Too proud to fail? Not so simple.

Very distressing portrait of start-up Korea in Friday's Korea Joongang Daily (see "Entrepreneurial students learn all the wrong lessons"): not only Koreans are less adventurous than the Chinese or the Japanese when it comes to start a business, but the few who are considering it are dissuaded from taking the plunge* by the very teachers who should be encouraging entrepreneurship!

The article follows a survey by the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity (not on KOFAC's website yet - kofac.re.kr) comparing 3 nations among which China appears to be the daredevil (start-ups are almost perceived as a sure bet that brings wealth and can't fail, 61.6% see entrepreneurship as a dream job).

Why don't Koreans take the plunge, then?

• Certainly not because they doubt in their own abilities: for only 9.8%, that's first because they think they're not capable, compared to one quarter of the Chinese and the Japanese (from the start, Koreans don't think that entrepreneurship is reserved to extraordinary people: 25.1% vs JPN 34.5%, CHN 53.6%). 
• Furthermore, getting financial support is much less the key issue here (10% of the cases) than there (17.6% in JAP and 30.2% in CHN).
• Simply put, the fear of failure is overwhelming: 40.1% pick "start-ups fail so easily" as the first reason why they don't take the risk (JPN 23.5%, CHN 13.8%), and an additional 10.7% tick "look at those people who already failed" (only 2.6% in JPN, 0.8% in CHN)

This contrast between personal confidence and public shame is telling, and I wonder - the survey wouldn't tell - what part of this mental block is linked to the sad reality of a Korean SME ecosystem choked by chaebol that seldom allow small fishes to grow in their ponds (not to mention franchisors that abuse individuals desperate to make a living - see "500 m, 80%, 100% urban crappuccino").

No, I won't replay my usual tunes today, but this point wasn't raised in an article more focused on the failures of the education system.

"Failure", again. The big FAIL that make you lose faith for fear of losing face.

Of course, we're all used to "failure the key to success" mantras, and we all know that the sweetest success stories and breakthroughs find their roots in bitter defeats. Heck, try convincing a serious Silicon Valley V.C. without a few scarred figures in your team...

I'm not an entrepreneur, but as a conceptor, I enjoy the early stages of businesses and ecosystems, and I survived three start-ups in the early nineties before joining a much bigger one (backed with billions), where my old "scars" came in handy. I'd love to believe that I would also have "taken the plunge" back then, had I been in Korea instead of Europe... but I'm not so sure.

Yes, startups do exist in Korea. Yes, the money and V.C.s are there. Yes, governments are trying to boost entrepreneurship, and they keep talking about forcing chaebol to reduce their overwhelming control of most ecosystems, but they never go all the way. 

All that would-be entrepreneurs need is to see more positive signs, to believe in the system that fails them. They don't expect guarantees of success (they know risks are necessarily involved), but a minimum guarantee of fairness, the hope that they will be given a chance to have their shot at opportunities that do exist, but are usually monopolized by pervasive players.

Again**, Korea cannot sustain leadership without reforming its education system and its SME ecosystem.

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* to echo the advice of YouTube founder Steve CHEN at "Asian Leadership Conference 2013" ("measure your risks, but if you want to go far, you have to take the plunge; opportunities never last long").
** see among others a wishful "The end of the Korean model?" (later published by Korea JoongAng Daily as "Is 2011 the first year of a real Korean model?").

Sudogwon New Town Blues

I've not always been kind to Korean New Towns in general, and to doomed "greenfield" projects in the Incheon - Gyeonggi area in particular (see for instance "From urban mirages to urban decay", or "Wet eyes for wetlands and urban mirages"*), but today Korea JoongAng Daily didn't mince their words in this title: "Collapse of Incheon new town is end of era" (Korea JoongAng Daily 20130308).

The article was triggered by a decision from the Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs to strip part of Geomdan New Town from its New Town status, consequently allowing residents to follow new projects of their own. The journalist mentions other new towns struggling in the capital region (a.k.a Sudogwon = Seoul + Incheon + Gyeonggi-do): new ones - such as in Dongtan or Paju - as well as old darlings - Yongin and Bundang lost 22 and 25% of their value over the past 5 years.

The 10 projects listed in the article** are expected to deliver 613,000 apartments for 1.6 million people between 2001 and 2020. I think most dwellings have already been completed, but they only represent a portion of all Sudogwon new towns - the ones with national government support (for instance not a single one in Seoul, not Incheon's Songdo and Cheongna, not Gyeonggi-do's Namyangju and co...). And of course there's the competition from yet other new towns: property value in Sejong City jumped by almost 22% last year, compared to a disappointing 2.18% for Sudogwon, and net migration into Sudogwon nosedived from 209,000 people in 2002 to 8,000 in 2012. And of course, new towns themselves represent only a portion of all urban developments***.

By 2020, the population of Seoul Capital Area is expected to be the same as it is today, about 25.5 million souls. Of course, household structures do evolve, and change in North Korea could radically modify the equation, but again, you can't beat demographics, and this is a non-zero-sum game: even if, by miracle, all these New Towns were to succeed, some Older Towns would necessarily fail.

And again, this is "the end of an era, but not yet the end of the real estate dream"*. The "apateu = guaranteed jackpot" illusion is not completely dead, and new mirages keep popping up.

From the start, Geomdan New Town was not the sexiest project. And even downsized, it will struggle next to Gimpo New Town, a huge bed town recently delivered, and not very far from Magok District (see "Magok District: SIM City as in "Seoul Intra Muros"? Alleyways as in "Seoul Inter Muros"?"). Something's gotta give between all the residential projects, but also between their industrial sidekicks (over 2.2 M square meters for the new and improved Incheon Geomdan General Industrial Complex). Geomdan's New Town status was granted in October 2006, at the peak of the bubble, and many projects have been reconsidered in the years that followed, but I don't remember seing any strategic vision laid out regarding the big picture following the big collapse. Only more denial, and new non-vital projects specially designed to help friendly constructors keep busy and afloat.

Today's KJD article

At a time when financial products propose yields barely superior to inflation rates, Sejong City's +22% could sound sexy, but this project was a walking dead not so long ago, and remains subject to political hiccups. Furthermore, Sejong City demonstrated once more the limits of urban planning in Korean new towns: after lobbying against a KTX station that would have allowed many civil servants to commute to Seoul instead of settling down in the new adminstrative center, authorities are now complaining about the lack of connections with the capital.

Nothing new under the sun: I was flabbergasted to learn that the subway between the future Incheon International Airport and Seoul would be on purpose delayed until years after ICN's inauguration, just to spare cab drivers. And outraged to see how Pangyo had been designed against all elementary rules of urbanism****. I once discussed with Seoul urban planners about the need to take into account all the impacts of a new town (for instance on traffic) from the earliest stages of the conception of a project, instead of trying to catch up and fix things after the delivery, and they said it would be nice if directions could work together to make that happen... When they do exist, impact studies are seldom comprehensive, which shouldn't come as a surprise when structural decisions regarding pharaonic projects can be made and unmade on impulse, ahead of a last minute press conference.

Yesterday, George W. Bush was invited for a few hours in Seoul to boost some real estate project. One could have expected a more relevant anti-real-estate-bubble lucky charm for Korea.

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* I didn't spare Seoul new towns either, including in my 2011 essay "Inhuman, all too human Seoul":
One megapolis, a hundred villages, a thousand faces
1)The industry of a dream - the ideal city
- Industrial revolution of housing: from the virtuous cycle to the bubble
- From mass market products to fashion and services, from utopia to dystopia
2) Humans in transit
- Communities and shared spaces
- Life and survival of Seoul villages
3) The Ideal City 2.0 and new utopias
- The end of an era, but not yet the end of the real estate dream
- From "hard city" to "soft city"
- From New Town to Human Town, villages are back in favour
Conclusion

** Geomdan, Gimpo Hangang, Dongtan 1, Dongtan 2, Pyeongtaek Godeok, Gwanggyo, Pangyo, Wirye, Yangju, Paju Unjeong

*** Sign of the times: today, in the paper, there was a leaflet for an apartment block from the "premium" brand everybody fought for just years ago. Now the sales pitch highlights the fact that the price tag is KRW 250 M below that of the neighborhood, and there's even a coupon to claim a gift if you visit the model house...

**** see "Pangyo from scratch to crash". Note that even if Pangyo New Town is becoming a laughingstock for urbanists, wealthy investors keep purchasing land around it to build their private mansions, the latest fad for a flock that previously migrated from Hannam-dong to Apgujeong-dong to Bundang. They'll probably join the lobby pushing for a new airport East of Seoul, the perfect vehicle to boost land value back to pre-bubble levels in a distressed area.

Saving Korean cinema... and even Chaebolplex

Evolution doesn’t teach us that only the fittest survive, but that even the strongest can’t survive when diversity is threatened, and that inbreeding is by no means a way out of extinction.

Last September, I stated my worries about cultural content diversity in Korea, particularly in a movie / broadcasting ecosystem dominated by chaebols ("Korean culture or Hallyu, Cultural contents or discontents"). And this morning, Korea JoongAng Daily published a focus on how 'Conglomerates direct Korea's film industry', which ended in similar calls for quotas supporting independent movies.

Data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) confirm the trend, the Korean market has become an oligopoly that all but banned independent movies from their multiplexes:

• In September 2012, the Big 4 claimed 93.1% of the distribution: 28.3% for Showbox Mediaplex (Orion Corporation), 24.2% for CJ EM, 21.0% for Next Entertainment World (the Twilight saga), and 19.6% for Lotte Entertainment
• Between 2008 and 2011, the top 3 CGV (CJ EM), Lotte Cinema, and Megabox (Jcontentree - JoongAng Group) raised their share of screenings from 62.2% to 86.7%. 
• 2 years ago, multiplexes devoted between 6.5 and 9% of their screenings to indie movies, and now they don't let them even reach 2% (of course never on prime time or prime locations):

Even KIM Ki-duk's award winning "Pieta" didn't get the exposure it deserved in multiplexes, in spite of excellent occupancy rates. And the victims are not only local indie productions: even international critic's darlings can’t make it there.

Yes, 2012 is a record year for Korean movies, and for the first time, the 100 M views barrier has been smashed. And of course the winners are well marketed, deja-vu blockbusters: 'The Thieves' (Showbox), 'Masquerade' (CJ EM), and 'A Werewolf Boy' (CJ EM), respectively a Gangnam Style 'Ocean's Eleven', a Joseon-times 'Dave', and a more elaborate 'Nell'-'Wolf' bibim. Needless to say, the government is not considering any regulation to tame what I call "chaebolplexes": the "Pieta Law" mentioned in the article sounds like charity for art-house theaters, and absolution for big complexes.

The big fishes think they're protecting themselves. As if an indie success could threaten them, or alter the overpowering image they project to their audiences. I'm using the plural, because these guys target not only movie goers, but also the developers who consider a multiplex to sex up their latest project (build a multiplex and they will come - Who? Why, the S.P.A.s and family restaurants those investors couldn't convince to sign for their mall, of course).

Make no mistake: the recent boom in multiplexes is not just about conglomerates claiming the lion's share of Korean cinema after noticing the first national blockbusters at the turn of the millenium - you're in Korea, it's the real estate, stupid!

And just like with coffee franchises*, you don't always consider supply & demand issues before opening shop. Except the entry ticket is much higher, and operators have to know a thing or two about yield management. And they'd better know where they're going when they multiply the number of big screens at the very moment movies get available anywhere anywhen anytime.

At the "hardware" level, they want to make the moviegoer's experience special: even your latest home entertainment system can't propose you a full "4D theater" experience, and even your comfiest la-z-boy can't beat the new "lounge" reclining seats (better than first class travel, twice the normal fee). But Starbucks learned the hard way that offering free wifi everywhere didn't mean anything if they forgot their core business: offering good coffee.
 
Korean operators are the only ones in the World who seem to believe the multiplex concept can survive without content diversity. It's exactly like operating a hypermarket and referencing only 4-5 items: that's not only bad business and terrible risk management, but also the very negation of your customer and your own future. You can't at the same build more theaters and reject diversity, get viewers addicted to blockbusters and expect high occupancy rates in the future. You think you're driving generations to your theaters, but you're killing the golden goose. You think you're building a market, but you're milking it at all levels without any vision whatsoever. And if you think you can guarantee diversity all by yourself, even by betting on your closed circle of fellow majors, you should know it simply doesn't work, particularly not in this country.
 
The inability to operate even partially open systems is a key factor of failure for Korean chaebols. Look how SK Telecom lost its global leadership in innovation in the early naughties when it sticked to a doomed ambition of controling the whole value chain instead of evolving and nurturing a more open and sustainable ecosystem. Look how Samsung lags behind in soft power and value aggregation beyond in-house solutions. Look how the Korean government struggled when it came to bringing together conglomerates and small players in the innovation process that could guarantee Korea some competitivity in the future. Look at those innovative start-ups wilt as soon as they're absorbed by organizations unfit for the new millenium. And look at those absurd award nights, when, every year, each major TV channel distributes glitzy prizes among its own drama shows in a parody of competition.

So yes, regulations are needed, and yes, truly independent movies (i.e. not from your usual masqueraded subsidiary or outsourced slave) must be given fair chances in multiplexes, including on prime time and in prime locations. Just like broadcasters must nurture the indie ecosystem. It will spur creativity and competitivity across the whole industry, help it source new talents, reach new viewers, and anticipate evolutions. Majors cannot achieve sustainability and international competitivity without it.

But the real change must also come from the chaebol themselves, and I'm sure that, in each of their top strategy teams, you can find at least one person who's perfectly aware of the fact that they can't postpone the cultural revolution anymore.

The first one to open up will be the true leader.

 
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* see "Brews and bruises" followed by "500 m, 80%, 100% urban crappuccino"

Scientific revisionism, continued?

Still under the shock following the recent triumph of Creationists in Korea (see "State-condoned creationism in Korea? A cold-blooded murder against King Sejong"), I smelled something very very fishy as soon as I saw this title for a Viewpoint in today's Korea JoongAng Daily: "Life after Darwin".

Indeed, this piece seems very much to have been written if not by a closet Creationist, at least by a more than questionably honest scientist.

Either way, Didier Raoult is gathering audience. The Director of the Research Unit in Infectious and Tropical Emergent Diseases (URMITE) at the University of the Mediterranee in Marseille is a mass producer of articles criticizing Darwin and more or less directly fueling Creationist propaganda.

Ever since the Intelligent Design imposture collapsed (following the publication of the "Wedge Strategy", a document where their 'inventors', the Discovery Institute, detailed their methods and actual political agenda), creationists and fellow fundamentalists have been trying to find more subtle ways of undermining science and democracy.

This "Life after Darwin" was published by The Project Syndicate, and also appears in The Cambodia Herald. Interestingly enough, today, the "Particle of God" was to make the headlines following yesterday's press conference at the CERN. Not a good day for science revisionists, who needed to be cheered up with some classic Darwin bashing. 

Bring'em on! Higgs Bosons will fly.

PS: I just submitted this to Korea JoongAng Daily:


When a scientist insults intelligence


Didier Raoult’s “Life after Darwin” (Korea JoongAng Daily - July 5, 2012) cannot remain unanswered, particularly at a time when scientific revisionism is gaining ground in Korea: Nature recently published an article exposing an alteration of the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for school textbooks following intense lobbying from Creationists. Such a bold attack on democracy would have instantly made the headlines in the US or in Europe, but it didn’t seem to cause much emotion in Korea beyond scientific circles. Here, the message is much more subtle.


To say the least, Mr. Raoult is a controversial figure. If he’s always careful to officially keep his distances with Creationism and its offsprings (including the Intelligent Design imposture), he nonetheless uses the same deceitful techniques, and his critiques of their nemesis, Darwin, basically recycle arguments from the past with a modern twist. As a result, Mr. Raoult never manages to convincingly challenge evolution itself, but he constantly contributes to the verbose smokescreen at the core of the Intelligent Design's "Wedge strategy". No wonder his writings are widely circulated among Creationist circles.


Mr. Raoult criticizes Darwin and Darwinism very much the way I could criticize Hippocrates and Scientism. For instance, he singles out Darwin’s simplistic representation of the tree of life, but without taking into account the scientific progresses made ever since (believe it or not, there’s evolution in science itself as well, and evolution as a science is already experiencing “life after Darwin”!), and the way he mocks at Darwinists as members of a cult mirrors the critics waged against Scientism centuries ago. Fundamentally, he’s not tackling the key issue, and he never succeeds in proving evolution wrong.


Of course, recent discoveries in his field, and the complexity of ecosystems within every living organism are clearly adding to the scientific challenge, but unfortunately for Mr. Raoult, they are only making evolution even more interesting and stimulating to study.


Scientists must always challenge existing theories, and honest scientists are delighted to study new ones when they respect a rigorous scientific approach. Mr. Raoult may be good in his field, he certainly doesn’t respect our intelligence with this very ambiguous piece.

Stephane MOT

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Dice are broadcast

December 1, 2011: today, 5 new networks started broadcasting on Korean TV.

Licenses were awarded last year, without any surprise since the dominant (and rather conservative) daily newspaper groups claimed all the four spots granted for general channels:
. jTBC (channel 15) for JoongAng Ilbo, clearly the most ambitious 'newcomer'. The brand echoes the historic TBC channel founded by the family and disbanded under Park Chung-hee, and the group's J series (reminder: the broadcasting and magazine units have recently merged into Jcontentree). As we saw earlier, this group intends to become a multimedia powerhouse, and if it produces successful contents (eg millions spent on dramas), it can leverage existing ties with most international majors.
. MBN (channel 16) for MBN. According to what I saw today, Maeil Business Newspaper will make the most of its scenic view on Namsan and its Hanok Village, just like YTN does with its unique view on Seoul Station.
. Channel A (channel 18) for Dong-A Ilbo
. TV Chosun (channel 19) for Chosun Ilbo. The group will target an older audience than jTBC, and I hope they will aim for quality.

The fifth license was for an all-news channel, and Yonhap News Agency (News Y, channel 23) was unsurprisingly chosen to rival its former subsidiary YTN.

The market seems already saturated: the overwhelming majority of Korean households subscribe to pay TV on cable, IPTV, or satellite, receive hundreds of channels, and are heavy users for all new sorts of screens. Many players will fold, and KBS and SBS will necessarily take a hit, but the aim of the game was elswhere:
- on the defensive side: helping struggling but friendly newspaper groups as smartphones and tablets accelerate the substitution of paper
- on the offensive side: South Korea lacks global multimedia majors, and now jTBC joins CJ as a top contender.


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(Gimbap) Drug Wars in Gwangjang Market

Sunday afternoon. In this dark alley of Gwangjang Market, all shops are closed except Monyeo Gimbap.

Surprise: hundreds of people are queueing for their fabled "mayak gimbap" (this "drug gimbap" owes its name to its supposedly addictive flavor). It took us over thirty minutes to get our fix, and we're in the dead middle of the afternoon ! Check it out :



Each dose costs KRW 2,500 and comprises 8 mini-rolls (not sliced) packed in a plastic box, along with one portion of mustardish sauce and two toothpicks (to make the injections as safe as possible).

Business is good: the dealers have hardly time to chat before moving to the next junkie, and even if they restrict two doses per head, their big metal buckets are quickly emptied. The boss then rides his motorbike to the lab and comes back five minutes later.

I'm not at all an expert in drugs but frankly, this one didn't make me fly. Yet I love gimbap and this one is more than ok. I liked the way they cut the carrots, in thin julienne instead of one big stick. The 'vinaigrette' may taste exotic to Korean palates, less to a French one.

As you can notice on the above video, the atmosphere is rather grim because this part of the market doesn't work on Sundays. Monyeo Gimbap is still located in the center, but fellow merchants recently told them to move their point of sale: the JoongAng Ilbo made a paper on their 'drug', and packs of new customers arrived, congesting the whole street all day long, every day of the week.

Yet nature abhors a vacuum, and rival dealers have been proposing their own 'mayak gimbap' long before the article. I saw four or five of those, even one specialized in kids (boy are drug dealers shameless marketers !). More than a few peopled queued there too, oblivious of the fact that this was not the real stuff.

Note that another joint recommanded by JoongAng Ilbo, Sunhuinae Bindaetteok, doesn't draw as many visitors, so it didn't have to leave the bindaetteok alley of the market. Jongno Bindaetteok remains my favorite, but theirs tastes - and looks - very good too :



The heart of Gwangjang Market is open on weekends, and the food section remains one of my favorit visits. But the atmosphere cannot be compared to week days : this old market is much more lively, and all kinds of people working in the area come to feast joyfully on great pig feet, sundae, bindaetteok, pajeon, and yes gimbap.


Monyeo Gimbap (머녀 김밥)
(the authentic 'mayak gimbap' - 원조 마약 김밥)
Tel +82.2.2264.7668
Sunhuinae Bindaetteok (순희네빈대떡)
Tel +82.2.2268.3334
Gwangjang Market, Yeji-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, ROK


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Brews and bruises

I confess : I'm a coffee addict. And for people like me, Korea was not so friendly 20 years ago : except in five stars hotels, finding a real expresso was very difficult, and only a few coffee shops were open in the Capital.

Times have definitely changed, but not necessarily for the better.

On the bright side : coffee is not only available but affordable, and not just the all time fave 2/2/2 coffee/sugar/milk mix ("dulduldul coffee" or 둘둘둘 커피). It started with beans sold at the price of gold in department stores, and now the whole range of products and accessories can be found. Symptomatically, Nestle is quickly gaining ground in the mass market (Supremo instant coffee) as well as with its more upscale and proprietary concept Nespresso, and in the franchise channel (Nescafe Cafe).

As you know, over the past few years, I've often been complaining about the opposite excess : now there are too many coffee shops around, to the point you often can see five or six franchises within a 100 m radius, and some streets look like Monty Python menus (following Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf : Hello Beans, Beanie Bean, Green Bean Coffee, Bean & Leaf, Beans Bins, Bean Tree 200, Taste Bean, Bella Bean, Beans to Coffee, Bean Sausage and Spam**...). The market grew with Starbucks and local franchises (ie Angel-in-us and Hollys Coffee) but literally exploded over the past few years with many newcomers joining the party, including less specialized franchises (McDonalds or Paris Baguette opening special cafe joints), galleries and boutiques growing coffee and waffle branches, and countless individuals tranforming their parkings or basements into coffee shops. So this reaches far beyond the already impressive coffee franchise boom described in a Korea JoongAng Daily focus today* (from 2 to 3,000 shops over the last year only for this single channel !).

This article updated me about the most aggressive player on the market, Caffe Bene. A couple of weeks ago, a fellow coffee addict (sorry to tell you this Chris, but judging by Foursquare, you are at a much more advanced stage than I) wondered how many branches they had and I answered their target was 300 because that was the latest figure I had. And it seemed already crazy for a company that didn't even exist three years ago. Hold on : now the undisputed market leader, Caffe Bene claimed 553 houses last month and targets 800 by the end of this year. That's insane.

The brand was built from scratch with intense marketing and a partnership with iHQ, an entertainment company providing famous, popular faces, and product placement in trendy dramas to fuel the buzz. I don't know if Caffe Bene execs are aware of the kind of quality problems Starbucks faced a couple of years ago, when they were only interested in opening new coffee houses...

Of course, Koreans are consuming more and more coffee every year (an average 312 cups in 2010 according to the same article, +23% vs 2006), but this trend is simply not sustainable and we've got all the ingredients for a bubble (including at the real estate level, because this is Korea).

Many individual are risking all their savings in this bubble. For instance, some parents sign with a franchise to secure a job for their unemployed kids with a cheaper entry-ticket than a restaurant, but the equation doesn't add up, or junior simply doesn't have it. The brand doesn't care much : it's not their money, and they will easily find other suckers to boost their figures in the race for the best locations. But a family is left in shambles.

In the end, everybody loses : brands cannot differenciate anymore because they commoditized everything, consumers lose the pleasure of sipping nondescript KRW 7,000 expressos in tasteless environments, and Seoul loses its very soul.

And I'm not getting any better either : there are three empty mugs on my desk. Gotta refill'em up.

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* "Korea’s coffee craze boosts local franchises"
** okay, I made up the last one... but only the last one.

DMC at full throttle - Songdo from Sim City to Sin City ?

Remember our parallel between Seoul Digital Media City and Incheon's Songdo International Business District* ? Both project have been advancing since, with Songdo building everything from scratch, and the DMC enjoying many transfers from other districts.

Even for education : the Japan School in Seoul moved from Gangnam-gu to the DMC in Mapo-gu, while of Chadwick International School in Songdo was a creation. To be fair, Songdo also benefited from a major transfer with Yonsei Songdo Global Academic Complex (SGAC), and the DMC has already created many original landmarks as well.

Once again, the Songdo project is much bigger and complex to fill, even after signing such majors as Samsung (ie recently for a biopharmaceutical unit). The local press made a fuss about the recent visit of Vegas casino operators, and Grand Korea Leisure, who operate 7 Luck Casino in Seoul, are considering Jeju or Songdo for a second spot... A new Macau much closer to Shanghai and Beijing ?

Meanwhile, leveraging on Seoul Metropolitan Government's determination to create an international multimedia cluster**, the DMC recently received the confirmation from seven major multimedia groups, including JoongAng, back to the broadcasting arena with growing ambitions. Of course, JoongAng Broadcasting Corporation (JoongAng Media Network) already operated Cartoon Network, J Golf, or Q Channel, but the group lost its leadership after the Tongyang Broadcasting Company breakup (note the new entertainment channel brand, jTBC, as an echo to the pre-1980s). The group also purchased CINUS theaters via Isplus (Ilgan Sports).

Korea's biggest media group already moved to the DMC a long time ago : CJ E&M (CJ Entertainment & Media, formerly O Media Holdings) now regroups all the chaebol's media assets, creating a major in music (Mnet, CJ E&M Music.Live, FNC Music, Good Concert, Jisan Valley Rock Festival, Global Gathering...), movies (CJ Entertainment, CGV...), media (CJ Media, On Media, OCN, chCGV, Story On, tvN, OnStyle, NGC Korea, XTM, Olive, CJ O Shopping, CJ Internet...), and games (CJ E&M Games, BiCore, Netmarble...).

Yet the competition is not just national anymore. And there too, Seoul and Incheon are definitely putting more chips on the table...

Seoul Village 2011

* "Seoul Digital Media City Tour"
** see more recently "DMC aims at Tinseltown - welcome to Hallyuwood !".

New Korean Model (continued)

In today's Korea JoongAng Daily, "Is 2011 the first year of a real Korean model?" may ring a bell to those of you who read "The end of the Korean model ?".

Even slightly edited and with a definitely more positive title, the message remain the same: Korea's success story may be impressive, the time has come to evolve to a different level, and structural changes are required in the SME ecosystem and the education system.

Don't hesitate and chime in.
Seoul Village 2011

2010 Seoul Town Meeting

A couple of weeks ago, OH Se-hoon was grilled by a JoongAng Daily reporter about previous Seoul Town Meetings, which didn't always give enough time for interactivity between city officials and international residents.

Kicked off by the Mayor himself, this edition was clearly a success : more time for Q&As, high ranking officials from all key departments with precise answers to all questions, and lively presentations by Hong Suk-ki (whose future report on Foreign communities should be a very interesting read - I hope it will be published in English as well) and Koo A-mi (confirming the city's ambitions in sustainable development - see all posts related to environment on Seoul Village). Under Alan Timblick's always careful watch, the show went just fine and on schedule, following a dense program but also a pleasant rythm.

I really appreciated the honesty of city officials : service and result oriented, never distant nor arrogant, never trying to dodge their responsibilities, frankly answering and acknowledging issues that can be improved, pledging to call back when they don't have the answer...

And that's the way Seoul works: the city wants to know what can be done to improve its global profile. A lot has already been achieved over the past few years, but more than ever, every citizen is invited to voice out suggestions or complaints 24/7/365 (as usual, Dasan 120 and the Seoul Global Center are the easiest entry point to get answers).

2010 Seoul Town Meeting program:
. Opening speech - Mayor OH Se-hoon
. Seoul Town Meeting updates - Alan Timblick
. Multiculturalism - presentations by Hong Suk-ki, Blaz Kriznik, and Tatiana Primakova
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Seoul Village 2010

KOREA JoongAng Daily, IHT inside

As of October 18 and to celebrate its 10th anniversary, the English edition of JoongAng Ilbo is trying a rather bold move.

Basically, the winning receipe doesn't change : 12 pages of Korean news (JoongAng Daily), 3-4 times more of international news (International Herald Tribune).

The rebranding seems rather mild : JoongAng Daily simply becomes KOREA JOONGANG DAILY. Hardly a revolution, particularly since the US edition of JAD is already called "Korea Daily"... but the title appears now in full caps, which clearly confirms ambitions in brand strengthening :



The IHT presence in the logo is a must for loyal IHT readers, who could feel disturbed at their usual newsstands. Because here comes the boldest move.

The JAD used to be wrapped inside the IHT, almost like a local freebie for people who first bought an international newspaper, but now it's the opposite : the Korean newspaper will be on top, carrying the duo on its own shoulders.

Both moves mean a more frontal competition with older rivals Korea Times and Korea Herald, but also prove the group's ambitions : JoongAng Ilbo is confident in KOREA JOONGANG DAILY's chances of success, and probably well beyond the Korean borders. The leading publisher simply decided to act as a leader, and to give its main brand the international visibility it deserves.

Seoul Village 2010

UPDATE 20101018

I uploaded the new logo above. Note also the frame on each frontpage sampling the partner's headlines : "World News by International Herald Tribune" very visible on the KJD, and "KOREA JOONGANG DAILY" on the IHT.

UPDATE 20101031

Korea Times answers with this editorial stressing its long history... and own international ambitions : "Korea Times news exported worldwide".

Lost In Translation ?

There are often title variations between the web and print editions of the New York Times / International Herald Tribune.

Take for instance this NYT article "South Korea Admits Civilian Massacre During War", mentioned yesterday in "Binding praise for South Korea", and here on the homepage of the IHT :



This morning, on the first page of the International Herald Tribune delivered along with the JoongAng Ilbo, I was not surprised to read the same article under the title "South Korean panel confirms full horror of civilian massacres".

If the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Korea is much more than a "panel", this somehow reconciles with the truth : once again, ""a state investigative agency" is not exactly "South Korea""...

