Interview: Dr. Kim Yeong-seen, President of Korea Consumer Agency

The Korea Consumer Agency is a government organization, that was established in July, 1987, based on the Consumer Protection Act. Its founding principle is to protect consumer rights and interests, to promote a rational consumption life and to contribute to the sound development of the nation's economy.
The agency is contributing to national economic development through providing consumer redress, consumer information and education, guaranteeing safety and rights, and protecting consumers economic interests. It provides distinctive and professional services on consumer affairs as a public institution specialized in effectively promoting the governments consumer protection policies.
An interview with Dr. Kim Yeong-seen, President of Korea Consumer Agency, on the role of the agency and plans for the future.

>>Major three areas in which Korea Consumer Agency is pouring efforts this year include 1) providing information on sales price of necessity goods, 2) establishing and spreading green consumption life, and 3) strengthening underprivileged and vulnerable consumers.
We are trying to help our consumers to enjoy more options in choice and promote price competition among distributors eventually to stabilize prices at home by providing price information of about 80 necessity goods including tofu, instant noodle, milk sold in diverse retailer format such as department store, discount store, supermarket, and traditional market.
In addition, we continue to survey consumer prices at home and abroad to identify and improve issues. In 2009, our Agency surveyed and compared local consumer price for the same items at three different store formats of department store, discount stores, and specialty stores in 11 cities of G7 member nations, major three Asian nations, and Korea.
To establish green consumption life, an index of advanced consumption life, we plan to 1) develop an index for green consumption capacity and a model for green home as an 粗nergy-saving environmentally-friendly home 2) develop and promoting educational programs for taking the initiative for green consumption, and 3) provide quality information to our consumers by conducting quality comparison test of green-labeled products.
In particular, our Organization is going to focus our capacity on strengthening consumer protection for the underprivileged and vulnerable class including the elderly, children, the challenged, and multi-cultural family. For example, we conducted a variety of tests and research on children play equipment, safety status of elderly consumers, improvement of consumption environment of multi-cultural family, and quality comparison for products for the disabled. Also, we set up a task force for Consumer PR for the Vulnerable in Feb to aggressively back up consumer protection for the underprivileged.
>>Korea Consumer Agency is a public organization to comprehensively promote diversified consumer policies of the Government as well as carry out consumer counseling and redress activities by the Framework Act on Consumer.
Consumer policy in Korea is largely divided by pre-emptive damage prevention and consumer redress after the fact. For prevention, we carry out activities of consumer information provision and consumer education. And, for consumer redress, we do consumer counseling and redress activities.
In particular, if consumer complaints or damages take place during one's use of a merchandise or service, a consumer counselor carries out counseling and providing information such as where to contact by guidelines for consumer dispute resolutionand other relevant law. And, if consumer redress is necessary, the consumer complaint is transferred to Consumer Redress Bureau by item so that consumer redress is taking place with agreed recommendation to both parties of a consumer and a business operator.
The person in charge of the consumer redress in question conducts fact-finding activities and helps compensation process through the agreed recommendation by the both parties of the consumer and the business. And the whole process shall be completed within 30 days after when the complaint is originally made.
If the business or the consumer does not accept the agreed recommendation determined by the person in charge in Consumer Redress Bureau, a request for settlement is made to Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission. The Commission shall make a settlement decision within 30 days from the day of the request. And, the settlement functions as judicial compromise.
>>Framework Act on Consumers, completely revised in 2007, reflects new policy paradigm shift to establishment of consumer sovereignty from consumer protection-oriented policy in the past. The Act itself changed its name to framework Act on Consumers from Consumer Protection Act while our organization changed its name to Korea Consumer Agency from the Korea Consumer Protection Board
Also, Consumer Association Lawsuit and Collective ADR (alternative dispute resolution) mechanism were introduced for consumer redress for massive number of victims suffering small amount of damages. The revised Act recognizes Consumer Association Lawsuit in which an organization fulfilling certain level of requirements seeks for ban or stop on violating activities of business.
Also, the revision grants an exception in which the CDSC at KCA carries out collective ADR process including monetary compensation. In addition, the revision also stipulates consumer Safety Center set up at KCA to give preferential consumer protection to the underprivileged in terms of safety including children and states consumer safety provisions such as collecting injury information and issuing consumer alert.
Meanwhile, the Act on the Consumer Protection in the Electronic Commerce Transactions, etc introduces online Escrow system and makes it obligatory for businesses using private information received such as shipping company to secure personal information. Also, a revision is on-going in order to strengthen responsibility of the telemarketing intermediaries.
>>With the advance of Information, Communications, and Technology and spread of cross-border transactions and economic cooperation among nations and regions such as the FTA, it is highly likely for number of cross-border complaints and damages to grow further. In reality, the number of cross-border consumer disputes filed to our Agency for the past five years amounted to 1,795 cases in total, indicating an increasing trend.
At KCA, we have the person in charge of cross-border consumer redress in place in Consumer Redress Bureau in order to carry out real consumer redress activities in cross-border transaction more efficiently. In addition, we are actively engaged in activities to prevent cross-border consumer damages through analysis and PR of the current status of damages such as top complaint location, top consumer location, top dispute cause, and contents of dispute. Also, the KCA is seeking ways to resolve the disputes by strengthening multilateral cooperation with International Organizations such as OECD and ICPEN (International Consumer Protection & Enforcement Network).
>>In order to resolve consumer issues, consumers should play their part. But, more fundamentally, role of the business should be stressed. Companies should embrace paradigm shift in consumer protection, since management toward consumer protection and customer satisfaction is not a choice but a must with top priority for the business to survive.
Business can upgrade product quality by listening to consumer voice and understanding consumer needs through consumer dispute settlement and redress process. This will lead companies to come up with a new idea for product development and achieve product innovation.
Enhancing consumer confidence by resolving consumer issues is core to strengthened corporate competitiveness. Not only companies but also nations should recognize that preparing measures to resolve simultaneously-occurring cross-border consumer complaints triggered by the rising number of cross-border transactions is the best strategy to secure competitive edge for long-term. Only companies that can satisfy difficult consumers can survive in the highly competitive market.

