Korean Job Discussion Forums

[charlieDD]

Been in NYC for a couple of weeks, staying in Manhattan. Get a chance to compare prices between what is considered America's most expensive place to live and those of Korea.

Here's an easy one: Went to an Outback in midtown Manhattan, near the Museum of Modern Art. Got a 14 oz (that's about 400 grams) NY strip for $23; it came with a salad, two sides, a cup of soup and a cola. In Korea, you pay KRW 28,000 (about $30) for a 250-gram NY Strip (approximately; can't recall exactly), that comes with salad and one side.

Went upstate last week to Syracuse area. Had the same New York strip steak (with sides, cola and salad) for just $18. (And you'll note that in Korea, the price is the same no matter if you are in Seoul or in some smaller town, like Daegu or Daejon.)

That works out to:

New York City --> $5.75 per 100 grams

Outside New York City in the U.S. --> $4.50 per 100 grams

In Seoul and other cities in Seoul --> $12.00 per 100 grams

Using the 250-gram steak you get in Seoul as the calculating basis, we can figure, if 250 grams were the size of the steak served in Outback Steakhouses in the United States (which it's not; it's a 400 gram steak), the cost for a 250-gram New York strip steak at Outback to be:

in NYC: $14.38

Outside NYC in the U.S. smaller cities: $11.25

in Seoul and other Korean cities: $30.00

So, the price of the same steak served in Korea is twice the price of the same steak sold at an Outback in NYC and nearly three times the price of the same steak served at an Outback served in an average American city.

The price of the same steak sold at Outback in Korea is about $15 more than it is in NYC and about $20 more than it is in an average American city.

Another way to look at it, the premium for having a 250-gram New York strip at Outback in NYC is about $3 over having it in a smaller U.S. city. The premium for having the same steak in Korea over having it a smaller town in the U.S. is $19.75.

That's about $15 more in Seoul than in NYC. And about a $20 premium you have to pay for the same steak at an Outback served in Korea versus having it in an average city in the U.S.

Now, you can argue that the steaks served in Seoul are imported from Australia. Well, . . let's think about why they are imported from Australia and not just gotten from the Korean market: because the Korean steaks would cost almost twice as much to serve as the Australian steaks.

**
While on it: Found an organic spaghetti sauce that sells for KRW17,000 in Seoul upper-end supermarkets . . . for just $3.99 in several Manhattan organic supermarkets. Other examples abound.

Found a Samsung camera selling in Seoul for about KRW280,000 selling here for just $179. *** Went to a T-Mobile shop and picked up a basic Samsung cellphone, brand new, for $20 -- paid $30 for the SIM card and 150 minutes; no longterm contract as it was made clear I would be here only for a month or so.

** By the way, an interesting factoid, the size of the metropolitan NYC economy is about the same as the whole of Korea's economy: about $850 billion.

[lastat06513]

No comparison

[JJK1]

Good job

[jhaelin]

oh man i miss the porterhouse at this local diner in the bronx, which was only $15.
the mashed potatoes were so buttery and the veggies not oversteamed.

your post is evil, why did you have to remind me.