Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Steelrails]

[atwood]

It's not just the copying the writer is warning about. It's that there's no room in the Korean marketplace for small and mid-size companies. This makes it harder to grow the economy-newer companies make more new hires--and puts all of Korea's eggs into one basket--Samsung's. That's a very risky proposition.

Samsung is as much a commodities producer than an electronics manufacturer. Memory chip prices swing greatly with demand.

As for Hyundai, they are still a bit behind the other auto manufacturers and sell mostly on price and perceived value. I drive a Hyundai but would take a Honda or a Nissan over it in a heartbeat if I were living in the U.S.

You may start seeing Korean companies buy more foreign concerns. STX, whoever that actually is, bought a foreign shipbuilder to get in on the cruise ship business. They bought the shipyards which produced the world's largest cruise ship.

Also, the FTA with Europe should force Korean companies to be more competitive. For one, pharmaceuticals are going to come under pressure from European drug manufacturers.

[radcon]

[komerican]

"Necessity is the mother of invention and copying"

Plato Komerican, 2011 (Seoul)

[Modernist]

It seems to me that Korean companies compete to a great extent on style. For Samsung, their technology is not quite as cutting-edge as Sony or Panasonic, but if you are looking at flat-screens, Samsung's are always leading the pack in terms of looks. They have been the ones slimming down monitor thickness and brightening the displays [now they are even getting close to eliminating the screen frame]. They seem excellent at evolving existing tech.

But rarely do they INVENT something totally new. They didn't start Blu-Ray, or LED screen tech, or haptic controls. Their R&D is focused on enhancing, not radical innovation like Apple often manages.

As for Hyundai, I would argue they have the most stylish line of any Asian carmaker. A Sonata is 10x more interesting and sleek than an Altima, let alone a Camry. The Japanese carmakers have gotten meek and risk-adverse in their body design. They are coasting on their reputations.

[fermentation]

This can be expanded into other realms of academics and science. For example, the ROK defense industry and the military are boasting how great their new K-9 SP artillery is or how great the K-21 and K-2 tank are going to be. While these are probably going to be great weapon systems on paper (since they'll most likely never be tested in combat), Korean develops on military science are just advances on already existing concepts and platforms. They're starting to make tanks and IFVs that are a bit better than the ones already operated by other countries. The korean propanda machine is already going on about how freaking awesome the Korean military is now. According to Korean military "experts" the K-9 is already the best SP artillery in the world, despite failing the only real test it has had in combat.

But the US defense industry and American military thinkers don't just stop at enhancing already existing weapons, they invent completely new concepts and ways of fighting. Almost every paper I've read on ROK military doctrine either explains concepts in American doctrine or explores ways to implement American doctrine into Korean operational thinking. Concepts like EBO and Design are American concepts and mentioned heavily in Korean doctine. The Koreans are boasting their new rifle that can fire airburst grenades? The US AF is developing guns that fire microwaves to heat up the moisture in people's skin! This is the difference between American military thinkers and Korean military thinkers (and the two cultures in general). In the realm of innovation and creativity, Korea is a step behind.

[NohopeSeriously]

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned about Samsung's involvement in the domestic auto industry with a help from Renault. A good chunk of profits made by Samsung is from selling cars around the Seoul Metropolitan Area.

[isisaredead]

[atwood]

[atwood]

[Konglishman]

Welcome back.

[Eedoryeong]

This is a problem generally characteristic throughout East Asia - China, Korea, Japan - isn't it? They've always been guilty of it in spades.

[carleverson]

[Steelrails]

[Chokse]

Actually, the numbers we use originated in India during the Gupta era, as did the decimal system. They are no longer called "Arabic Numerals." Instead, they are called either "Hindu Numerals", or "Hindu-Arabic Numerals."

Arab traders involved in the Indian Ocean trade network learned of the numbers while trading in India and brought the knowledge of them back to the Near East and Europe, which is how they got the misnomer "Arabic Numerals."

I don't think you should chastise someone about making a blunder when you have made an equally embarrassing blunder!