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Interview: Mr. Ahn Byong-man, Minister of Education, Science & Technology

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is striving to secure core basic & source technologies by fostering highly-competitive global talents and building innovative capacity of universities and research institutes with an aim to develop future growth engines.
Interview with Mr. Ahn Byong-man, Minister of Education Science & Technology.

>>The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) is pursuing various reform policies to strengthen the national competitiveness in education, science and technology under the vision to promote education, science and technology as a building block to turn Korea into a global first-class advanced country.
The education policy is especially focused on strengthening autonomy of the schools and improving the public education under the goal of nurturing students' creativity and consideration for others so that they may grow to become talents who can unleash creativity based on their knowledge and show consideration for others.
In addition, the MEST is striving to secure core basic & source technologies by fostering highly-competitive global talents and building innovative capacity of universities and research institutes with an aim to develop future growth engines.
This year, the MEST will see to it that the policies implemented so far take a firm root in schools and research institutes and produce fruitful results for the general public.
>>The main purpose of the education reform is to improve satisfaction with the public education through enhanced autonomy, diversity and accountability of schools, which will ultimately help reduce private education expenditure and cultivate creative human resources.
To this end, the MEST is taking concrete steps such as diversifying school types to provide greater options for students and parents and introducing and establishing the "admissions officer system" that takes into consideration students' potential and aptitude in highschool and university entrance test.
The measures such as the National Assessment of StudentsAcademic Performance, Teacher Evaluation System and School Information Disclosure System are also being implemented for the purpose of enhancing the autonomy and accountability of schools.
In terms of R&D, which are the main sectors that you are concentrating on to make the country an R&D hub ? How are you cooperating with global research centers and experts?
Among many factors required to make Korea a global R&D hub, the Korean government is paying a lot of attention to nurturing quality researchers and laying a solid research basis.
In this regard, the Korean government is implementing the projects such as WCU (World Class University) and WCI (World Class Institute) that are designed to enhance national R&D capability and foster excellent researchers. Many outstanding overseas scholars are invited to Korea through these projects to help cultivate highly-competitive Korean researchers and build capacity of Korean research institutes.
On top of that, the Korean government intends to create International Science Business Belt as a global R&D hub which involves the establishment of Basic Science Institute, construction of a heavy ion accelerator, creation of a basis for the business and building of a global living environment.
>>The Korean government has continued to expand its R&D investment even amid the global economic crisis and implemented various measures including tax benefit and deregulation in an effort to support corporate R&D centers and encourage the enterprises for boosting their R&D investments.
With such measures in place, the overseas companies in Korea are expected to be offered greater opportunities to participate in the R&D projects of the Government or the private sector of Korea and to benefit from the supportive measures for the corporate research centers to the same extent as domestic companies.
Meanwhile, the Korean companies' awareness of the need for cooperation with academia or research institutes still remains low, despite the diverse government-level efforts to facilitate cooperation among industry, academia and research institutes to constantly expand the R&D investments and improve the investment efficiency.
The Korean universities or research institutes, given this circumstance, will be able to carve out a new niche market by jointly participating in the national R&D projects with overseas companies in Korea which have abundant experiences of collaboration with academia or research institutions.
>>In May 2005, "Space Development Promotion Act" was enacted in Korea, providing a legal basis to carry out national space program in a more systematic way. Based on this Act, the Government established Space Development Promotion Basic Plan (Space Vision 2016, 2007~2016) defining the national space program for the next ten years.
The Basic Plan laid out the concrete action plans for the development of satellite and launching vehicle technology and strengthening of domestic space industry, workforce, and infrastructures, under the goal of attaining the indigenous space capabilities and ultimately joining the ranks of advanced countries in space.
Our country is currently working on KOMPSAT (Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite) Project with a view to accomplishing independence of technology with respect to earth observation satellite bus with high-resolution by 2016.
Currently KOMPSAT-2 is in its fourth year of operation since 2006, and KOMPSAT-5 & -3 are scheduled to be launched into low orbit by 2011. Also under development is KOMPSAT-3A that enables night observation with its infrared camera. Though not successful, we have gained valuable experiences in launching vehicle technologies through the development and launch of KSLV-1 (Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1).
Moreover, Korea's first geostationary orbit satellite, COMS (Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite), has successfully reached its targeted orbit after being launched from the Guiana Space Center, France on 27 June 2010. This COMS is currently in test operation, with its full operation scheduled by the end of this year.

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Interview: Mr. Andreas Martin, Head of International Acquisitions & Sales, Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH

The DekaBank Group, owned by savings banks and Landesbanken (Federal State banks), is the largest provider of open-ended real estate funds in Germany. The Groups two investment companies, Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH and WestInvest Gesellschaft fuer Investmentfonds mbH, have a total of more than 21 billion euro in assets under management. Deka Immobilien GmbH is affiliated with these companies and is responsible for global real estate purchases and sales, real estate asset management, and all other real estate services, including product development.
Bundling the Groups real estate services in Deka Immobilien and streamlining and simplifying organizational processes has generated large synergy effects that provide a win-win situation for all parties involved.

