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Swampfox10mm
Joined: 24 Mar 2011
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 Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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Letters to be sent to Romney/Ryan and Obama/Biden.
Let's see if we can't make this FTA violation into a campaign issue. |
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Enigma
Joined: 20 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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First of all, I want to say that I in no way agree with what the Seoul City government is doing. I think it's utterly ridiculous that any level of government is trying to decide what days certain stores should be allowed to be open. And the way they're going about it is so blatantly protectionist it blows my mind.
But having said that, I've read a lot of posts on here that seem to suggest that this is something that would only happen in Korea. If you're from the US or Canada (I'm Canadian), and you believe this, you're deluding yourself.
As just one example, there probably hasn't been a year go by in a long time where national, state/provincial or local governments haven't been throwing hundreds of millions and often billions of dollars (often in the form of �loans�) at the Big 3 automakers because they're uncompetitive and horribly run. At least one poster above made the comment that Costco is more competitive than the big Korean department stores. Well this is essentially the same thing. Korean, Japanese and German companies tend to make more desirable cars than the Big 3, but rather than let them determine their own destiny, North American governments would rather prop the Big 3 up indefinitely. They are choosing to favour local companies at the expense of foreign ones.
Government should NEVER be in the business of choosing winners and losers. Every time they do, it's the consumers/taxpayers who get hurt. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Kind of reminds me of the old no-Sunday shopping laws in Canada. I think Ontario was one of the last province to get rid of that asinine law, in the early-90's too. |
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StudentInKorea
Joined: 29 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Enigma wrote: |
But having said that, I've read a lot of posts on here that seem to suggest that this is something that would only happen in Korea. If you're from the US or Canada (I'm Canadian), and you believe this, you're deluding yourself. |
An even closer comparison would be when Lidl tried to open large discount stores in Norway. The politician resisted strongly and wouldn't allow them to build supermarkets in any viable locations. Here is a short article about it, but you can find a lot more if you just google "Lidl Norway": http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2008/03/14/Lidl-to-leave-Norway-after-four-years/UPI-59971205522760/
I do not in any way try to defend what is being done to Costco at the moment. Just trying to mention that it is not a unique situation. Even though I don't really like Lidl products, I wish they had gotten a fair treatment as well. |
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goreality
Joined: 09 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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It's going to be very hard for them to justify a random raid on a company they are currently giving large fines to, it seems like retaliation. They should have to demonstrate that they do random raids to every other large store, instead of just walking in grabbing a check doing some free shopping and leaving like normal.
I think the small shops and traditional markets that these laws originally intended to protect would miserably fail a raid aimed at adherence to safety and health.
I hope the FTA is enforced and Koreans see the reality of doing fair business with the rest of the world, it will be important for their future of development. They can only go so far with the one foot in one foot out approach. |
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alongway
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| Kind of reminds me of the old no-Sunday shopping laws in Canada. I think Ontario was one of the last province to get rid of that asinine law, in the early-90's too. |
Nova Scotia had it until 2006, PEI until 2010, and several provinces, while permitting it, regulate it heavily allowing only shortened opening hours.
You can get a breakdown here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_shopping
Most places though haven't enacted sunday shopping to prop up small businesses. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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| goreality wrote: |
I hope the FTA is enforced and Koreans see the reality of doing fair business with the rest of the world, it will be important for their future of development. They can only go so far with the one foot in one foot out approach. |
Dude, Korea has been doing business with the rest of the world since the 60s and the rest of the world has been doing business with Korea. I think people are pretty aware of the 'reality'. What's next, the ubiquitous posts about how the world is "catching on" to what goes on in Korea?
Sorry, but billion dollar companies are not like NETs, they don't just wander over to another country and cluelessly go about things without doing their homework. They may get things wrong from time to time, but they aren't completely haphazard. And they aren't naive to the fact that to get stuff done in certain countries you may have to deal with things being different than back home. |
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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Enigma wrote: |
First of all, I want to say that I in no way agree with what the Seoul City government is doing. I think it's utterly ridiculous that any level of government is trying to decide what days certain stores should be allowed to be open. And the way they're going about it is so blatantly protectionist it blows my mind.
But having said that, I've read a lot of posts on here that seem to suggest that this is something that would only happen in Korea. If you're from the US or Canada (I'm Canadian), and you believe this, you're deluding yourself.
