Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

By Don Southerton, BCW Editor Just back from last week's LA Auto Show Media Days... and Kia Motors' launch of the K900.  This Autoblog.com article captures Kia and Hyundai's move to offer luxury brands-- a topic i have long followed and offered commentary.  To see full article, go to   http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/19/how-the-koreans-are-cracking-the-luxury-market/  How the Koreans are cracking the luxury market Hyundai And Kia Take Aim At The Germans By Paul Eisenstein Posted Nov 19th 2013  South Korea's two largest automotive brands are no longer the same companies they were when they first entered the world stage. Anyone who visits Seoul after a few years absence is likely going to be in for a shock. What was, not that long ago, a decidedly third-world city is today a thriving, sprawling metropolis increasingly on a par with the world's most modern cities. So it should come as no surprise, perhaps, that South Korea's two largest...

By Don Southerton, BCW Editor As I have long shared, many Koreans see luxury goods as status markers.... In part, this is rooted in the one dominate status and hierarchal based Neo-Confucian society that reached back 600 years.  For many others, I feel designer and fashion goods as more a measure of taste, style and sophistication Korea Herald and the Asia Society notes: ‘Koreans see designer brands as symbol of status’ Koreans are ideal consumers of designer goods as a large part of the population willingly open their purses based on their belief that luxury items represent class and status, according to a team of panelists at a forum co-organized by the Asia Society Korea Center and Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Tuesday.  “My first impression of Korea was that I called this a dream market where people are actually excited to purchase luxury products ― something that is now uncommon in Italy,” said TOD’s Korea country manager Giuseppe Caval...

By Don Southerton, BCW Editor I am very pleased with the November issue of FSR Magazine. The high profile food industry publication highlighted Mad For Garlic as one of  three international brands entering the US market. Coming to America By Kirsten Ballard November 2013 Chef Jungmo Ahn at Mad for Garlic prepares the restaurant’s signature Garlic Foryou Steak.  First known as the melting pot, and then the salad bowl, the U.S. offers a variety of markets and tastes for international dining concepts. U.S. chains continue to expand internationally, but innovative international concepts are filling niches and gaining popularity here as well. Mad For Garlic, a Korean restaurant focused on garlic-centric foods, partnered with Bridging Culture Worldwide, a global consulting firm, to make its transition to the U.S. “This is much different [than a Korean restaurant], it is an Italian garlic concept that originated in Korea,” says Don Southerton, CEO and president of Bri...