As noted by Andreas Martin, Head of International Acquisitions & Sales, while the two capital investment companies concentrate entirely on their core tasks of fund management, risk management and fund controlling, Deka Immobilien powerfully combines the functions of property acquisition and sale, real estate and resource management, and development of additional innovative products.
“Because we leverage this concentrated clout in the world’s real estate markets, backed by our own meticulous market research, we are a sought-after business partner. This in turn helps us continually improve the performance of our products and strengthen our leadership in the market for german real estate mutual funds,” he said.
This means that market participants have access to an even broader range of properties, offering attractive rental space in the office, shopping, logistics, distribution and hotel sectors.
The company's activities in the most liquid international real estate markets are represented by more than 410 offices, retail properties, hotels, shopping centers and logistics centers in 23 countries on four continents.
'We represent an international network of specialists providing the highest level of expertise and professionalism. For over 40 years, Deka Immobilien has been the acknowledged market leader with innovative products based on high standards of quality and transparency. Not only do we lead in the field of mutual funds and have set the standards for individual property funds and special funds for institutional investors, but also, our offerings have been confirmed by premium ratings — for the quality of both our products and our management.”
Properties are purchased on the basis of stringent return and quality criteria. The knowledge of local markets and leading market research ensures the quality of decisions during a timely, clearly structured and rapid investment process, he said.
Through the two capital investment companies, Deka Immobilien also offers a wide range of
open-ended mutual funds for private investors and special and individual funds for institutional investors. These two companies completely run all the property funds, managing their portfolios and performance.
“Besides these established investment products, we offer a variety of 'fund of property funds' models that are developed in collaboration with the FoF specialists of DekaBank/ Deka Investment GmbH. These products range from approaches based predominantly on German open-ended property funds all the way to international value-added and opportunity funds of funds, offering a wide spectrum of opportunity/risk profiles.”
Speaking on the company's investment strategy, he noted that all purchases and sales are systematically aimed at acquiring high-return properties for the Groups two investment companies and selling properties that no longer conform to its portfolio strategy.
He noted that along with very quickly and professionally handling large-volume acquisitions and sales in all of the world’s major real estate markets, the company also provides professionally organized financing services to other investors.
The advantages this generates for purchasing assets benefit millions of private clients, as well as institutional investors, insurers, pension funds, and savings and loan banks.
“We make all of our investments on the basis of thorough macro and micro research. For many years we have had our own in-house economics team for this, which has earned
various kudos from the market, as well as an international network of leading real estate consultants.”
Speaking on the worldwide acquisitions of the company, he noted that the center of activity is mainly properties in commercial agglomerations, preferably with long-term lease contracts. Those are predominantly: Office buildings/Commercial buildings; Shopping Centers; Industrial Parks; Hotels; Logistics Centers; Real Estate of Mixed Usage and Premises with Potential for Development. The company also develops Projects for the public sector and let them long-term to authorities generally to relieve public budgets.
The properties are purchased on the basis of demanding return and quality criteria. The familiarity with local markets and market-leading research ensure high-quality decisions as part of a systematic, clearly structured and speedy investment process. The process of buying and selling properties plays a very important role in active portfolio management of the kind practiced by Deka Immobilien. In order to hold onto existing clients and win new ones, property investments have to yield convincing returns, he noted.
“We achieve this not only through innovativeness and clout for making acquisitions and sales, but also by excellently managing the properties belonging to our funds. Our real estate management service package also includes first-rate building management and maintenance.
The focus is on ensuring long-term success for both investors and tenants, who profit from our size, market prominence and global positioning.”
In this context he noted that the company recently sold the fully let office property Eugene Investment & Securities Building in Seoul, for around 123 million euro. The closing of the transaction took place on May 31st.
Michael Endres, Senior Investment Manager, International Acquisition & Sales, noted that the building has been acquired by the Korean Public Officials Benefit Association, a semi-governmental fund company which manages the pension funds of civil servants.
Located in the city's Yeoido business district, the property has been held in the portfolio of the Deka-ImmobilienGlobal open-ended mutual property fund since September 2004. With an investment volume of almost 70 million euro in 2004, the price now achieved on the sale was around 30% higher than the current appraised value of approximately 95 million euro.
He explained that after uncertainty in the capital markets last year facilitated the exploitation of investment opportunities, the recovery already evident in some markets can now be used to realize sales at a profit. The total floor space of the property of around 40,000 sqm is let almost entirely to Eugene Investment & Securities on the basis of a long-term agreement.
“The sale of the property forms part of active portfolio management. In addition to the successful disposal of properties at a convenient moment, this includes acquiring properties of first-class quality in prime locations and value-enhancing property management,” he said.
Martin said that Korea continues to be an attractive market for the company, and investments will continue, even as some of the assets are flipped when the timing is right.

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Interview: Mr. Chua Choy-Soon, Managing Director, SEB Investment

The Swedish SEB Group offers a comprehensive range of global and local investment products and has more than 130 billion euro in assets under management worldwide. It's real estate arm, part of SEB Asset Management, is based in Frankfurt, and offers real estate and securities investments, specializing in total return strategies. The company's experience and expertise make it the SEB Group's global center of competence for real estate.
The company's real estate success story began in 1989 with the launch of SEB ImmoInvest. Its largest real estate mutual fund with a gross fund volume of approximately 8 billion euro grew as the Investmentgesetz (German Investment Act) developed, from a fund that invests in Germany and Europe to one that invests around the world.

