Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cdninkorea]

We all know the economy is not doing well right now- some Americans have apparently even started calling it "the Great Recession," and Korea isn't doing much better; the economy has shrunk how much? 6%?

I wasn't here in '98 for the economic crisis, but I know quite a few people on this board were. Are there any parallels? Any clues on what to brace ourselves for?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I gather that the 'IMF' crises was a lot more sudden. Also, it didn't coincide with rapidly increasing unemployment in the US and other English speaking countries. I think that's why we're not seeing a more sudden flight of people.

[roadwork]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Flight out (of Korea) in '98.

[roadwork]

Yeah, I think most people here consider themselves in a pretty safe situation. I've seen a lot of teachers coming in from South Africa lately. Must be pretty shitty there right now.

[Unposter]

Actually, the coming problems and weaknesses associated with the Asian Economic Crisis of '97 were widely publicized and discussed. Anyone with access to an Economist knew it was coming. But, it appeared that the Korean government (Kim Youngsam) just did not believe it would have had as large an impact as it eventually did.

It was started by countries such as Thailand (maybe Indonesia too - Ican't remember) defaulting on loans. This set up a dominoes effect where other countries such as Korea were asked to repay loans quicker than expected, which Korea was totally unprepared to pay, to mostly Japanese and some U.S. and European banks who needed cash due to the Thai default.

The IMF came in and told Korea it had to keep more U.S. currency on reserve for just such emergencies. The U.S. helped South Korea re-negotiate their loans and South Korea was able to pay back their IMF loan in record time (most of been less than a year). Still, it took about four years and the 2002 World Cup for the Won to regain its strength. It still never recovered to the 800 won to the dollar range it was selling at pre-97 Economic Crisis.

The current economic crisis (world wide panic -whatever you want to call it) is a completely different animal. Here South Korea is more of a victim. As the U.S., Europe and even China tighten their belts, the global economy is going into a stand still. It is not just Korea but countries such as Singapore and Dubai have also been hit hard, actually much worse than South Korea, but these two countries have more resources and were more prepared for the slow down. I read that the Singapore economy might shrink 10% in 2009, much worse than South Korea. What these countries all have in common is that they are exporters and global trade hubs.

Right now, the South Korean economy is being slammed by dropping demand for goods and an extensive pull back of international investment. The two are dragging down the Korean economy and its currency. The hardest part is there is little the South Korean government can do to revive their economy. All they can do is help Korean companies and citizens wait out the global downturn.

Korea has grown quite rich due to global trade and now they are losing their wealth as global trade has snapped.

The real doomsday scenario is the one that happened in the 1930s. The Great Depression lead to increased nationalism and protectionism which significantly slowed international trade, slowing economic recovery and leading to the military conflict named World War II.

We are already seeing increased nationalism and calls for protectionism in the U.S. and in Europe. We could once again be going down this slippery slope. I certainly hope not. But we all know that troubled economic times can lead to military conflict.

Let's see if Obama can navigate these waters well.

[Otherside]

[Robot_Teacher]

Since it's like 1998, soon we'll be partying like it's 1999! Let's get retro! I guess we're seeing something even bigger than the IMF of 10 years ago which is a real stinkeroo. The thing so different about this decade is we didn't have a job market boom like the 1990's dot com boom and all those IT ops for young dudes to make good money. I suppose the ESL job market boomed and is still going strong, but not much lucrative ops paying $1000+ a week. Well, the older real estate and banker fat cats cashed in big back in 2002 to 2005 with refinances/equity loans using hundreds of $8/hour telemarketers to sell the idea, gather sensitive data, and process said data. I telemarted from 2002 to 2004 and then when I earned my business degree, I get the real job in a brokerage house in early 2006 just when the boom was over. Struck out, took too long to get in. Bad timing!

Back in 99' upon getting out of the Army, I had a high paying job with only a 2 year degree in a matter of just a few weeks in IT paying $600 to $1200 a week (generous bonuses for data) at a time living costed only half or a third of today, new Nissan truck, motels, and all the food and gas I needed, but late 2001 spelled the end to my 1st chance at a high paying career I thought would pan out to be an upward ladder climbing adventure that would eventually include my own little red corvette, land with a lake, big bank accounts, and high flying trips. Boy did I expect the world of money in this lifetime and was dead wrong, but I was raised to believe we were going to fly high as the moon through continueing education, climbing a career ladder, and use of new technologies.

Back in 1999/2000, it was cool knocking back cold ones and wings at Hooters with my buddies after work. We all worked alone on our computers, but would meet up in the evenings and party like 1999 we did. 1999 was fun!!! It was fun how the boss man would take us out and spend lots of money on us as the fat bonuses and profits were rolling in so lucratively off mine and 5 other guys work. This is when I got my first shiny cell phone and notebook computer. They rewarded us well, but we didn't get unemployment when we were let go since we were independent subcontactors.

I'd say this decade was lackluster and is going out with a thud of a dud.