Seoul Digital Forum Shows
the Future of Media

Seoul Mayor Oh speaks about brand value of Seoul

The Seoul Digital Forum 2007 was held on May 29-31 at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel with many High-profile figures, including Eric Schmidt, Chairman & CEO of Google, Tom Curley, president-CEO of the Associated Press, and Chris Ahearn, president of Reuters Media, in attendance. This year's forum, entering its fourth year, discussed various topics, such as the future of media in the midst of 'digitalization,'its new roles and strategies to sustain its competitiveness.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon delivered his opening speech to the session, entitled "Hollywood in Seoul"on the last day of the forum. "During the 21st century, brand value of a city (and the nation) is very valuable in the global arena. Thus, I've been focusing on city brand marketing rather than administrative works in order to create a powerful brand.' "By focusing on Tourism, Fashion/Design, Entertainment /Digital contents, Finance/Business, R & D, and Conventions. I believe that this is possible,
and that Seoul can become one of the world's top 10 cities in terms of urban competitiveness,"Mayor Oh said. "Focusing more on Entertainment /Digital contents, I have our eyes on the Korean wave, and we are selling not functions but emotions (sentiments),"the mayor noted. With regard to the Digital Media City (DMC) project, he said, this is about state of the art visual tech + cultural contents. "Our goal is to make this the base for digital media partnership between businesses and academia, and we also aim to grow this into a Northeast Asian, region-wide initiative,"he said. "We aim to become the leading economic and cultural hub of Northeast Asia,"the mayor said. Mayor Oh said, "We are cultivating various IT projects: For example, the "U-Tour"system will allow foreign tourists to search for information on Seoul with handhelds provided to them at the airport."He said he hopes to learn from how Hollywood and other cities are reacting to the digital technology evolution.
Anne Sweeney, president of Disney-ABC Television Group, was one of the speakers during the session, "In my industry, digital technology has shifted the power away from the television companies who put shows on the air, and given it to the people who watch the shows, and this shift has changed the way we think about our industry, our business and more importantly, our viewers,"Disney-ABC Television President Sweeney said.
"so reach this digital generation and the generations that will follow -- we have to focus on what they're doing and build our business around their behavior." "As we connect to consumers globally, we're finding that each region has its own "Digital dialect"based on the technology available and the dynamics of the culture using it. Therefore, what works in one part of the world may not be possible in another at the current moment,"she said. "We took our first step onto mobile television with TU Media, right here in Korea, because the technology and the culture supported it."In October 2005 ? the same month we launched iTunes in the U.S.
we became the first American studio to license wireless content here, streaming full episodes of our most popular shows, like Desperate Housewives, to Korean viewers, she said.
"We're breaking the rules that have traditionally governed our business, and in turn are creating new ways to serve our viewers, our partners and ourselves. Viewers now have more ways than ever before to watch their favorite shows and to sample new ones."
"We're reinventing television for this century. Modern TV is more than a network or a piece of furniture in the family room. It's a dynamic, multiplatform, mobile, and increasingly global entertainment option. And as the definition of television expands, so does the demand for great content. Because content is the engine that drives all platforms."Wee're very proud of the fact that we're helped drive some of those changes. We were the first to put our content on new platforms, forcing the industry to follow. We were first to stream episodes online in a great viewing experience. But our digital strategy isn't about being everywhere. It's about being where we need to be to serve our consumers best. It's about learning from our viewers and using that information to Create What's Next,"she said. nw

(far left photo) Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon gives his opening speech during a session, entitled "Hollywood in Seoul,"on the last day of the Seoul Digital Forum 2007 in which and Anne Sweeney, president of Disney-ABC Television Group was one of the several speakers.