As noted by Mr. Chua Choy-Soon, Managing Director, SEB Investment GmbH, as of today, the company manages 14 billion euros of real estate globally on behalf of both retail and institutional investors. This amount is split up among various funds, most are core funds which are income driven and some of total return funds which are less income driven.
The majority of the funds, about 70 percent are in office sector, with the remaining in retail, industrial space and residential. For that matter, it is only in Asia (total investment of 1.5 billion euro) that SEB has invested in the residential sector.
“We are the quality leader in the real estate fund market and are expanding our activities for our clients in three areas: SEB real estate and SEB securities investments under one roof; Growth and expansion of the real estate mutual fund business; and, Development of attractive products for institutional investors,he said.
The company believes that real estate, fixed income and multi- asset approaches are particularly well suited to total return strategies. Products based on these strategies are especially attractive to investors seeking a high probability that their income expectations will be met.
“To us, total return means generating a continuous positive target return independently of the market, and hence of a benchmark. This allows us to meet our clients need for types of investment that have visible income flows and that ideally deliver returns above the risk-free money market rate.
Total return means limiting risk, rather than eliminating it. The key parameters here are value at risk and maximum drawdown.
“This is a concern we hear repeatedly by both our institutional and our retail clients. That壮 why SEB Asset Managements performance profile systematically focuses on a total return philosophy. Our concepts are based on real estate, fixed income and multi-asset strategies,he said.
The combination of timely allocation changes to regional exposures and stringent underwriting standards has led to extremely stable performance over decades. For this reason, the recent financial turmoil did not affect the company's investments negatively.
Mr. Chua noted that the key factor determining the stability of a real estate funds performance is the investment strategy chosen by the funds management.
SEB Asset Management recently won an IPD European Property Investment Award 2010 in the specialist category for Germany for its SEB ImmoPortfolio Target Return Fund. The open-ended real estate fund already won IPD awards in 2008 and 2009 for the highest average total return relative to the appropriate sector benchmark over three years in Germany.
IPD defines a specialist fund as a portfolio of interests in real estate concentrated to at least 70% of its capital employed in a single main sector. Nine countries took part in this year's competition: Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
“Over two decades, SEB Asset Management has shown how to turn real estate funds into solid total return investments. Our investment strategies focus on achieving a stable cash flow on the basis of a balanced risk/return ratio. We continually optimize the risk/return profile through strategically structured portfolio diversification particularly with regard to markets, the mix of locations and tenants, and property sizes,he said.
Be it a blockbuster or a smaller niche product, SEB Asset Management guarantees creative intelligence and technical brilliance throughout. SEB's investment process is based on a combined top-down / bottom-up approach. Firstly, the property markets are compared using a top-down approach based on a market scoring model. However, the success of a real estate investment depends not only on the correct selection of the target markets, but also on the selection of individual properties.
This is why the results of the market scoring model are also included in the property scoring system, which compares individual properties. Property scoring is used on both existing properties and prospective acquisitions. Finally, the effects of investments on the portfolio must also be taken into account. Clear portfolio-specific investment rules ensure that the target risk / return position for the overall portfolio is kept in mind during individual transactions.
The market scoring model filters and assesses the investment universe to identify the markets
in which an investment could be attractive in the near future (working universe). The filter
criteria serve to restrict the scope of the investment universe and are applied both at the country level and during analysis of the types of use. Both socio-economic factors and factors specific to individual real estate markets are used when assessing real estate markets and these, too, are analyzed at both country and sub-market level. The threshold values for the filter criteria and the weightings of the assessment factors differ depending on the target risk / return profile. In the case of core products, the focus is on generating cash flows that are as stable as possible rather than on potential appreciation of the net present value.
As a result, longer-term factors are given a higher weighting than is the case for more risk-oriented investment approaches. The description below focuses on the core approach.
After the ranking has been performed, the working universe is divided into a target list
and a monitoring list. The target list consists of the target markets for investments, while the monitoring list comprises markets that are under observation but where no investments are actively planned in the short term. In principle, real estate markets qualify as target markets if they fall within the top third of the overall ranking. In a second step, they are compared with the existing portfolio and the feasibility of new investments in terms of resources is established.
The company's three new real estate special funds thrive on our many years of SEB real estate experience on three continents: SEB Americas REI, SEB Asia REI and SEB Europe REI offer access to the world壮 key real estate markets, as total return funds in the conservative risk segment.
The company founded SEB Asian Property SICAV-FIS as a Luxembourg-registered special fund in 2007. This fund is the first vehicle in our product range that invests exclusively in Asia. Over the past three years, it has invested more than 1.5 billion euro in China, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore for all the funds.
Although the company has no investments in Korea, he noted that the company hopes to gain more momentum once the market opens further. Until recently, Korea has been tough for foreigners, but hopefully more opportunities will come in this cycle, he said.

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Interview: Mr. Choi Jong-man, Commissioner of Gwangyang Bay Area Free Economic Zone Authority

Designated a free economic zone in October 2003, the Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone has unlimited potential to become a global logistics hub with an unrivaled transportation network, a world-class industrial infrastructure, incomparable living conditions, and business friendly environment featuring a variety of attractive deregulation and support policies.
GFEZ is comprised of five districts, each with its own mission in the overall development. Each of the districts has its own development agenda, with the first phases well under way and ongoing through 2011. They comprise: Gwangyang District (Logistics), Yulchon District (Manufacturing), Sindeok District (Residential), Hwayang District (Tourism) and Hadong District (Multi-purpose). Since its establishment in 2003, the GFEZ Authority has been able to attract a total of 6.5104 trillion won worth of investments from approximately 80 companies (59 local, 31 foreign), creating 17,165 new jobs, which has given a tremendous boost to the growth of the regional economy.
In particular, the active participation of the 31 foreign investors (38% of total investment) has established a bridgehead for GFEZ to serve as international business hub. It has attracted total 2.5938 trillion won from 31 foreign investors, and commercial traffic in Gwangyang Bay Area has also grown from 1.19 billion to 1.81 million TEU (53% increase), which has played an important role in the economic growth of Jeollanam- do.
Despite its relatively short duration of operation, GFEZ has been acting as a center of the economy of Jeollanam- do, as well as activating the economy of the east side of Korea.
In an interview,Mr. Choi Jong-man, Commissioner of Gwangyang Bay Area Free Economic Zone Authority, talks about his strategies to attract more foreign investors.

