Why South Korea?

The Right People for the Job 

In terms of growth of productivity from 1994 to 2005, Korea ranked second with annual average gains of 3.9 percent according to Employment Outlook published 

by the OECD Over 97 percent of the labor force possesses college education or vocational training backgrounds Senior management's international experience 

ranks fifth among Asian countries. 

An Insatiable Market 

Korea's 48 million prosperous consumers have a huge and growing appetite for goods Korean consumers have a high propensity to spend and are "early 

adopters," making the country an ideal test-bed for new information technology applications and marketing strategies Korea is the world's 11th largest economy 

and 12th largest trading nation. 

The Most Wired Country on Earth 

World's highest broadband Internet subscription rate Korea's 68-percent mobile-phone penetration rate is one of the world's highest Korea introduced the 

world's first commercial WiBro, s-DMB, and t-DMB services WiBro services began in 2005 and are now being run on a commercial basis (In August 2006, 

Sprint of the U.S.A. adopted Samsung WiBro technology as its wireless communication platform) Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcast (DMB) services began 

on a commercial basis in June 2005. Terrestrial DMB began on a pilot basis in the second half of 2005 and was placed on a commercial footing in 2006 On the 

mobile telecom front, commercial WCDMA services began in 2005, HSDPA is due to begin in 2006 and HSUPA in the first half of 2007. 

Unbeatable Location 

Korea is located centrally within Northeast Asia, a region with a population of 1.5 billion with a combined GDP of $7.46 trillion that accounts for 22 percent of 

world GDP As such, Korea serves as a gateway to the adjacent, massive markets of Japan and China Major Northeast Asian cities such as Tokyo, Beijing, 

Osaka, Shanghai and Hong Kong are located within a three-hour flight of Seoul. 

A Logistical Capability Second-to-None 

The country's state-of-the-art infrastructure such as its world-class airports and three seaports (designated Free Economic Zones) enables foreign business to 

operate smoothly within Korea and provides strong overseas logistical links The high-speed KTX, only the fifth such service in the world, offers connections to 

anywhere within the country in a matter of hours. 

Home of Corporate Giants 

The powerhouses of Korean economic growth are its world-leading industries that act as powerful draws to foreign investors Korea is world's sixth-largest 

automobile producer, and ranks no. 1 in DRAM semiconductor manufacturing, shipbuilding and LCD production Korean mobile phone makers Samsung 

Electronics, LG Electronics and Pantech rank among the world's largest Major Korean companies have joined the celebrated Fortune 500 list. 

Best Incentives in OECD 

A major attraction for investing transnational companies is the array of incentives offered by the Korean government, some of the most generous in the OECD 

Financial incentives include reductions/exemptions of corporation, local, and income taxes, plus cash grants for investment in high-tech industries judged to 

have broad economic impact In addition to offering major financial incentives as mentioned above, the Free Economic Zones (FEZs) of Incheon, Gwangyang, 

and Busan/Jinhae are committed to creating an international business and living environment.

Asia/Pacific Profit Center 

The ratio of net profit to sales among foreign-invested companies in Korea is far higher than that of domestic companies. Moreover, the Korean subsidiaries 

of transnational corporations tend to be among their more profitable, if not their most profitable units As of end-2005 more some 264, or 53 percent of the 

corporations listed in the Fortune Global 500 were invested in Korea, as were all of the world's top 20 corporations. 

Source: Invest KOREA (IK), Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA)