Joongang Ilbo
Many businesses keep low profile nationally and internationally due to the global economic downturn. However, a crisis provides an opportunity at the same time. In fact, many Korean companies have grown by taking advantage of crises. Countless companies overcame crises wisely, exerting full potential and tenacity. Korea leads areas where Japan used to dominate not long ago such as electronics, autos and shipbuilding. Despite still high dependence on core components and materials from Japan, the global competitiveness of the products made in Korea overtaking Japanese counterparts comes from the process innovation unique to Korea. To put it more bluntly, competitiveness in cost and delivery is much superior even though quality and service are the same. Korean exporters have accumulated their own skill sets and developed markets to catch up with competitors from developed economies based on such strengths.