2010년 5월 21일 금요일

New Factors "Secure and Pleasant"

The visitors’ satisfaction measurements to Seoul are increasing steadily. According to Seoul City Government’s report surveyed on 2,000 foreigners passed through six airports during last Febuary and March, ‘satisfied’ answers are 91.2%. The satisfaction measurements are increased, compared to 84.9% of last year, and 79.1% of 2007. The answerers “I will come back to Seoul” are also increased to 88%, compared to 67% of 2007.

About the reasons “Why did you choose Seoul as a touring place?”, “shopping and leasure” answers are 74.4%, “business” 12.1%, “visiting to friends and relatives” 8.5%, and “Korean waves” 1.8%.

While last year the financial crisis led to rapid contraction of the world touring demands, visitors to Korea uniquely in Asia rose to high rates. Visitors to Korea last year are 7.82 million, 13.4% up compared to the previous year, whereas China and Japan dropped each 2.7% and 18.7% during the same year.

Experts analyzed that Korea’s tourists growth owes lower price indexes than Japan, more secure and pleasant than China. An official of Seoul City Government related to tourism, said that they are to develop health and cosmetic surgical tourism and to simplify immigration procedures in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. (The end)

2010년 5월 13일 목요일

Online Shopping Economy

Nowadays security offices of apartments are screaming with continual delivered parcels such as clothing, shoes, toilet rolls, cosmetics, computers, rice cakes, etc. These things sent from home-shopping TVs and Internet shopping sites are ordered by residents. These virtual marts’ sales are increasing exponentially during the last one or two years.

Apartment janitors are complaining about no time to patrol, collect rubbishes, on account of endless delivering. They call residents to recover their parcels every two or three times, however, some people do not come in soon, even show themselves the next day. Janitors hardly leave their seats because the parcels might be stolen. A janitor says, “Recently half of my work seem the management of delivered parcels.”

The present phenomenon of home deliveries could be described a kind od ‘extraordinary’ one. As being well-known in the world, Korea’s residence features crowded apartments at a few big cities including Seoul. Therefore, delivery services are easy to flourish structurally.

In addition to this residential circumstance, new favorable ones are boosting home delivering unimaginably. The favorable stimulators are the vitalization of electronic payments and housewives’ working rushes.

The general awkwardness toward online paying settlements disappears except for old people. Decisively wives, controler of home economy, are beginning to exploit Internet banking, and moreover they are rushing into the working fronts owing to chronic unstabilization of economy. Today’s women have little time to browse around magnificient departments or discount marts. For the time being, it seems that online shopping would draw women’s attention. (The end)

2010년 5월 11일 화요일

The Revaluating of Traditional Technologies

Traditional technologies such as casting, molding, welding, plastic processing, heat treatment, surface treatment are still essential to manufacturing industries. These technologies are called 3D (Dirty, Dangerous, Difficult) ones so that young people has avoided working at them. But these traditional technologies are solving the most basic and last technical cruxes for higher quality of products recently.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy reported to President Lee Myung-Bak a new plan on May 6th 2010 that it changes the 3D technologies to new 3D (Digital, Descent, Dynamic) ones, and officially renamed “roots industry” to them.

The ministry prioritized manpower for implementing the plan. The enrolled students of the meister high schools that learn roots technologies are increased from now 600 to 1,000 until 2012. The qualifying age of ‘Meister (great master)’ is lowered from 20-year working tenure of their technologies to 15-year working. The government decided to select the numbers of meister three times than the present, and to give adding points (very advantageous to purchasing an apartment) to houseless roots technicians having worked over five years when they win the ownership of new apartments.

The ministry is to graft IT and robot technologies onto roots technologies so that the processes are automated, smarter, and result in much less defective products.

The general perception on the roots industry is still old-fashioned and awkward, however, in the frontlines of industries the old technologies are being revaluated, especially in automobiles, shipbuilding, smartphones, home appliances. Global companies are more depending on the old technologies at which more money and more technicians are gathering. Experts say that Korea is challenging Japan, traditionally technology-competent country. Meanwhile the USA and most European countries had given up the old technologies a long time ago because young people disliked working in those hard fields. (The end)

2010년 5월 4일 화요일

Skylife Is Rising Vigorously

Skylife, Korea’s unique satellite TV station, is rising surprisingly this year after four-year consecutive steady profit. The company during the early few years since its opening on March 2002 had been branded as “hopeless headache” to the investors and the government. The satellite TV wearily struggled to capture city’s viewers with CATV already dominating in crowded apartments. It also faced tough resistance of regional terrestrial TVs, which were fearful that their key stations’ programs relayed by the satellite channels would deprive regional viewers of them. Regional broadcasts unions required the satellite TV not to relay their central broadcasting completely. Skylife absolutely could not accept the unions’ argument. After undergoing many twists and turns, it settled down that regional broadcasting is being relayed and given one superstation channel for the regional broadcasts.

Skylife held the regular shareholders’ general meeting on April 25, 2010 and settled the accumulated deficits through the last four-year net profit and and reduction of the capital. A high-post executive said, after the general meeting, that the company would show two-digit growth rates of each sales and net profit this year and surpass 3 million subscribers within the end of this year.

The main factors for the strong soaring are indicated two: the first is a special service combining its satellite TV and IPTV’s VODs of KT (Korea's second largest telecommunication company). The subscribers can enjoy real-time channels like CATV and additionally can watch tens thousands VODs of IPTV except for the IPTV’s real-time channels. KT is the largest shareholder of Skylife.

The second factor is that Skylife is broadcasting 61 high-definition channels about two times than 30-40 ones of CATV. This HD-centered channels strategy has helped to give it to form a high-class image.

The CATV presently accounts for over 80 percent (15 million subscribers) of the whole viewers and has been threatening the terrestrial and satellite TV positions during the last 10 years. But recently the CATV experienced the first decrease of its subscribers on the quarter basis. The strong surge of Skylife is shaking the firm castle of CATV. (The end)