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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

The bull market that few people believe in

Top 3 drivers of global rallies ― liquidity, corporate earnings, and risk appetite By Kim Jae-kyoung You may not feel it but a bull market has come back on stage. Although investors and policymakers are not so sure or are little aware of it, we have just lived through one of the greatest bull markets in history. The U.S. stock market has hit a five-year high, while European markets are behaving as if everything is fine. Despite lingering uncertainties seizing the world economy, the global financial market has weathered numerous challenges and has continued on an upward spiral. Market rallies are being spotted worldwide — North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Bolstered by strong performance abroad, the domestic market has also enjoyed a sustainable ascent. Last Wednesday, the U.S. stock market had its biggest gain of the year. Both The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-laced NASDAQ composite index broke the psychologically-important levels of 13,000 and 3,000, respectively. The Dow closed at 13,177.68 on that day, the highest level in 50 months,

Mar 18, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Insurance ‘big bang‘ in Korea

M&As, Hyundai’s entry to change hierarchy in insurance By Kim Jae-kyoung The insurance industry is considered one of the most conservative sectors as it is hard to see a change both in market share and customer transfer. Over the past two decades, the so-called big three life insurers ― Samsung, Korea and Kyobo ― have dominated the domestic market, giving little leeway for other players to share the pie. The deep-rooted oligopoly is highly expected to hang on for a while but 2012 is likely to be the beginning of a long-awaited industry change that will lead to a breakdown of the structure. First of all, the industry is seeing a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) coming. A couple of mid-sized insurers, including ING Life Korea and Tongyang Life, have been up for sale. Besides, Hyundai Motor Group’s entry into the industry and the launch of NH Nonghyup Life are likely to combine to speed up the transformation. In the big picture, there are two external factors that will accelerate the upcoming change in the market. First, major financial groups, such as KB and Woo

Mar 11, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Culture conundrum

Firms advised to focus not only on the "what" but the "how" of culture By Sharad Vishvanath The year 2011 saw growth in M&A activity and momentum picking up at a rapid pace. Although, in the bygone decade, the peak was seen around 2007 and it gradually lost momentum due to the global meltdown; in light of recent economic recovery across the globe, most of the firms are gearing up for inorganic growth again. In a recent Aon Hewitt study on M&A, covering 103 companies, 69 percent of the firms anticipated a rise in M&A activity in the coming two years and 73 percent indicated Asia Pacific as their focus area. Although deal activity is on the rise, deal success is not. The deal failure rate remains alarmingly high. In the study, 50 percent of the organizations stated that they failed to achieve their desired objectives in past transactions in spite of the fact that they spent most of their time defining the approach and metrics to track deal success — 80 percent of the participants defined formal measures to track deal success. How many times have we heard of mega M&A d

Mar 9, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Exploring business DNA

Megastudy CEO takes a cue from mom’s business philosophy By Kwon Eun-young Although former Apple CEO Steve Jobs died last year, his legacy is still changing the business world in two ways. First, it has entirely changed lifestyles in the 21st century with his innovative iProducts. Second, his entrepreneurial spirit has inspired many young people to start their own businesses. The Steve Jobs syndrome has also swept through Korea, one of the world’s most wired counties. Some college students give up finding jobs and seek to start their own business. Some salaried workers quit their jobs to become a Korean version of Steve Jobs. In the eyes of Megastudy founder and CEO Son Ju-eun, this might be a very dangerous move. He believes that there are only a few people who can run a business because an entrepreneurial spirit cannot be acquired overnight. “I believe that only a limited number of people can run a business. A lot of people give it a shot but most fail. Those able to be a successful businessman have (business) DNA, which I think is acquired during childhood,” Son sai

Mar 4, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Change ’formula for success’

By Kim Jae-kyoung Everyone wants success in life. Since there is no single path to success, people pursue it in many different ways. However, only a few choose the right one, stay on it, and eventually reach their destinations. Ironically, even those who see success in their careers and businesses are not fully satisfied with what they have achieved. Even after they reach their destinations, they feel a void in their hearts in many cases. People wonder why? To Son Ju-eun, founder and CEO of Megastudy, this is a simple question because he knows the answer. He believes that mismatches between professional success and happiness come from young people’s wrong beliefs about success. In Son’s view, people, particularly teenagers and college students, have the wrong formula for successful life. “At classes, I often ask my students to prioritize three important things in life — how to live (values), jobs and success. Most of them pick success as the number one, followed by jobs and then how to live,” Son said in an interview with Business Focus at his office in Seocho-dong

Mar 4, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
  • Education Minister Son Joo-eun (?!)
  • Exploring business DNA
Economy

Why US banks need a new business model

By Toos Daruvala, Hasan Malik and Fritz Nauck Last autumn, many U.S. banks reported a respectable improvement in earnings for the third quarter: more than 80 percent of the largest beat the market’s consensus forecasts, and a similar proportion showed year-on-year increases. The second quarter was equally impressive. So why have the stocks of large banks declined by more than 20 percent since the beginning of the third quarter ― nearly three times more than the broader stock market ― to the point where four out of five now trade below book value? Many commentators blame Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis and fears of a double-dip recession. But three additional factors also weigh heavily on investors: the new bank capital requirements introduced under the Basel III international-banking regulations, the impact of new U.S. banking regulations responding to the financial crisis, the Dodd–Frank Act, and the unwinding of consumer debt. All three undermine banking’s traditional business model. By business model, we mean how banks actually operate ― how work is done, the degree

Mar 4, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Identifying business value for innovation

By Song Ji-taek When making decisions to adopt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and planning for implementation and upgrade, you need to take into consideration your budget and the subsequent impact on operations. I suggest five tips for efficient implementation and utilization of ERP solutions based on my 18 years of experience of ERP consulting at Accenture’s Seoul office. These tips may not be suitable for all companies, but surely will give a guideline to put you in the right direction. First, identify the business value. In general, the starting line of innovation is based on identifying values. The way to identify extra values differs from company to company. Some companies need to reflect well-known industry best practices, while others may analyze global leading companies’ best practices or completely create a new practice on their own. Creating a new practice requires the participants’ creative approach. Second, inject innovation for positive outcomes. The purpose of ERP implementation and its expected outcome should be specific. It is hard to quantify the benefi

Mar 4, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

’Stay hungry, stay smarter’

Firms urged to explore new routes to high performance through ERP solution By Accenture It has been more than 18 years since ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions were implemented in Korea by Accenture in 1994. In the past, the ERP system was mainly used for MRP (Material Requirements Planning) to optimize inventories, but the influence of ERP has expanded to cover the PLC (Product Lifecycle) of an enterprise in all industry segments. Moreover, almost all Korean companies have implemented ERP systems and accordingly, Korea has accumulated world-class experiences and capabilities for ERP implementation and retained related professionals. ERP has become one of the crucial systems for business operation. According to the survey on “key benefits targeted by enterprise systems” conducted by Accenture of the highest-level executives of global companies, “better management decision making” ranks first, and “improved financial management” follows. Furthermore, “ease of supports for business expansion, growth and increased flexibility” is also seen as a crucial benefit of

Mar 4, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
Economy

Golden standard of FTA?

AMCHAM chief expects KORUS FTA will bring greater benefits for Korea By Kim Jae-kyoung The countdown for the free trade agreement between Korea and the United States (KORUS FTA) has begun as the two countries agreed Tuesday to put it into effect on March 15, six years after they met first at the negotiating table in June 2006. Although they agreed on the long-awaited implementation of the historic pact that will make Korea the only country to run free trade pacts with both the U.S. and the European Union, there still remain big questions marks concerning multiple issues, including the investor-state dispute (ISD) system provisions. The opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) and activist groups have vowed to prevent the implementation of the FTA. The DUP has requested the U.S. president and Congress to suspend the effectuation, calling for modifying 10 controversial clauses, including the ISD settlement system. The country has been split over the KORUS FTA issue — companies, large and small, are backing the deal, while farmers, small shopkeepers and those in the

Feb 24, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
  • ’Boeing is part of Korea’
Economy

’Boeing is part of Korea’

_ Integration ability, customer knowledge key drivers for Boeing's growth By Kim Jae-kyoung With the business environment changing at a rapid pace and becoming more like a battle field, military leadership has been highlighted in the business community. More chief executives are keen on learning this form of leadership as the new landscape created by the digital era has called for extraordinary adaptability to new situations and quicker decision-making processes. Pat Gaines, president of Boeing Korea, the Korean arm of U.S. aerospace giant Boeing, is the epitome of an ambidextrous leader fully understanding both the military and business worlds. He served in a variety of aviation assignments throughout the world before joining Boeing in 1987. He thinks that his success in the commercial sector is partly attributable to his experience in the military, citing a quick decision-making ability and people management as two core elements he learned then and applied to the business world. His attitude during an hour-long interview clearly shows who he is ? he responded kind

Feb 24, 2012By Kim Jae-kyoung
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