Optimism filled the last open spaces in the room-crowded as it was with CEOs, consultants and portfolio managers-as Ahn Sang-Soo, the mayor of Incheon, reported on the promise and progress of Incheon's Free Economic Zone. The zone consists of three new cities, in various stages of development, on Incheon's periphery-each specially built to become the center of a target industry. The most ambitious is New Songdo City, a project that is being spearheaded by The Gale Company.

President Roh Moo-hyun has made it his goal to reach $20,000 per capita GDP. South Korean stock market expert and CEO of International Investment Advisors Henry Seggerman thinks this goal can be achieved, but only if South Korean policymakers do some serious restructuring. South Korea's economy has been on a steady course since it emerged from the '97 Asian financial crisis, he said, but the threat of stagnation remains real and is growing every day. A punishing regime of overregulation has come along with the country's master-planned economic success.

An expert panel made up of business executives and consultants versed in the technology industry was convened for an afternoon forum devoted to a comprehensive assessment of South Korea's ability to retain its role as a global IT leader. The presenters were: Gihong Kim, president and CEO, Dari Networks, Inc.; Allen H. Kupetz, president, Kpartnerz, Inc.; Sung Lee, CEO and managing partner, The Research Associates; and Raymond Kang, CEO and founder, Prodigy Venture, LLC. In their remarks, all of the panelists stressed that telecommunications and the broader IT industry will continue to drive economic growth and technical innovation in South Korea.

This panel discussion examined South Korea's economic and security policies from a variety of perspectives; including the domestic and external economic and security factors that South Korea must take into account in order to achieve its goals of long-term economic growth, security and regional integration. The panelists were: Yong Soon Yim, dean of the Graduate School, Sungkyunkwan University; David C. Kang, associate professor of government, Dartmouth College; Joseph A.B. Winder, then president of the Korea Economic Institute; Thomas J. Byrne, vice president and senior credit officer, Moody's Financial Institutions and Sovereign Risk Group; and David Rocks, senior news editor-Asia, Business Week.