>>GFEZ has been designated as a Special Economic Zone, along with Busan and Incheon, by the Korean government. By offering special incentives for the foreign companies who invest, its strategy is to attract more investors and to contribute to the development and prosperity of the regional economy.
Gwangyang Port, thanks to the two-port system, has already been consolidated with industrial bases such as Gwangyang Steel Mill and Gwangyang Port Container Terminal even before the establishment of GFEZ. For this reason, with Gwangyang as a center, GFEZ was established aiming to become a global hub dealing with industry, leisure, education, and logistics.
Of course, attracting foreign investors and logistic companies is essential; however, it is also important to be accompanied with cooperation of Korea-based companies and activation of regional industry. GFEZ will focus on increasing container traffic as well as developing its strong manufacturing and high-tech industries.
>>All administrative procedures, ranging from investment advice to the start of the business will be handled by the GFEZ Authority, ensuring more convenient business start-up. A range of subsidies will also be provided once the company satisfies certain requirements, helping cutting costs and maximizing profits.
GFEZ offers far-reaching tax incentives and some areas may also enjoy the benefits of a free trade zone. For the foreign companies located inside the FEZ and free economic zone developers, 100 percent of tax exemption for national tax; tariffs, corporate tax, income tax, and local tax; acquisition tax, registration tax, property tax is offered.
Three years exemption of corporate tax, income tax, acquisition tax, registration tax, property tax, and comprehensive land tax for foreign companies that make a pre-qualified investment in manufacturing or logistics, and 50 percent reduction of all these taxes for an additional two years will be provided for foreign investors in Gwangyang Port Free Trade Zone (8.88).
Gwangyang Port Free Trade Zone also offers exceptionally low rental fee; 30 won/ per month for preferential rent and 200 won/ per month for basic rent. 28 companies including Samsung Tesco, SNNC, and Korea Express are the current tenants residing in the free trade zone.
>>GFEZ, mainly in Gwangyang and Yulchon District, is focusing on steel-making materials and non-ferrous metals, new and advanced high-tech materials, IT, compound and chemical product manufacturing, metal works related manufacturing.
In Hwayang District, it is aiming to develop as a great tourist destination to complement Korea’s southern coast tourism belt by attracting and building a unique place-golf-courses, spa resorts, shopping malls, and hotels- that combines beauty and the needs of tourists.
In Sindeok District, mainly Sindae Hinterland, is planning to develop a new residential, educational, and recreational town with international schools, marina facilities, hospitals, condominiums, townhouses, shopping centers, and top of the line amenities by 2011.
GFEZ expects 20 educational institutions and universities to be established within this zone. In this regard, Korea’s first fully foreign owned and accredited branch school, the Shipping & Transport College (STC-K) of the Netherlands, is already providing educational degrees to local and international students at their campus in Gwangyang Port.
In the matter of building medical facilities, foreigners or corporate bodies designed to provide medical services to foreigners under commercial law, and companies of which 50 percent or more is owned by foreign investors are allowed to establish medical centers and pharmacies within the district. Moreover, GFEZ offers the tenants of educational or medical institutions to use its land for free of charge.
>>First, GFEZ has the best geographical conditions and unrivaled transportation network to become a maritime transshipment cargo hub. It is located between China, Japan, and Russia and close to many major Northeast Asian ports including Shanghai, Hong Kong, Osaka, and Kaohsiung.
Domestically, there are four airports close to GFEZ: Yeosu, Gwangju, Muan, and Sacheon. Currently, three expressways, eight national roads, and eighteen regional roads are directly connected to GFEZ. Especially Jeonju-Gwangyang expressway is expected to be completed by 2010, which will cut driving time to Seoul to 3 hours. Besides, GFEZ is linked to two national railway lines; the Jeolla Line (North-South) and the Kyungjeon Line (East-West). Also, GFEZ has direct access to two industrial railways, the Gwangyang Line for steel transportation and the Yeocheon Line mostly for petrochemical products.
Second, GFEZ possesses the optimal infrastructure necessary for industrial activities. Nature gas for industrial production is planned to be supplied through pipelines across the GFEZ. Also, GFEZ has abundant water resources to fully meet its needs. Three rivers; the Seomjin, the Youngsan, and the Tamjin Rivers, as well as three dams; the Juam, the Suyeo, and the Tamjin Dams, are adjacent or within the area. Moreover, its stable electric power supply and environmental waste water supply make GFEZ as incomparable to the other free economic zones in Korea.
Lastly, combined with its abundant resources and geographical advantages, GFEZ makes it possible to secure the supply of materials, manufacture, and import at one-stop. This is a huge advantage compare to other free economic zones in Korea, considering convenience and cost-benefits.
>>Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone has excellent labor force and industrial infrastructure. While considering the advanced economic levels of Japan and China, they may seem to bring profits for short time, however, their high wages and expenses cannot be comparable to GFEZ in the long-term.
As the commissioner, I will continue to find better ways for GFEZ to become the best business-friendly Free Economic Zone in the world as well as in East Asia.
To do so, GFEZ will try to sign more MOUs with foreign investors by hosting a meeting with ambassadors, diplomats, and business leaders. Also, I strongly urge the potential investors to visit Gwangyang and experience its beautiful natural resources and attractive conditions.

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Interview: Mr. Chang Tae-pyong, Minister of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries is taking efforts to make the food industry as the next growth engine, by encouraging foreign investors. The government has chosen “Profit-making Agriculture and Fisheries & Lively Rural Society” as one of its goals to pursue for the next five year term. In line with the government commitment, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries aims to upgrade agriculture from primary production-based industry into advanced industry which encompasses processing and marketing so that our agriculture and fisheries can compete in a global arena.
Mr. Chang Tae-pyong, Minister of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries tells us of his plans to promote Korea’s food industry as well as to attract more foreign investors in the national food cluster that is to be established in Iksan city.

