 From 18th Century Britain to 20th Century South Korea
with
Ha-Joon Chang
Professor of economics, University of Cambridge
Author, Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Over the last two and half decades, most developing countries have experienced slowing growth, rising inequality and greater economic instability. Ha-Joon Chang attributes these problems to a raft of policies—such as privatization, free trade and strong intellectual property protection—imposed on the developing world in bad faith by developed countries and the international organizations they control.
Chang believes the historical experience of developed countries, and those like South Korea that have gone from developing to developed status in recent decades, reveals the ineffectiveness of these macroeconomic policies. What the world economy really needs, he contends, is a new economic system that prioritizes long-term productivity.
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 with
Lee Tae-sik
Ambassador to the United States
Republic of Korea
Thursday, November 29, 2007
The relationship between the Republic of Korea and the United States, forged in the middle of the 20th century, has grown from a classic client state-superpower alliance to a broad political and economic partnership based on shared values. Now, as the 21st century dawns, the two countries are preparing to transform their ties further by putting a landmark free trade agreement in place.
Ambassador Lee Tae-sik, the Republic of Korea’s top diplomat in the United States, will talk about how the new dynamics the free trade deal will bring to the ROK–U.S. relationship at The Korea Society on November 29.
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 Korea's Capital Markets Consolidation Act
with
Kun Ho Hwang
Chairman, Korea Securities Dealers Association
Friday, October 19, 2007
The Korean government has worked in recent years to establish Korea as a regional financial hub by boosting the country’s still nascent capital markets. In response to the ongoing changes in the global financial environment, the Korean government and the securities industry have promoted deregulation as a tool to drive the growth of the financial industry. The most notable and recent legislation is the Capital Markets Consolidation Act (CMCA). The Act was drafted with significant input from the Korea Securities Dealers’ Association (KSDA), and was passed by Korea’s National Assembly this past July. It will take effect in February of 2009. Its objective is to deregulate Korea’s capital markets, causing a “Big Bang” in the financial sector. According to Kun Ho Hwang, chairman of the Korea Securities Dealers Association, the Act will allow for the formation of a globally competitive investment banking industry. This will enable Korean financial firms to achieve the economies of scope needed to operate on the level of leading global investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Hwang will brief The Korea Society on the Act’s provisions and impact on the Korean financial services sector and capital markets.
Supporting Organization 
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 with
Dae Ryun Chung
Professor of Marketing, Yonsei University
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Koreans take great pride in their country’s ethnic homogeneity and are deeply influenced by Confucian values that stress group identity and social harmony. Seem like a sociology lesson? Actually, these facts should be just as important to branding and marketing executives as they are to social scientists says Dae Ryun Chung, professor of marketing at Yonsei University in Seoul. And they’re the reason why Korean consumers make purchases based on their attitudes towards individual and group identities, Chung continued. To succeed in the Korean market, marketers need to understand Koreans’ distinctive “We/Me” consumer paradigm.
In the United States, Chung said, mass-market consumer products tend to gain and decline in popularity along a broad, gentle curve. American consumers buy products they feel fit their individual identity. Thus, they’re more cautious about adopting a product or brand, but when they do, their loyalty is persistent.
In Korea, product lifecycles are much quicker. A new product or brand’s sales will explode but often decline just as precipitously. Individual Korean consumers pick their goods, at least partly, in order to conform to group patterns. When they buy Mercedes, they all buy Mercedes. When they switch to Lexus, they all switch. As a result, Korea has fewer niche markets than the United States, and it can be harder to forecast which products the group will adopt next.
To Americans, conformity feels suffocating. American consumers seek out products and brands that will differentiate them. But to Korean consumers, Chung explained, following dominant trends can be a satisfying affirmation of collective identity. That’s why the majority of luxury cars sold in Korea are black, why so many Korean apartment blocks are made from the same blueprints and why fewer than a half-dozen movies make up more than 90-percent of the Korean box-office take.
At the same time, Chung warned against treating Korean consumers as automatons. Some purchase decisions are more influenced by group dynamics than others. For example, Koreans tend to buy housing, cars, entertainment and liquor in order to confirm their identity as Koreans. Alternately, Koreans tend to buy goods like beer, coffee and hair coloring in order to express their individual identities. If foreign marketers can create a message that balances Koreans’ impulses towards “we” and “me” they may just reap huge rewards.
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