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. Overall, they agreed, South Korea has played the global IT game well thus far by concentrating on R&D, testing the viability of new technology in its sophisticated local market, and staying ahead of the efficiency curve while developing overseas markets. If Korea is to stay on top of the competition, however, they cautioned that the country must remain alert to the trends taking shape in communication technologies, consumer behavior and the IT industry itself. In this context, they alluded to several technologies that may become new media with the potential to transform the IT landscape, and underscored the importance of trying to predict the degree to which these new media will influence consumers and particularly their buying habits.

About the Speakers

Dr. Gihong Kim, President, CEO and Co-founder, Dari Networks, Inc., has over 30 years experience in executive management of communication system companies as well as with conception and development of network architectures, communications technologies and systems. He founded Dari Networks, a start-up company that develops and markets solutions for service providers to offer high-margin, value-added services to small and medium-size business customers via Internet in 2002 and Pivotech Systems 1998, where his vision of new network services and architecture was the foundation of the IntelligentEdge™ Solution. Prior to that, he was Vice-Chairman, Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of Integrated Network Corporation, which he nurtured to a $45M/year company and successfully sold part of it (the first ATM-DSLAM product line) to Cisco Systems. Prior to that, he was Department Head at AT&T Bell Laboratories where he managed systems and development organizations of over 40 Members of Technical Staffs.

Dr. Kim oversaw network architectural design for new data services and originated key technologies still in wide use today. He conceived and/or led the development of many technologies in the area of digital transmission/switching systems, including Digital Data Service (DDS), 5ESS digital switch, SONET and DSL that made the modern telecom network the way it is today. Especially, for the last two items, he originated the idea and initiated the projects. He has MS and PhD in EE from Illinois Institute of Technology, where he majored in communication, non-linear control and information theory. His specialty is in system engineering, application of emerging technologies for new products and innovation of existing products and network design for new services.

Allen H. Kupetz is the president of Kpartnerz, Inc. (www.kpartnerz.com) and an adjunct professor at the Crummer Graduate School of Business. He served as the telecommunications policy officer for the U.S. Embassy in Seoul from 1992-96. Mr. Kupetz is the author of more than two dozen articles on wireless technology and has spoken at international conferences in more than 15 countries on six continents. He has an MA in international relations from the University of Texas at Austin.

Sung Lee is the CEO and Managing Partner at The Research Associates (TRA). TRA is a privately held market research and management consulting firm with offices in New York City and Washington DC. TRA is recognized as a leading technology and policy research firm in the field of identity management and emerging media. He has provided management and technology consulting services to organizations such as Walt Disney, the Department of Defense, State of New York, Time Warner, LG and KTF to name a few.

Prior to TRA, Sung founded and led Walt Disney Attractions' new media marketing group where developed the new media vision and managed new media (such as interactive TV and mobile devices, and CRM) initiatives for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. As a Senior Strategist at Disney, he designed the "Strategic Framework" based on a customer centric marketing model and created "Market Expansion Model" by developing proprietary customer valuation metrics and CRM methodologies.

Prior to Walt Disney, Sung worked with LG Group, a multi-billion dollar Korean conglomerate as an internal consultant and a brand manager for its multi-media division. In addition, he worked on corporate strategy projects with McKinsey and change management/re-engineering projects with A.T. Kearney/EDS.

Sung received a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia Business School and his engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University.


Raymond Kang is a founder and CEO of Prodigy Venture, LLC, cross-border venture capital acceleration firm. His previous internet venture company includes eTonerExpress, Inc., B2B eCommerce Marketplace company. Prior to its M&A transaction in 2001, he also co-founded Deli-Togo.com in 1998.

Prior to getting involved with internet ventures, Raymond enjoyed a distinguished career as a marketing director for several prominent international marketing and advertising agencies for over 15 years. He has worked for such agencies as Ogilvy & Mather, Foote Cone Belding, Thomas G.Ferguson (division of WPP group), and BBD&O among many others. He has worked on such accounts as American Express, Duracell, IBM, Procter & Gamble and many more. Since opening his own Notorious Advertising Inc. in 1993, he has serviced recognizable national accounts such as The United States Postal Service, Apple Computer, Daewoo Group, AT&T, Parke Davis, and LG Industrial Systems.

Raymond is a chairman of INKE (Int'l Network of Korean Entrepreneurs) NY Chapter and one of the founding member of KASE-NY Chapter (Korean American Society of Entrepreneurs). He is also member of TriState Ventures, New York Software Industry Association (NYSIA), and partners of NASDAQ Stock Market, New York City EDC (Economic Development Corporation), New Jersey Commerce, New Jersey EDA (Economic Development Authority). He holds BA and master degree in Advertising and Marketing Communication at the University of Maryland and the BFA at State University of New York - FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology).