Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

I'm really happy with the cover art for the new novel. It fits well with the 2 previous Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm novels. Look for news on when this new novel hits the bookstores later this year. BTW I am soon going to make an announcement on a new exciting writing project. DS

In Korea several brands are iconic and ubiquitous--Hyundai and Samsung top the list. Over the past few years Korean brands have made huge progress globa lly Korea Herald notes... Hyundai Motor Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. were included on the U.S.-based brand consulting firm Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2008 list. The two companies were the only Korean firms to make it onto the list. Samsung Electronics, whose brand value increase 5 percent from last year to $17.7 billion, maintained its position at 21st place. Among the eight consumer electronics makers that made it into the list, Samsung Electronics was given the second highest position after Finland's Nokia Corp., ranked fifth. Although Hyundai Motor's position, 72nd, also remained the same as the year earlier, the company's value rose by a larger margin of 9 percent over the same period to $4.8 billion. Among the 11 car brands on the list, the company was ranked eighth highest, above Ferrari, Lexus and Porsche...

추석 Chuseok-Korean Thanksgiving Holiday Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated all over the world at different times of the year and in different ways. For Koreans, the traditional Thanksgiving Holiday is called Chuseok. This year is falls on September 13-15. Celebrated for centuries as the lunar-based (fifteenth day of the 8th lunar month) Fall Harvest Festival, Chuseok is among the most important of Korean holidays, a day filled with family and tradition. Millions of Koreans travel to join their family and celebrate traditional customs of Chuseok, including ancestral memorial rituals, followed by a day of special foods and family-focused activity. One of the most popular of the traditional foods is song pyeon, which is a pine needle-flavored half moon-shaped rice cake. In Korea, during the days prior to the actually holiday, streets and stores are packed with shoppers buying food and gifts. Gift-giving is an important aspect of the holiday. Liquor is often given to colleagues and work s...

The Korean luxury market is competitive. In addition to each of Korea's 5 automakers offering a luxury car, imports are popular. Here's GM Daewoo's new sedan. It's a rebadge of the Australian Holden WM Caprice, the Veritas replaces the GM Daewoo Statesman that was on sale since 2005 Korea media notes: GM Daewoo Unveils New Large Sedan GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., a unit of General Motors Corp., unveiled its new large sedan on Thursday [9-4-08] as it looks for ways to stimulate fragile demand in South Korea and compete with local stronghold Hyundai Motor Co. The Veritas sedan will "open a new chapter for GM Daewoo's product lineup," said the GM Daewoo President and CEO Michael Grimaldi, in a Korean-language statement, without giving a sales target. The new sedan uses a 3.6-liter gasoline engine and was jointly developed with Holden of Australia, another subsidiary of GM. The new car, which will be available for sale in South Korea from next month, i...