...Doing Business in South Korea important disclaimer No person should act or rely upon any matter on information contained in or implied in this publication without first obtaining advice from a qualified adviser that relates specifically to their particular circumstances. This publication should not be regarded as offering a complete explanation of the taxation matters referred to. The publishers and the authors are not responsible for the results either of any actions taken on the basis of information in this publication, nor for any error in or omission from this publication. The publishers and the authors expressly disclaim all and any liability and responsibility to any person, who acts or fails to act as a consequence of reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this publication. Contents Chapter 1 – Introduction • Geography • Climate • • • • • • • • • • • 6 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 ¡ ¢ Language and Currency Legal System Advantages of Investing in Korea Constitution Economy Import Controls Major Exports and Imports Communications Finance Government Policy on Foreign Investment in Korea Exchange Controls Chapter 2–Business Forms Available to Foreign Investment • • • • • • 13 £ ¢ £ ¢ Local Corporation Establishment Private Business Registration Establishment of a Foreign Company's Domestic Branch Directors Registration requirements and filing procedures for public securities Shareholdings by non-residents Chapter 3 – Accounting ...
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...Introduction to Exchange Rates and the Foreign Exchange Market 2 Per $ 1.225 1.084 5.238 0.703 7.750 48.160 94.860 13.220 7.460 0.609 1.000 1. Refer to the exchange rates given in the following table. Today June 25, 2010 Country Australia Canada Denmark Euro Hong Kong India Japan Mexico Sweden United Kingdom United States Per $ 1.152 1.037 6.036 0.811 7.779 46.360 89.350 12.697 7.740 0.667 1.000 Per £ 1.721 1.559 9.045 1.215 11.643 69.476 134.048 18.993 11.632 1.000 1.496 Per € 1.417 1.283 7.443 1.000 9.583 57.179 110.308 15.631 9.577 0.822 1.232 One Year Ago June 25, 2009 Source: U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors, H.10 release: Foreign Exchange Rates. a. Compute the U.S. dollar–yen exchange rate, E$/¥, and the U.S. dollar–Canadian dollar exchange rate, E$/C$, on June 25, 2010, and June 25, 2009 Answer: June 25, 2009: E$/¥ = 1 / (94.86) = $0.0105/¥ June 25, 2010: E$/¥ = 1 / (89.35) = $0.0112/¥ June 25, 2009: E$/C$ = 1 / (1.084) = $0.9225/C$ June 25, 2010: E$/C$ = 1 / (1.037) = $0.9643/C$ b. What happened to the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the Japanese yen and Canadian dollar between June 25, 2009 and June 25, 2010? Compute the percentage change in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to each currency using the U.S. dollar–foreign currency exchange rates you computed in (a). Answer: Between June 25, 2009 and 2010, both the Canadian dollar and the Japanese yen appreciated relative to the U.S. dollar. The percentage appreciation in the foreign currency relative...
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...Implications of the Asian Financial Crisis. The Asian Financial Crisis also called the "Asian Contagion". This was a series of currency devaluations and other events that spread through many Asian markets beginning in the summer of 1997. The currency markets first failed in Thailand as the result of the government's decision to no longer peg the local currency to the U.S. dollar. Currency declines spread rapidly throughout South Asia, in turn causing stock market declines, reduced import revenues and even government upheaval. Although the economic storm that swept through Asian in 1997 has now declined, the wreckage left in its wake has undoubtedly take years to repair. By indulging in a debt spree that ultimately bought its high flying economies crashing to the ground, Asia may have lost a decade of economic progress. Beyond this, however, the crisis has raised a series of fundamental policy questions about the sustainability of the so called Asian Economic Model, the role of the IMF, and the virtues of floating and fixed exchange rates. The crisis also has important implications for international businesses. For a decade, the Asian Pacific region has been promoted by many as the future economic engine of the world economy. Businesses have invested billions of dollars in the region on the assumption that the rapid growth of the last decade would continue. But at the dawn of the aforementioned crisis, it has come grinding to a halt. So what could this mean for international...
