Word: seoul
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...Koreans also used to pay for everything in cash. But with credit cards readily available and tax breaks for using them, shoppers are pulling out the plastic. Says Seo Eun Hee, an office assistant at Seoul National University: "It's easy and fun. I spend more than I used to?before I couldn't go into a department store and buy whatever I liked." Last year, $235 billion worth of merchandise was purchased on credit, up from less than $50 billion in 1998. Koreans are stretching their purchasing power in other ways. The government used to shoo banks away from...
...Dong can't resist coming out of his corner for a good brawl?even when no one is cheering for him anymore. The president of the Korean Power Plant Industry Union has spent the past two weeks huddled in an unheated tent pitched on the paving stones behind Seoul's Myeongdong Cathedral, the time-honored sanctuary of unionists and student rebels on the run. Lee and 20 other union members took refuge after police issued arrest warrants accusing them of launching illegal strikes to protest the government's plan to sell power plants to private investors. Privatization could destroy...
...everywhere to buy tropical-scented gels and pricey hair-care products. Sports clubs are opening up and yoga classes are all the rage. Koreans are eating out more and going to the movies. And not just Hollywood blockbusters?homegrown films now account for 46% of the market in Seoul, up from 25% in 1998. After the show, citizens sip cappuccinos in Seoul's new crop of serious coffee shops. Foreign franchises like Starbucks and dozens of local outlets are competing for a market that barely existed two years ago. "People like the idea of walking around with a paper...
...Seoul has also unleashed long pent-up consumer demand by easing limits on credit-card use, among other measures. Koreans were once avid savers, encouraged by government policies designed to funnel domestic capital to industry to bulk up manufacturing capacity. Today, citizens are shopping more and saving less?South Korea's savings rate measured against GDP has declined by 10 percentage points since 1987. In the rest of Asia, by contrast, domestic savings rates have remained at Scroogian levels...
...Thomas Byrne, a senior analyst with U.S. credit rating company Moody's Investors Service, says the crisis taught the country humbling lessons and reduced the insularity of corporate and government leaders. Byrne was in Seoul recently, scrutinizing the economy?Moody's is considering boosting Korea's foreign currency rating, a move that would help cut borrowing costs. He says just getting essential data out of officials used to be difficult. Now Byrne has the Deputy Finance Minister's home phone number and spent some time during his trip knocking back shots of fiery soju liquor with him. "We didn...