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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on January 7, 2011 at 10:21am

Stephane,

 

An interesting and thought-provoking commentary, for sure. Thanks!

 

But I'm not ready to say that anything special happened in 2010 that a) didn't and won't happen in other years or b) isn't part of a longer term trend anyway or c) is even that radical, by Korean standards.

 

For as long as I've been in Korea, there's been talk about needing to raise up SMEs; I'm not convinced that the chaebol think the current system isn't working for them. For that matter, I'm not 100% convinced the current setup isn't actually one of Korea's strengths (albeit with disadvantages). Yes, President Lee sat down with a bunch of tycoons a few months ago and got them to agree to cooperate with SMEs; I think it's reasonable to ask if that will lead to substantial changes. Korea seems as locked as ever into its current winner (i.e. big company) eats everything ("재벌독식"?) rut.

 

And the education system... Here's a comment I left on another discussion last week: http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/xn/detail/3463326:Comment:25598. There's plenty to improve, no doubt, but the current system is also not without its advantages (and disadvantages). 

 

So, my point is that I don't think the system is just completely broken. I also believe change is afoot slowly, but 2010 won't necessarily be the year historians look to as the turning point.

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Permalink Reply by stephanemot on January 7, 2011 at 5:04pm

Hello Steven and a happy new year

 

of course the system has its advantages, or else Korea wouldn't be where it is now.

 

one thing is certain: strategics are getting popular again in the country and that's very good news

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