Word: seoul
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...show some vibrancy - economists expect the country to avoid a recession, while the banking sector remains generally healthy - the renewed onset of economic turmoil has undermined the confidence of South Koreans in their own future. "The economy's O.K., but no one thinks so," says Jeffrey Jones, a Seoul-based attorney and former chairman of the local chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce. "They're saying that not only is the IMF coming back, but that 'we're failing...
...That fear is palpable on the streets of Seoul. South Koreans have begun to scale back. Song Jae Hyun, a vegetable seller at central Seoul's Nandaemun market, sells his broccoli and bell peppers for only about 50 cents apiece, much cheaper than in many of the grocery stores, but his stall still sees few customers. "People are spending less money for sure," he says, shaking his head. "One year ago, there would be double the amount of people here. These are terrible times." At a nearby restaurant, only four of the 16 tables are occupied at dinner time. "Everyone...
...manufacturer of microchips, cars and flat-screen TVs. Any setback to that progress is taken with grave seriousness. During the 1997 crisis, office workers, too ashamed to tell their families they had lost their jobs, donned business suits each morning only to hide out in the mountainside parks around Seoul. Middle-aged women turned over their gold jewelry to the government in a futile attempt to restock its empty coffers. Today, President Lee Myung Bak has called on that same spirit of self-sacrifice to pull the country through the current crisis. At a meeting of his Cabinet in October...
...returning South Korea to rapid growth. Not only did the economic crisis make his campaign promises sound hollow, the President and his policy team came under heavy criticism for reacting too slowly to stem the turmoil. "The problem has become deeper than necessary," says Charles Chang, managing partner of Seoul-based boutique investment-banking firm Accolade. "It is the failure of the government." Chang believes policymakers did a poor job of building confidence among foreign investors to calm markets...
...with reporting by Stephen Kim and Jennifer Veale / Seoul...