>>MIFAFF will focus on creating an innovative agriculture and fisheries industry as the next growth industry for the next decade. We will stress importance to the following factors in order to take on the new innovative food policy:
-Reformation of the national agricultural cooperative federation and the national federation of fisheries cooperatives to be completed. Also, improvements in structure of agricultural and fisheries industry need to be made through stabilizing rural households’ income.
-Expand the new growth engines and promote high value-added branches such as innovative seed and bio-tech industry in order to set a new policy.
-Supply safe food through providing environment-friendly agricultural products, supply stabilization of agro-fishery products including rice, expansion and globalization of Korean food.
-Expand the rural farming and fishery business and revitalize the rural community in order to activate the regional economy
>>Despite the stagnation of agriculture in Korea, MIFAFF has been paying serious attention to sustainable growth of the food industry, and has selected it as a potential growing industry to create remarkable value.
In this context, MIFAFF decided to promote the national food cluster that will overcome the limits of low technology of the Korean food industry. We started by benchmarking the successful cases of Food Valley in Netherlands and Oresund Cluster in Denmark and Sweden.
Hence, the export-oriented national food cluster -Foodpolis- was announced to be formed in Iksan city by 2011 and it is our aim to become a hub of Northeast Asia’s food industry. Foodpolis (239ha) will set up an active manufacturing, processing and export system through a liaison with Saemangeum and Korea Food Research Institute (to be relocated in Jeollabuk-do). Inside the complex, about 150 research institutes and domestic/international companies will be attracted to promote traditional, functional and organically processed food. Also, about 6 government-supported facilities, such as cluster support centers and R&D centers, will support in developing special technologies, functional evaluation and boost competitiveness of the companies in residency.
>>The key goal of MIFAFF is to expand attraction of foreign direct investment into agro-food industry. In order to create the Foodpolis as a foodhold of FDI, MIFAFF will designate Foreign Investment Zone and grant various incentives such as supplying a low rent long term lease and support funds for agricultural policy and R&D.
MIFAFF will also give an impetus to attracting foreign investments by cooperating with professional investment agencies- EUCCK and Invest Korea. Moreover, we will constantly make efforts to seek ways to draw foreign investments in Fund of Funds for agro-food (KRW 100 billion) by 2011, high-tech glasshouse, and capital-intensive agri-business.
In early July, MIFAFF appointed a consultative committee comprising renowned food companies (Danone and Nestle), distributors (Homeplus) and quality-testing institutions (SGS). The committee will advise on foreign investment in the Foodpolis and will help to promote the national food cluster to related food companies. Also, the committee will participate in the workshop hosted by MIFAFF and visit the places like Foodpolis in Iksan and Saemangeum reclaimed shore, to discuss about  investment programs and improvement of the foreign investment conditions.
>>The European Union, with the world’s largest economy ($10 trillion), is the second partner to conclude FTA (official agreements to be signed in late 2010) with our country.
MIFAFF has been seeking ways to take measures for agriculture and fisheries houses to help from opening the market. In particular, the recent Korea-EU FTA is expected to threaten the livestock industry and we will try to come up with a radical reformation of the industry. For example, the market share of the domestic beef after resumption of U.S. beef is increased by implementing place-of-origin indication system and beef traceability: 44.2% (2004) → 47.6% (2008) → 49.8% (2009). Also, the planted areas for grapes after Korea-Chile FTA is rather increased by 12.1%: 1,641ha (2003) → 1,842ha (2006) → 1,840ha (2007).
Thus, FTA and DDA can be worked as a chance to increase agricultural trade with neighboring countries with huge market like China and India. China’s interest for health and well-being could impact on the country’s export for food companies as well as the whole agricultural sector.

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Interview: Ms. Jhon Eun-sook, Director General, Korea Food & Drug Administration

The Korea Food & Drug Administration is responsible for promoting the public health by ensuring the safety and efficacy of foods, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and cosmetics, and supporting the development of the food and pharmaceutical industries.
When the Korea Food and Drug Safety Headquarter was raised to the status of administration in February 1998, the Food Safety Bureau began with three divisions and 25 employees. As of June 2010, its organization and no. of personnel have increased to 11 divisions and 144 employees.
In an exclusive interview Ms. Jhon Eun-sook, Director General, Food Safety headquarters talks about the responsibilities of the department and the plans for the future:

