Word: koreas
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Shoe repair-shop owner Kim Hyoung Hwan might be startled to hear himself described as a pioneer of the type President Kim extols. But his shop in the port city of Inchon is a good place to see some of the changes sweeping Korea. After losing his job as a purchasing manager at a now bankrupt equipment-manufacturing firm, Kim noticed people were spending more on shoe repairs to save money during the turndown. Demand was also rising as paternalistic companies cut back on the coupons for new shoes they used to hand out to employees as part of Korea...
...graduate of a technical high school, Kim has brought engineering smarts to a low-tech business. Curbside shoe repairmen are still a common sight in Korea, so Kim's store is a shock to many customers. It is stocked with a huge array of heels, soles and polishes. Shoes Kim has miraculously salvaged sit out on display. Up by the front window is the computer he uses to track orders and customers. Boasts Kim: "They are surprised when I tell them I programmed it myself...
Corporate Korea may also be getting the message that it needs to change. The Housing & Commercial Bank, for example, was a clunky, state-run institution until two years ago and the only bank in Korea allowed to make mortgage loans to home buyers. Lending money used to be a relaxed affair. Loan officers decided what a property was worth after a quick look at the house and a chat with the owner or a local real estate agent. Assessments were so rough that the bank could count just 30% of the assessed home value as collateral, and could only lend...
...dramatic reforms have helped spark recovery sooner than most experts expected. The government predicts that growth in South Korea will bounce back to an annual rate of 2% by the second half of this year; by contrast, the economy shrank 5.9% in 1998. "There is no country in the OECD that has made such rapid changes," says Donald Johnston, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. "Historians may look back and say this crisis has left a healthy legacy...
...year spending on job training and support for the unemployed is expected to rise 39.8% and 34.8%, to $1 billion and $5 billion, respectively. But it is not clear how long the government can contain the resentment of those who don't have the skills to "shift gears." South Korea's cantankerous unions kept a lid on protests last year, fearful of a backlash from the public. But in February they showed their patience was wearing thin when they walked out of a three-party committee--representing labor, government and companies--set up last year to navigate the crisis...