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...O C C A S I O N A L PA P E R 178 IMF-Supported Programs in Indonesia, Korea, and Thailand A Preliminary Assessment Timothy Lane, Atish Ghosh, Javier Hamann, Steven Phillips, Marianne Schulze-Ghattas, and Tsidi Tsikata INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND Washington DC 1999 © 1999 International Monetary Fund Production: IMF Graphics Section Typesetting: Alicia Etchebarne-Bourdin Cataloging-in-Publication Data IMF-supported programs in Indonesia, Korea, and Thailand : a preliminary assessment / by Timothy Lane . . . [et al.]. — [Washington DC : International Monetary Fund], 1999. p. cm. — (Occasional paper, 0251-6365); no. 178 Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-55775-783-6 1. Indonesia—Economic policy. 2. Korea—Economic policy. 3. Thailand—Economic policy. 4. International Monetary Fund—Indonesia. 5. International Monetary Fund—Korea. 6. International Monetary Fund—Thailand. I. Lane, Timothy D. (Timothy David), 1955- II. Occasional paper (International Monetary Fund); no. 178. HC447.I44 1999 Price: US$18.00 (US$15.00 to full-time faculty members and students at universities and colleges) Please send orders to: International Monetary Fund, Publication Services 700 19th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20431, U.S.A. Tel.: (202) 623-7430 Telefax: (202) 623-7201 E-mail: publications@imf.org Internet: http://www.imf.org recycled paper Contents Preface I Overview Timothy Lane and Marianne Schulze-Ghattas References II Background to the Crisis Javier Hamann...
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...Contagion 1 Emerging Market Crises 3 Meltdown in Thailand 7 The International Monetary Fund 9 Implication for Business 11 Malaysia 13 Preventing and Managing Future Crises 14 Conclusion 16 References 18 Introduction Asian Contagion In March 1997 Asia faced a serious crisis in financial sector. This concern was started from Thailand and has spread to a lot of countries in Asia. Obviously it affected to those countries in economy situation such as currency value. Also called the "Asian Contagion", this was a series of currency devaluations and other events that spread through many Asian markets beginning in the summer of 1997. The currency markets first failed in Thailand as the result of the government's decision to no longer peg the local currency...
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...crisis has started, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia had an increasing economic performance; economy was fast growing, saving rates were high, and inflation low. Turning point in Asian economy was 2 July 1997, the day when Thai Baht fell around 20 % against the $US. “It all began in Thailand’ summarizes the conventional explanation of the early stages of the crisis.” (Hill, p.3) How it all began, what factors caused the crisis, what segments were affected the most, what was the backup plan, and what policies should have been taken to prevent the crisis are the points that this paper will cover. First and Second-Generation Models According to 1996 annual report of Bank for International Settlements (BIS), pre-crisis fundamentals exhibit economic performance of Asian countries. They’ve experienced moderate inflation rates of about 6%, high savings rate of 32%, and trade openness indicators of 39%. Table 1: East Asian Economic Conditions Before Crisis Although accounting and macroeconomic analytics have failed to foreseen the currency crisis, which is inevitable, first and second-generation models explain us was it due to weakening macroeconomic fundamentals or financial contagion. In accordance to first-generation model developed by Krugman 1979, market-speculative movements, in response to policies, are incompatible with fixed exchange rate regime. What it means is that “speculators who want to make a profit can buy foreign exchange reserves causing its exhaustions...
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...best possible responses to this crisis. Through my research, I talked about the causes of the East Asian financial crisis, the role of the IMF in the international monetary system, and if the IMF responses to Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia were the best responses or not. After analyzing the IMF responses in this crisis, I found that the IMF policies need to be reformed in order to monitor and prevent future financial crises spill-over effects at the global and regional levels. I will analyzed 5 scholarly journals on the financial crisis in East Asia, 3 scholarly articles on the role of IMF in the East Asia financial crisis, and 1 novel called POLITICS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA DEMOCRACY OR LESS by William Case. INTRODUCTION Several financial crises have occurred in the world economy through the last decades. Some examples include the East Asian financial Crisis of 1997, the Latin American debt crisis of 1994-95, the Russian crisis of 1998, and the Brazilian crisis of 1998-99 which spread out to other areas also known as the “contagion effect”. During these crises, the International Monetary Funds (IMF) has been involved and known as a crisis manager. The IMF was created in 1945 after World War 2. The IMF is charged with overseeing the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries of the...
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...in other countries. For example Tesco, Ford, General Motor, McDonald, Disney, so many other companies. These companies have key interest to standardise their product for general acceptance. The international business becomes more complex. Tie between the different societies and organisations. (Meldrum, D.H) as businesses inter into new market it chances of 50% losses increases. Due to different in economic, political, cultural structure, policies, geography and currencies. These factor decreases profit ratio of international investment. There are no specific criteria to measure such in-stability. Every investor used their own method and measure. Uncertain condition of country make easy for international business to design their own stability criteria. (Considering risk in international business) Business has no idea about the local risk. It's difficult to operate and manage in such condition where the Culture, Social, Economic, Political, and legal structure are not stable. In such cause the international business need to take all the measurement either it`s Commercial, Culture, Social. Political or legal instability before enter into new market or country. 2. International business (McCulloch, C.1999)International business is started as with the formation of first national borders. Greek started such activity before the Christ follow by the British in 1600 when they establish the East India Company throughout the Asian as trading firm. With passage of time...
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...| KOSPI Index * A Summarized report on the KOSPI Index over a 2 week observation Apurva Joshi | F1601- Global Finance & Capital Markets |10/31/14| James Ryan KOSPI Index Introduction The Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI index is the Index of all common stocks traded in the Korea Exchange (KRX) which is based in South Korea created by the amalgamation of the Korea Stock Exchange, Korea Futures Exchange and KOSDAQ Stock Market under the Korea Stock & Futures Exchange Act. replacing the previous DOW-styled KCSPI. The Index is calculated based on market capitalization which makes it highly susceptible to the fortunes of its key market players. The Index is also sensitive to foreign markets as its key market players are heavily into the Electronics segment, where its key customers are based in Western Europe, North America and Australia.The Index's risk regarding market sentiment is also dependent on its relation with North Korea with whom South Korea has a history of war and recent skirmishes and its competition with Japan over the depreciating Yen. Rising Competition from India and mainly China have also pressurized South Korea's current position as the country with the largest weight in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Although new banking measures have been brought into place with the aim of strengthening the won which has depreciated greatly, the recent stream of cutting interest rates by South Korea's Central bank can cause heightened risks...
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...DEVELOPMENT OF DERIVATIVE MARKETS IN EMERGING MARKET COUNTRIES1 A. Background Derivatives are commonly used for managing various risk exposures, including foreign exchange, interest rate, and credit risks. By allowing investors to unbundle and transfer these risks, derivatives contribute to a more efficient allocation of capital, in many cases reduce market and portfolio volatility, facilitate cross-border capital flows, and create more opportunities for portfolio diversification. Despite rapid growth over the past several years, Emerging Market (EM) derivatives account for only about 10 percent of the total outstanding notional values in global derivatives markets. Compared to mature markets, the ratio of outstanding notional value of derivatives to market capitalization of the underlying asset markets is fairly small in most emerging economies and is mainly focused on sovereign risks. The most common issues that challenge the development of local derivatives markets are (i) relatively underdeveloped markets for the underlying assets; (ii) lack of adequate regulatory, legal and market infrastructure, and (iii) restrictions on the use of derivatives by local and foreign entities.2 The problem of misuse of derivatives is perceived to be more acute in emerging market countries where prudential regulation, credit information infrastructure, and risk management practices are not fully developed and maybe in conflict with reasonable economic, investment or portfolio objectives. This...
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...Executive Summary Foreign trade has been considered as an engine of economic growth. The progress of a country to a large extent depends on their ability to trade relatively freely with the rest of world. The rapid export growth not only contributes directly to economic growth but it permits more imports and rapid modernization of production. It is necessary to understand Indian Fertilizers Industry position in world trade and their promotional strategy for integrating India with the world trade. In terms of Indian Fertilizer Industry, Composition of Foreign Trade, Direction of Exports and Imports and Major Problems of Indian Fertilizer Export Sector will be analyzed. Overall the industry specific export-import scenario, avenues and prospects, India’s competitive advantages and disadvantages and suitable export strategies to boost the exports of carpet related products will be discussed. Though economic relations between India and Korea have been strengthening, the current size of trade and investment between the two countries is relatively low compared to the size and structural complementarities of the two economies. In this context, the present paper analyses trade and investment relations and explores future areas of potential co-operation between India and Korea. We find that the increase in merchandise trade between the two countries has been mainly because of the changing demand structure and comparative advantages of both the economies in complementary sectors in...
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...as Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia were financially sound and satisfied all the criteria that economists proclaimed necessary to maintain order and progress. However, economists and the rest of the world did not see the breaches in the economy and realize the affect those considerations would have in the exacerbation of an entire region. The purpose of this essay is to explain what the Asian Economic Crisis was, the causes, consequences, and how the world went about resolving the issue to bring this region to where it is today. The 1990s was a decade of enormous growth in Southeast Asia sustained by its exporting (Noble, 1). It was commonly known as the Asian economic miracle. Macroeconomic balances were relatively steady and inflation was under control in these Asian countries, like Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. Because of the major progress and developments in these countries, it became an attractive location for foreign investment. Technology had reached a new brink, where people could invest internationally without having to leave the country and establish a huge investment abroad. Trading through the internet was easy, efficient and convenient. Capital Inflow into these countries was inundating the banks and several sectors of these countries in a way they never saw before. For the investors it was beneficial because their rate of return was nearly ten to twenty times higher than what they would get by investing in the domestic market (Noble, 8). For the...
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...majorly affected by this were: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. South Korea Japan Thailand Indonesia Malaysia Philippines The countries at the center of the recent crisis were for years admired as some of the most successful emerging market economies, owing to their rapid growth and the striking gains in their populations' living standards. With their generally prudent fiscal policies and high rates of private saving, they were widely seen as models for many other countries. No one could have foreseen that these countries could suddenly become embroiled in one of the worst financial crises. Their very success led foreign investors to underestimate their underlying economic weaknesses. Partly because of the large-scale financial inflows that their economic success encouraged, there were also increased demands on policies and institutions, especially those safeguarding the financial sector; and policies and institutions failed to keep pace with these demands. Only as the crisis deepened were the fundamental policy shortcomings and their consequences fully revealed. Also, past successes may have led policymakers to deny the need for action when problems first appeared1. Several factors contributed to the deterioration in sentiment by foreign and domestic investors2: A buildup of overheating pressures, evident in large external deficits and inflated property and stock market values The prolonged maintenance of pegged exchange rates, which complicated the response of monetary policies...
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...in other countries. For example Tesco, Ford, General Motor, McDonald, Disney, so many other companies. These companies have key interest to standardise their product for general acceptance. The international business becomes more complex. Tie between the different societies and organisations. (Meldrum, D.H) as businesses inter into new market it chances of 50% losses increases. Due to different in economic, political, cultural structure, policies, geography and currencies. These factor decreases profit ratio of international investment. There are no specific criteria to measure such in-stability. Every investor used their own method and measure. Uncertain condition of country make easy for international business to design their own stability criteria. (Considering risk in international business) Business has no idea about the local risk. It's difficult to operate and manage in such condition where the Culture, Social, Economic, Political, and legal structure are not stable. In such cause the international business need to take all the measurement either it`s Commercial, Culture, Social. Political or legal instability before enter into new market or country. 2. International business (McCulloch, C.1999)International business is started as with the formation of first national borders. Greek started such activity before the Christ follow by the British in 1600 when they establish the East India Company throughout the Asian as trading firm. With passage of...
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...manner as Table 2-2 in the chapter. | Home Country | Foreign Country | Absolute Advantage | Number of bicycles produced per hour | 4 | 2 | 4/2=2 Home | Number of snowboards produced per hour | 6 | 8 | 6/8=0.75 Foreign | Comparative Advantage | 6/4= 1.5 (snowboards/bicyle) ; to produce one extra bicycles 1.5 snowboard must be given up | 8/2=4to produce one extra bicycle 4 snowboards must be given up | | b) Which country has an absolute advantage in the production of bicycles? Which country has an absolute advantage in the production of snowboards? Home has an absolute advantage in the production of bicycles because it is able to produce bicycles with fewer resources (more per hour) than Foreign. Equivalently, labour requirement to produce one more bicycle in Home is aLS = 1/MPLS = 1/4 – it takes 1/4 hours to produce an extra bicycle, whereas in Foreign it takes 1/2 hours. 1/4 < 1/2 Foreign has an absolute advantage in the production of snowboards because it is able to produce snowboards with fewer resources (more per hour) than Home. Equivalently, labour requirement to produce one more snowboard in Home is aLB = 1/MPLB = 1/6 – it takes 1/6 hours to produce an extra snowboard, whereas in Foreign it takes 1/8 hours. 1/8 < 1/6 c) What is the opportunity cost of bicycles in terms of snowboards at Home? What is the opportunity cost of bicycles in terms of bicycles in terms of snowboards in Foreign? The opportunity cost of B in terms of S is given by...
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