The Food Safety Bureau is in charge of the Framework Act on Food Safety, Food Sanitation Act, Act on Health and Functional Food, and Special Act on Safety Management of Children's Dietary Life. It devises safety management policies on food (including health and functional food), food additives, and utensil and container packaging, and executes the policies.
Its key activities include 'preventive activities', 'quick response to food accidents', 'safety management in preparation for the future', 'improvement of the nation's reputation by advancing food safety', and 'promotion of food safety and nutrition policies that citizens identify with'.
To prevent food accidents
- Expand and operate the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).
Provide facility support to small- to mid-sized companies, field technology guidance, and customized training so that HACCP-applied products can account for at least 95% of total food production by 2012.
- System where consumers request for sanitary inspection
If there are 20 or more consumers who suffered the same damage, a sanitary inspection is carried out by food sanitation inspectors, including HACCP inspectors and the food poisoning cause assessment team. The results of the inspection are notified to consumers and disclosed on KFDA's Website.
- Strengthen imported food safety management
A field inspection is carried out for companies and countries from which food is imported in large quantities, that have a high number of cases of unsuitability, or whose products have been detected to have carcinogenic substances. This is how imports of harmful food are prevented and relevant products are managed with focus.
For voluntary sanitation management by importers, various systems are in operation, such as the 'prior confirmation and registration system for imported food', 'Good Importer Practice system', and 'system of carrying out field sanitary inspections on manufacturers of OEM food products that are imported'.
KFDA is moving forward with adopting a system that assigns inspection responsibilities to importers, such as strengthening responsibilities of importers of inappropriate food and issuing an order to inspect imported food products for which there is concern over their harmfulness.
- Focused prevention of food poisoning
A food poisoning response council, consisting of private and government officials, is operated to carry out food poisoning prevention activities at the national level.
To especially prevent food poisoning caused by norovirus infection which occurs irrespective of the season, KFDA is engaging in concentrated management, providing guidance, and inspecting facilities that use underground water, such as schools and teenager training centers.
To quickly respond to food accidents
- Automatically stop sales of harmful food products and provide subtitles on television on the recall of such products
Automatically stop sales of harmful food products through stores of key distributors, including Lotte Mart, Emart, Hyundai Department Store, Family Mart, and GS Retail.
When harmful food products that contain such dangerous substances as melamine are discovered, provide television subtitles on product information in real time through four television channels, including KBS.
- Operate a quick harmful food recall system
Quick countermeasures are taken against harmful food products by operating the ?food management status report system?, which allows comprehensive identification of the nationwide monitoring status.
Expand SMS services on harmful food information that are provided to citizens and food sellers across the nation, including supermarkets, and expand the traceability system for quick recall of harmful food products.
- Build a safety management network in the distribution and sales phase
Inspect agricultural, livestock, and marine products as well as processed food products available in the market with focus on harmful substances, including heavy metals and pesticide residues, and engage in concentrated monitoring of food products with a history of unsuitability and food products for which there is concern of harmfulness.
Food safety management in preparation for the future, including climate change
- The climate change-countering food safety management research? project team was launched to draw up food safety strategies.
A total of 12.5 billion won will be invested for five years, starting from 2010, to engage in food safety management research aimed at taking preemptive measures against climate change.
Carry out four key programs - ? Make food safety forecasts and impact assessments in relation to climate change; ? Analyze the influence of harmful factors and research how to manage them through climate change simulations; ? Develop food safety technologies and build a food safety management system in response to climate change; ? Raise citizens' awareness of the safety of climate change adaptation food products and build a relevant information system - and 23 sub-programs
- Develop and supply manufacturing technologies that prevent the waste of resources by minimizing the generation of harmful substances. This includes supplying manuals on manufacturing methods that reduce harmful substances (benzopyrene, MCPD, etc.) in the manufacturing phase of cooking oil, soy sauce, etc.
Improve the nation's reputation by advancing food safety
- Strengthen the nation's criteria to reach the level of advanced countries and international organizations, such as the European Union and Codex, with regards to pollutants and new types of harmful substances in food.
- Overhaul food additive ingredient standards and usage criteria so that they reach the level of advanced countries.
Create new standards and strengthen existing standards on harmful heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium, solvent residues, and microorganisms for 258 different food additives.
- Move forward with interfacing information systems that would allow real-time sharing of food safety information with countries that signed a food safety and sanitation agreement (MOU) with Korea, such as China and Vietnam.
Promote food safety and nutrition policies that citizens identify with
- Develop and disseminate an *individual nutrition management program ("Calorie Codi that is based on mobile phones.
- Adopt a consumer sanitation inspection system to encourage direct participation by consumers in food safety policies.
- Move forward with "reducing the consumption of sodium", making children's food products "zero trans fat", and reducing consumption of sugar and sodium.
KFDA has been continually carrying out R&D activities on safety management, such as that for food products, since 1998, when the Korea Food and Drug Safety Headquarter was raised to the status of administration. The program's objectives are to "build a preventive safety management system by setting scientific standards and engaging in safety assessments on hazardous substances in food and nutrition components that may be harmful in order to promote citizens' health and engage in food safety management at the level of advanced countries".
There are six key research areas (as of 2009).
1. Food safety management research: Conduct risk assessments to create new standards on harmful substances in food, establish a foundation to strengthen risk assessments, and develop testing methods.
Example) Research on safety evaluation of illegal, harmful substances in food, development of testing methods on pharmaceuticals for animals for which new standards need to be established, and research on developing a model that is suitable for Korea for conducting risk assessments on pesticide residues in food.
2. Safety management of nutritional, functional food: Research on genetically modified food inspection methods, research on food allergen indication and inspection methods, and establishment of standards on harmful substances in health and functional food products.
Example) Safety verification testing on genetically modified food, improvements to and establishment of methods used to analyze food additives in food products, and research on safety management for side effects of healthy, functional food.
3. Safety management of national antibiotic resistance: Assess the current status of antibiotic resistance (non-clinical), and hold a special committee on antibiotic resistance of Codex and engage in international cooperation-based research to come up with safety management measures.
Example) Research on the characteristics of harmfulness of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), a survey to ascertain consumer awareness of appropriate usage of antibiotics
4. Safety management of children's food products: Establishment of an integrated management network for children's food products and measures to ensure safety of children's food products.
Example) Research on reducing nutrition components in food that have the possibility of causing harm, research on setting the maximum vitamin and mineral content in health and functional food products for children, and research on establishing a dietary life environment that prevents obesity in children.
5. National monitoring system: Engage in prior monitoring activities to enact and amend standards and criteria, check if standards and criteria are observed, and conduct monitoring activities to reassess standards.
Example) Monitor heavy metals in vegetables, assess the existence of dioxins and PCBs in food, monitor PAHs in marine products, and research test methods on organo arsenics and inorganic arsenics in agricultural products and assess the current status.
6. Food safety management in relation to climate change: Research is carried out to device measures against an increase in harmful marine products resulting from a change in the marine ecosystem, owing to a rise in the sea surface temperature, and a rise in new types of food poisoning bacteria, including germs and viruses.
Example) Evaluate costs of social and economic losses in the area of food safety caused by climate change, and analyze what impact climate change has on food poisoning and research the relevant management system.
Achievements from research projects in 2009 include the following: ? Implementation of institutional improvements and enactment/amendment of standards and criteria: 80 cases; ? development of test methods: 88 cases; ? monitoring projects and establishment of an informatization foundation: 43 cases; ? education and PR activities on research results and spread of/support for technologies: 164 cases; ? development of guidelines, manuals, and handbooks: 37 cases.
Research project costs for the last three years: 13,930 million won (2008); 17,340 million won (2009); 17,510 million won (2010)
In Korea, consumers are highly interested in food safety and citizens' health. For this reason, there is high demand for satisfaction of consumers' right to know such as through food labeling. Accordingly, there have been frequent changes to labeling standards. Some have said that this causes inconveniences.
To make improvements:
- First, KFDA will implement a 'system of an integrated enforcement date for food labeling standards'. Irrespective of the number of times or timing of amendment to food labeling standards, a grace period of at least one year will be provided before enforcement of labeling standards, and there will be one integrated enforcement date a year. This system will address current inconveniences of sellers where they need to change the label on product packaging whenever labeling standards are changed and reduce their financial burden in this regard. In addition, relevant parties will know beforehand of the implementation of such administrative measures to result in a higher level of observance of regulations and resolution of civil complaints.
- Second, KFDA will thoroughly review whether amendments to food labeling standards have the possibility of triggering trade conflicts. It will also make notifications to the WTO and make efforts to actively incorporate opinions submitted by foreign countries.
- Third, KFDA will create an English version of the food labeling standards and provide it on KFDA's Website. It will do so in order to help exporting countries understand Korean labeling standards and to promote smooth trade activities. Considering that a full amendment will be made to food labeling standards this year, an English version will be provided after next year.

