release from societal pressure and Korea’s highly competitive job economy. Like breakers from other countries, it is a way of life from them

    B-boying is something that I cannot separate myself from. Because I exist, there is b-boy. Being a b-boy is an important existence to me.

    Last for One, World Champion b-boy crew

    It’s hard to describe in words but if I have to make a comparison its like the engine in a car. I cannot move without dancing

    Last for One, World Champion b-boy crew

    Once one feels the rhythm that’s when they start dancing. And when they start to follow the simple b-boying moves one-by-one then that’s when someone becomes a b-boy.

    Last for One, World Champion b-boy crew

    The video is on the YouTube service so may not be able to be watched everywhere. More Last For One footage here.

    What I find most interesting about crews like Last For One is that they have taken b-boying out of its original context. It originally came out of the urban decay of 1970s and 1980s New York and elevated it. They have reinterpreted it into something of their own. Yet much of the music they dance to would still sound right at home in a 1970s Bronx block party.

    More Korean related posts here.