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Kim Jae-kyoung

Korea Times Business Planning Reporter

I’m currently managing director of Content and Business Planning at The Korea Times. Before I took the current position in early 2024, I served as managing editor in charge of both paper and online for over three and a half years. In 2015-2018, I worked as Singapore correspondent covering ASEAN nations.

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Economy

2011 will be a watershed for Hynix

The odds are in favor but bumpy road ahead By Kim Jae-kyoung In 2008, global memory chip manufacturers, including Hynix Semiconductor, were deeply involved in a game of chicken to squeeze out their competitors, which then yielded no winner in the cutthroat competition. Amid the global economic slump, companies overproduced chips in an effort to win market share. But the over production backfired and only added to the deepening recession of the semiconductor market. However, Hynix, the world’s No. 2 computer memory chipmaker, has emerged as the winner from the high-stakes chicken game by showing the best business performance last year through the bold investment and timely balance sheet restructuring. It posted an operating profit of 3.27 trillion won in 2010, the largest amount in its history, on sales of 12.09 trillion won. Its net profit also reached a record high of 2.65 trillion won. This is in a sharp contrast to the firm suffering net losses of 4.74 trillion won in 2008 and 333 billion won in 2009. With the robust performance, it also shored up its financial s

Apr 10, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

‘Let Lone Star leave Korea’

_ An opportunity to demonstrate Korea is a country ruled by the law _ By Kim Jae-kyoung Only a few Koreans were aware of Lone Star Funds until the U.S. buyout fund took over Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) in August 2003. Now the name has become a household word as Lone Star has frequently made headlines as its every move to exit from the country has attracted keen attention among Koreans. A noted international lawyer said that the most urgent task for the Korean government to boost foreign investment is to let Lone Star sell KEB and leave the country as soon as possible. “A lot of foreign companies and investors have been frightened by the Lone Star case and that has had an impact on foreign investment coming into Korea,” Jeffrey Jones, a lawyer and former Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, said in an interview with The Korea Times. He noted that the Lone Star case has become symbolic of negative public opinion toward the Texas-based fund and every foreign investor, strategic or financial. According to Jones, to immediately improve the foreign in

Apr 4, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Zero pricing sets trend

By Song Ki-hong In the classical micro-economics theory, price is to be determined in the market by “invisible hands.” However, the demand-supply mechanism is often too conceptual to provide a working framework in the real world to marketers who try to find an optimal price point at which the sales and profit of the product are maximized. Therefore, in management science, several different pricing approaches have been introduced. The most common is cost-plus pricing in which price is set by adding desired margins on the total cost of a product. This approach seems reasonable, but often fails to capture the full potential (either the sales or profit potential) of the product. Another approach is value-based pricing. The idea is to measure the relative value of a product or service to each customer and set the price accordingly to capture the fair share of the value. Often the perceived value of the same product is different customer by customer and the willingness to pay is also different based on the marginal utility. Regardless of the technical difficulty of measuring t

Apr 3, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Free cars?

Free cars? Free pricing strategies have made inroads beyond the expected domain of information and technology providers, and arguably businesses with more traditional products and services may be just as likely to benefit from Free in the future. Take one of the largest, most expensive “traditional” items consumers purchase routinely – the automobile. Could cars be free? Here’s a quick look at ways it could work: Cross-subsidy model Fuel companies give away free cars, with the agreement that the driver uses the company’s fuel exclusively. The cars come loaded with software that reports fuel sources and usage to the sponsoring company, and drivers are docked with penalties if a competitor’s fuel is detected. In exchange, the fuel company has monopolized sales for an entire fleet of cars, securing a steady, predictable source of revenue. Freemium model Auto manufacturers provide free basic cars as teasers, offering options to upgrade to premium models for a fee. Advertising model A beverage company gives away a limited number of free cars in exchange for prod

Apr 3, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Firms undergo dramatic change in pricing

‘Free’ emerges as sustainable business model By Song Ki-hong Nowadays businesses are giving products away more than ever. With more and more companies adopting “free” as a preferred pricing strategy, free pricing is well on its way to becoming a sustainable business model. Software and Web-based companies were among the first to blaze the “Free” trail, and their successes have become legendary _ Flickr’s photo hosting; Blogger; Craig’s List; Skype; Facebook; and more. But many think these are just the beginning of a dramatic and fundamental shift in pricing, with more traditional companies already jumping on the bandwagon. Why Free can’t be ignored For companies in many industries, it’s tempting to write Free off as a technology industry trend or intellectual exercise not worth serious consideration. But there are a handful of potent forces that are rapidly changing the marketplace. There is a concerted effort underway by many retailers to shift consumers’ shopping habits from brick-and-mortar buildings to an online experience. Some retailers are even offerin

Apr 3, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Winning in a polycentric world

Global players urged to adapt to new ‘rule of game’ By Ernst & Young What are the main characteristics of the evolving trend of globalization and how should enterprises respond to them for a sustainable growth? Ernst & Young, as the world’s leading professional services firm, has been making public high-profile reports at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, over the past several years along with the ``Globalization Index’’ in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). According to this year’s report released late January, the world’s 60 largest economies including South Korea will continue to globalize steadily until 2014 ― after a brief pause in 2009 and a modest rebound in 2010 ― driven by the continued global economic recovery, technological innovation and rise of the emerging markets. Titled ``Winning in a polycentric world,’’ the 32-page publication highlights the tension between the flattening effect of globalization and significant variations across markets. While the former encourages companies to roll out business and oper

Mar 28, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Mega bank is a dangerous concept

“I don’t think there is any reason for Korean banks to say they want to build a very big global franchise.” Boston Consulting Group CEO Hans-Paul Burkner By Kim Jae-kyoung The chief of the world’s top consulting firm said that local banking groups’ moves to enlarge their size and expand overseas is a step in the wrong direction, stressing that they should try to become competitive regional players, not global mega banks. “I do worry about global mega banks. I think that smells like a disaster. I don’t know what the Korean government’s objectives are but I think that’s a very dangerous concept,” Hans-Paul Burkner, president and CEO of The Boston Consulting Group, said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times at the consultancy’s Seoul office in Gwanghwamun on March 18. His remarks came amid growing speculation that President Lee and his administration will again push the plan to create a “mega bank” after former finance minister Kang Man-soo was recently appointed to head state-run KDB Financial Group. Kang, a former special advisor to the President on economic af

Mar 27, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
  • Finding a bridge for globalization
Economy

Leading across borders

``Leading across borders: inclusive thinking in an interconnected world,’’ a paper developed as part of Ernst & Young’s ``21st Century Workforce’’ series and released at the 2011 World Economic Forum in Davos alongside with the main ``Winning in a polycentric world’’ report, recommends three practical techniques for business leaders to hone their ability to benefit from multiple perspectives. 1. Think differently: collaborate in the face of uncertainty Inclusive leaders collaborate imaginatively to tackle the challenges of our increasingly global, volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. 2. Learn differently: seek out different viewpoints and experiences Immersion in a variety of perspectives and cultures is critical for the leaders and employees of tomorrow to compete globally. 3. Act differently: sponsor people who are not like you Unintended biases are so ingrained that leaders must make conscious efforts to not only recognize and overcome them but also stretch to change the face of their leadership team

Mar 27, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Globalization gets back on stage

By Gweon Seung-wha Behind the recent emergence of the ``polycentric world,’’ the new feature of the evolving trend of globalization, lies the diversification of consumer demands and desires propped up by the rise of emerging economies and their purchasing power. If multinationals for example went into China to churn out products with the ``Made in China’’ label in the past, they now seem to be more eager to manufacture goods ``Made for China’’ targeting the world’s largest market itself. Business opportunities are now distributed more evenly than at any time in history ― from mature markets to emerging and even underdeveloped markets. And many enterprises are forced to do businesses at a multiple number of markets at the same time. By nature, different markets have different conditions for business and, therefore, an enterprise doing business across borders should be able to allocate its capability and resources more properly to different markets. In other words, differentiated strategies for each local market are the key factor of success or failure. What priorities,

Mar 27, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Finding a bridge for globalization

Filling gap between past, future is key to creating success “When things are going well you like to keep it as the way it was. And that is a mistake. You need to be continuously on the lookout to change things. And you can forgive yourself failing at times but you cannot forgive yourself for not trying.” By Kim Jae-kyoung Major Korean companies, such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai, are rolling up their sleeves again to speed up globalization to get the upper hand in emerging markets and find new growth engines, with the global financial crisis fading out. However, in many cases, their globalization efforts are failing due to various obstacles, such as cultural differences and internal resistance. One of the first examples was LG Electronics’ attempt to internationalize its manpower at the top level. The Boston Consulting Group stresses that local players should focus more on building up a system that can create a global culture before expanding their overseas presence. The world’s top consultancy explains that when a company has a strong system in place where people know

Mar 27, 2011By Kim Jae-kyoung
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