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Interview: Mr. Christian Ehler, Chairperson of the European Parliament's Delegation to Korean Peninsula

In accordance with Rules 198 and 200 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure, the European Parliament may set up standing interparliamentary delegations, Parliamentary Cooperation Committees and Joint Parliamentary Committees. The number of these bodies may vary from one legislature to the other.
The interparliamentary delegations' main objective is to establish, channel and promote parliamentary dialogue with the partner countries' legislative institutions and also with the parliamentary institutions concerned with integration at regional or sub-regional level. Such objectives are achieved by means of regular gatherings at Parliament's places of work and in the counterpart countries, during which topics of mutual interest in the national, bi-regional and international spheres are discussed.
Information gathered is made available to Parliament's other Members by means of regular reports or reports drawn up by the chairman after each visit or interparliamentary meeting. The reports are usually submitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Sub-Committee, Development, International Trade and when directly relevant to other Committees. They sometimes give rise to European Parliament resolutions.
The Delegation for relations with the Korean Peninsula covers relations with both States on the Peninsula: South Korea and North Korea.
The Korea Delegation is a young one. It was created with the 6th Parliamentary term in 2004. Before that South Korea-related activities fell in the remit of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia, ASEAN and the Republic of Korea, whereas North Korean affairs were dealt with in the Foreign Affairs Committee, which eventually sent limited ad hoc delegations. Interparliamentary meetings with South Korea were relatively frequent, considering the area covered by the Delegation.
The delegation holds regular meetings in Brussels and Strasbourg to examine matters such as the current economic and political situation in the Korean States, humanitarian and Human Rights issues, inter-Korean relations, regional security issues, as well as the negotiations between the EU and the South Korea on a Free Trade Agreement.
The Chairperson of the European Parliament's Delegation in the last term were successively Mrs Ursula Stenzl and Mr Hubert Pirker. The current Chairperson is Mr. Christian Ehler, who made his first visit to Korea in this capacity last month. While his schedule was packed, he did make time for an exclusive interview on the current state of relations between both sides.
He noted that this a very important period for the relationship. While everyone is anxiously talking about the impending EU-Korea FTA, the broad public has underestimated the importance of the new Framework Agreement on the relations between the EU and Korea which was signed recently.
He noted that the new Framework Agreement is an important step in the relations. It addresses a broad range of global issues and areas of international concern, which include non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cooperation in the fight against terrorism, climate change, energy security and development assistance.
The text naturally includes standard political clauses - human rights, weapons of mass destruction, small arms and light weapons, counter-terrorism, the International Criminal Court and migration- and provisions for socio-economic cooperation, including cooperation in the field of justice. It provides a basis for deepening and broadening co-operation across the board.
He noted that together with an ambitious and comprehensive FTA this framework agreement will establish a good basis for strengthened partnership between the EU and Korea as global players. The delegation members therefore took this visit to South Korea very seriously.
“The delegation is very much in a working mood, and we are not here for a casual visit. We are in line with the European Commissions decision to choose Korea as a strategic partner in this region. It is of utmost importance that we create something like a new generation which is obliged to this new strategic partnership,he said.
He noted that the delegation wants to go beyond political and FTA talks and is seriously considering to create a young leadership program. It si pretty much for the same reason that the members also visited the SB Limotive plant, a 50:50 joint company of Samsung and Bosch, which targets to develop, manufacture, and sell lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications. With the formation of SB LiMotive both companies show their commitment to be a long term partner in the business of electrified mobility. SB LiMotive brings together the key skills to shape the future for automotive batteries by leveraging both world leading lithium-ion technology and automotive systems experience.
The scope of business covers lithium-ion battery applications for the automotive sector including ｵHEV, HEV, PHEV and EV.
This same kind of partnership should become visible in all spheres of the relationship between EU and Korea. Beyond agreements and political decisions, this is future of EU-Korea relations , a project like that in small scale should reach higher levels of penetration, he said.
Speaking on the EU-Korea FTA, he noted although the agreement was initialed last year, technically the text of agreement is not yet tabled in Parliament. They are in the process of being translated.
“We would proceed as we start first reading either before recession in July or the beginning of the next session in late August. Our political aim would be to deliver that before the G20 meeting in Korea. While very ambitious, atleast from the side of leadership of big groups, this is the timetable. It is upto the Commision and the Korean side to get the wordings of the agreement right,he said.
Mr. Ehler noted that the members we do not want to take FTA as a hostage to solve all other problems. He feels that in Korea there is awareness of this and hopefully it will be delivered by the end of the year.
He also referred to the recent tensions between South and North Korea, regarding the sinking of navyship Cheonan and said that he fully accepts the statement issued by High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton.
She had voiced great concern of the results of the investigation, conducted by the authorities of South Korea with the participation of international experts, into the causes of the sinking of the Cheonan on 26th March, with the loss of 46 lives.
“The findings of the investigation are extremely disturbing, in particular the evidence presented of North Korean involvement. Based on these findings, I strongly condemn this heinous and deeply irresponsible action. I commend the restraint which the government of the Republic of Korea has shown in a tense situation of national grief and outrage,she said.
It was because of this strong feeling that the delegation skipped a visit to Pyongyang, and showed South Korea that they can live up to strategic partnership.
We don't want to exaggerate the EU position in the surrounding 6 party talks. But it does not make sense to shut down all channels, and we will continue with humanitarian assistance to North Korea, since the ordinary people are not to blame,he said.

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Well said...

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