AP maintained the line "SKorea confirms some 5,000 wartime executions", dubbing independent TCRK "a government commission". But the news agency finished with the key message, reminiscent of the "mantra" I mentioned yesterday : "The commission recommended that the government offer an official apology, come up with legal and other measures to prevent a repeat of the slaughter, and enact legislation to compensate the victims." Times Online put the focus on that line in its very title : "Commission calls on South Korea to apologise for wartime massacre" (20091127)

Whatever.

Here are the facts :
- during the war, countless civilians were massacred by South Korean authorities
- decades later, the TCRK managed to prove cases for about 4,934 victims
- that's only a tiny fraction of the total (probably much less than 10% of all victims), but the time has come to right the wrongs
- the Korean government cannot escape its obligations anymore (and ultra-conservatives can give up their dreams of stopping the transitional justice process) : beyond grieving families, the whole World is watching now

Change will come to Korea.
Seoul Village 2009

De Vermis Ttukseomis

Last time I crossed the Han river by the Yeongdong Bridge, checking how the Ttukseom Resort renovation went, I had a strange feeling but couldn't quite nail it.

The answer came this morning as I opened the JoongAng Ilbo : the journalist started his article on Hangang Renaissance* by a description of the new observation deck as a "giant inchworm".

That was it. When I saw the long tube circling around bridge piles, I had in mind a huge concrete tube slide, but deep in its own rotten jelly, my brain clearly saw a giant warm, which struck it as both monstruous and totally normal. The monstruosity didn't come from the worm itself but by the fact that fiction had somehow snaked out into reality : I happen to have written a short story on Seoul giant worms a few years ago ("de Vermis Seoulis", recently republished along with other "dragedies"). My worms love concrete dust, and the biggest ones use to go down to the riversides to die, like old elephants, but this 240 m fella is made of concrete, and yet to be born...

Anyway, the article delivered other insights about Hangang Renaissance in Ttukseom, Yeouido, and Nanji (near Seoul's main camping site), and many other sites are still under renovation or construction. and I recently noticed the ballet of trucks on Hangang Bridge, where a Sydney style opera will be erected on the small island of Nodeul-do.

More food for my beloved worms.

Seoul Village 2009


* "Renaissance by the riverside" (Limb Jae-un - JoongAng Daily 20091030)

Bike Friendly Subway Trains and Stations

Until now, only foldable bikes are allowed on subway trains in Seoul, and no bike at all during rush hours.

A few months ago, special subway wagons were announced : bicycle owners would be able to carry their vehicles on certain lines. Some seats would be removed to install bike racks in the first and last wagons of each train.

Starting this October, bikes will officially be allowed in subways on sundays and holidays, and Seoul will start testing bike friendly stations until March 2010 (see "Bike riders to travel by subway" - JoongAng Ilbo 20090818).

Asia News Agency released two interesting pictures (see "10월부터 자전거 끌고 지하철 탄다") :
- a man pushing his bike along a dedicated slope at Seokgye Station on line 6 : the slope has a thin gutter to maintain the tires in the right direction, and the carrier about 50 cm of staircase separated from the crowd by a big metal banister. it's better than carrying your bike on your shoulder but you can see him struggling... and certain stations have daunting staircases. expect many cheaters to be fined for using the elevators.
- a 3D rendering of a wagon equipped with bike racks : there's room for two bikes on each side, to lean on a simple metal structure where people can also store some luggage. not optimal but that's a start.

The Chosun Ilbo (see "10월부터 지하철에 '자전거 전용칸'") released this video of a man using the same slope, and an automated bike parking / storage service :



Here are the 38 stations selected for the trial (with the main subway line for each - many are connections) :
- Line 1 (3) : City Hall, Jongno 3-ga, Dongdaemun
- Line 2 (7) : Euljiro 1-ga, Hanyang University, Konkuk University, Seongnae, Sincheon, Seoul National University of Education, Dangsan
- Line 3 (5) : Gupabal, Oksu, Apkujeong, Maebong, Suseo
- Line 4 (5) : Nowon, Gileum, Hansung University, Dongjak, Sadang
- Line 5 (5) : Omokgyo, Yeouido, Gwanghwamun (with its new slope !), Gwangnaru, Olympic Park
- Line 6 (5) : Saejeol, World Cup Stadium, Korea University, Seokgye, Hwarangdae
- Line 7 (5) : Nowon, Junghwa, Ttukseom Resort, Naebang, Onsu
- Line 8 (3) : Mongcheontoseong, Seokchon, Songpa

Many universities and riverside bike hubs (Ttukseom, Yeouido...). And enough to study the complete bicycle... cycle.