As just one example, there probably hasn't been a year go by in a long time where national, state/provincial or local governments haven't been throwing hundreds of millions and often billions of dollars (often in the form of �loans�) at the Big 3 automakers because they're uncompetitive and horribly run. At least one poster above made the comment that Costco is more competitive than the big Korean department stores. Well this is essentially the same thing. Korean, Japanese and German companies tend to make more desirable cars than the Big 3, but rather than let them determine their own destiny, North American governments would rather prop the Big 3 up indefinitely. They are choosing to favour local companies at the expense of foreign ones.
Government should NEVER be in the business of choosing winners and losers. Every time they do, it's the consumers/taxpayers who get hurt. |
So, what you're saying is that you believe that Costco is perceived to be a market threat by large Korean companies like Lotte, E-Mart, and Homeplus and the Seoul government is "declaring war" on Costco to protect them? That could be what's happening. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:02 am Post subject: |
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| alongway wrote: |
| jvalmer wrote: |
| Kind of reminds me of the old no-Sunday shopping laws in Canada. I think Ontario was one of the last province to get rid of that asinine law, in the early-90's too. |
Nova Scotia had it until 2006, PEI until 2010, and several provinces, while permitting it, regulate it heavily allowing only shortened opening hours.
You can get a breakdown here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_shopping
Most places though haven't enacted sunday shopping to prop up small businesses. |
That's a very important distinction. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:05 am Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| goreality wrote: |
I hope the FTA is enforced and Koreans see the reality of doing fair business with the rest of the world, it will be important for their future of development. They can only go so far with the one foot in one foot out approach. |
Dude, Korea has been doing business with the rest of the world since the 60s and the rest of the world has been doing business with Korea. I think people are pretty aware of the 'reality'. What's next, the ubiquitous posts about how the world is "catching on" to what goes on in Korea?
Sorry, but billion dollar companies are not like NETs, they don't just wander over to another country and cluelessly go about things without doing their homework. They may get things wrong from time to time, but they aren't completely haphazard. And they aren't naive to the fact that to get stuff done in certain countries you may have to deal with things being different than back home. |
How about Lone Star?
And don't forget one reason Korean stocks trade at a discount is due to the way Korea does business with the rest of the world. |
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ewlandon
Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Location: teacher
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 2:30 am Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| goreality wrote: |
I hope the FTA is enforced and Koreans see the reality of doing fair business with the rest of the world, it will be important for their future of development. They can only go so far with the one foot in one foot out approach. |
Dude, Korea has been doing business with the rest of the world since the 60s and the rest of the world has been doing business with Korea. I think people are pretty aware of the 'reality'. What's next, the ubiquitous posts about how the world is "catching on" to what goes on in Korea?
Sorry, but billion dollar companies are not like NETs, they don't just wander over to another country and cluelessly go about things without doing their homework. They may get things wrong from time to time, but they aren't completely haphazard. And they aren't naive to the fact that to get stuff done in certain countries you may have to deal with things being different than back home. |
sure they do. They do research but they are pretty aimless in the ventures sometimes. See the recent launch of Hollister in Seoul?
Billion dollar companies can open a single store in a new country and see if it succeeds without much risk. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| atwood wrote: |
| And don't forget one reason Korean stocks trade at a discount is due to the way Korea does business with the rest of the world. |
I'd say mostly due to the North Korea factor. Almost any news out of the Korean peninsula involves North Korea. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 6:50 am Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| atwood wrote: |
| And don't forget one reason Korean stocks trade at a discount is due to the way Korea does business with the rest of the world. |
I'd say mostly due to the North Korea factor. Almost any news out of the Korean peninsula involves North Korea. |
The lack of transparency and corporate governance are major factors. The market can't price in what it doesn't know, |
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KimchiNinja
Joined: 01 May 2012
Location: Gangnam
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="Stan Rogers"]
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| Do you work for Costco? |
Indeed, most of you guys sound like a bunch of Costco fan-boys.
I don't like Costco, so I think it's awesome. |
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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="KimchiNinja"]
| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Do you work for Costco? |
Indeed, most of you guys sound like a bunch of Costco fan-boys.
I don't like Costco, so I think it's awesome. |
I have saved money from shopping at Costco and I'm willing to bet you would, too, if you are a smart shopper who knows good deals. Are you a smart shopper? |
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