Korean Economic Community Network Being Built Around the Globe
-3rd Convention slated for Jeju Oct. 26-29

The 3rd World Korean Business Convention will be held at the International Convention Center, Jeju from Oct. 26 and Oct. 28 with 1,200 Korean expatriates and local businessmen participating.

The Convention is an international business convention organized to further strengthen a global network of Korean businessmen, or called Hansang in Korean and expand the influence of Korean enterprises, thus helping realize the goal of developing Korea as an economic hub of Northeast Asia and raising the per capita national income to $20,000.

Lee Kwang-kyu, chairman of the Overseas Koreans Foundation (OKF), the organizer of the 3rd World Korean Business Convention, said the coming Convention will focus on  facilitating next-generation businessmen's participation so that it could take another leap forward, based on a network being built up during the past first and second World Korean Business Convention.

Overseas Koreans mark this year the 140th anniversary of their immigration to Russia, the 101st anniversary to the United States and 99th anniversary. Korean immigrants had to endure the disgrace of forfeiture of national sovereignty through so much in the last century or earlier. In 1863, 13 Korean farming households were presumed to have moved to the Posyet area in Far Eastern Russia.

The number of overseas Koreans spreading across the five oceans and to the six continents are now tallied at approximately 6.7 million, becoming the fifth largest overseas ethic community around the world following Chinese, Indian, Israeli and Italian expatriates. The figures indicate the higher percentage of Korean expatriates compared to Korea's total population. In the past, most overseas Koreans were forced to leave the country due to a shortage of things to eat.

According to a report by the Institute for International Economics (IIE), a U.S. private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to the study of international economic policy, on Koreans of the diaspora and global economy, 6.7 million overseas Koreans had an estimated more than $100 billion in total assets, and the assets contributing to the economies of South Korea, the United States, Japan and other residing countries, have a high potential to be utilized.

The boundaries between countries in the past were set by political and philosophical ideology. These days, however, countries are being regrouped into bloc communities by history, culture, or nationality, etc. Nowadays, the global map is being established not by geographical borders but by ethnic ones. It is overseas Koreans who have expanded the realm of Hanminjok (Korean people) and planted the deep roots over the world as the assets of their home country and the pride of Hanminjok.

In a knowledge-based society in the 21st century, a nation with a higher standard of networking is said to evolve into the one with a strong and secure competitive edge.

In reality, ethnic Chinese residents in Korea once invested up to 67 percent of Korea? foreign direct investments, partly contributing to the development of the Korean economy. The ethnic Chinese communities have seized economic power in Southeast Asian counties and other parts of the world. The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping succeeded in having organized a global Chinese commercial congress in 1991 through former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew to assembly all Chinese scattering in all parts of the world.

The OKF has strived to consolidate a foundation for overseas Korean communities. To this end, the foundation holds the annual World Korean Business Convention every year since 2002.

The purpose of the "Hansang" network is to build up integrated networks of Korean economy in such sectors as commerce, trade, IT, venture and science and technology by connecting among the networks of ethnic Koreans and between overseas and domestic networks, through which overseas and local businessmen expand market presence by exchanging information on markets and services.

Overseas Korean businessmen suffered difficulties in the process of preparing the First World Korean Business Convention in 2002, but the inaugural Convention turned out to be a success with an overwhelming participation and concern on the part of overseas and local Korean businessmen. The First World Korean Business Convention, held in the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul between Oct. 8 and Oct. 10, 2002, attracted 968 businessmen from 28 countries, including 116 businessmen from Korea. Overseas Koreans negotiated domestic investments worth $30 million.

The Second World Korean Business Convention, based on the achievements made during the initial Convention, has evolved into a business-oriented one: opening a new chapter of expanding the business networking to include ethnic Korean businessmen in Japan and enhancing business exchanges between overseas and domestic Korean businessmen. The Second World Korean Business Convention, held at the COEX in southeastern Seoul between Oct. 6 and Oct. 8, 2003, had 1,263 participants from 40 countries, including 326 people from Korea. Overseas Koreans had consultations on investments worth a total of $100 million.

The Third World Korean Business Convention will focus on the establishment of business relationships across various industrial sectors by systemizing one-on-one business meetings and IR activities. Besides, a key highlight of the upcoming gathering will be a special plenary session featuring economists, academicians and "Hansang" experts to provide a comprehensive perspective of the "Hansang Vision and Agenda" for the future.

In addition, to overcome the limited connectivity of offline conventions, this event will construct a Korean.net portal site to provide overseas Koreans with relevant business information around the clock. All efforts are being made to enhance the synergistic effects which may be reaped from the Korean business network.

The OKF chairman expressed the hope that the upcoming Convention will offer an ample opportunity for leading  CEO and future business leaders to meet and develop cooperative ties, by promoting a friendly environment and facilitating the realization of inter-generation networking.

Among the participants of the Third World Korean Business Convention will be Jeju Gov. Kim Tae-hwan,; Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo,; Hyun Myung-kwan, vice chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries,; Bae Kuk-hwan, director-general of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs,; Lee Tae-yong, director-general of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, now dispatched to Invest Korea, an agency under the umbrella of KOTRA,; Kim Hong-kyung, president of Small Business Corporation,; Shin Hyun-tae, president of Gyeonggi Province Tourism Corporation,; Chung Suk-hyun, chairman of  Soosan Heavy Industries,; Lee Ok-gi, vice chairman of Phicom,; Shim Young-sup, president of Woolim Construction Co.,; Nam Min-woo, president of Dasan Networks,; Kwak Young-wook, chairman of Korea Express,; Chung Woo-chan, president of Seoul National University,; and Chang Dae-hwan, president-publisher of Maeil Economic Daily.

An issue of building up the Hansang network among overseas Koreans was raised by Rep. Shin Gye-ryun during the National Assembly Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee's inspection on the OKT. The parliamentary committee is headed by Rep. Lim Chae-jung, and Uri Party Chang Young-dal is a member of the committee.

Asking OKF Chairman Lee about the operation of the OKF under the umbrella of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Rep. Shin noted the higher priority of the global networking among tribes rather than the concept of borders and nations, as Jew futurist Joel Kothin wrote in his book "Tribes" about correlation between races and their success of business.   nw