Korea, your Deja Vu …… whether it is bright or not.

One of my close friends, who work in TMT sector and also non Korean, once made an interesting comment on Korean TMT sector. He told me Korean TMT market is either advanced or abnormal. At that point, I started laughing with his interesting metaphor but later realized that his observation to Korean market was more than perfect.

Yes, I am living in the heart of Digital Capital of the World, Seoul and whenever I travel outside of Korea for my business I always agree to my friend’s comment; Seoul is either advanced or abnormal.

If you are in this sector you can some what understand what I want to say. For many years Korea has been portrayed to the World, alongside with Japan, as a weird or different market. Things happening in Seoul were not the things I can easily find out side of Seoul. (I was quite annoyed when I traveled to London where found that my mobile was not working in the Tube.)

Mobile TV, Social Networking Services, Ring back Tone, MMORPG (Massive Multiple Online Role Playing Game), MP 3 Players and many more things started in Seoul. Some went smoothly but many of them actually failed (Yes we fail more than you think). And in Korea, still at this moment, there are many more things being experimented and explored. As Eric Schmitt, CEO of Google, mentioned last year that Korea is the Digital Laboratory of the World, here comes the reason why I am starting this News Letter ‘Korean Insight ' which will endeavor to reveal the real stories of Korean Digital Landscape bi weekly’.

Firstly I want to let the readers to know the major/noticeable developments in Korean TMT market. So far it was really hard for many foreigners to catch up the Korean TMT market as there was lack of sufficient English sources.

But what I really want to provide you through this News Letter is to help you make better business decisions by knowing what does work or not. We Koreans are very aggressive and trying to do something very bold. And consequently we make many trials and errors. I do hope you to get some implications from our experiences. For instance, Mobile TV, WIBRO (Mobile WIMAX) and IPTV are some key areas you should definitely watch Korean market carefully.

I am always open to your feedback and will work hard to make this News Letter as your Window to Korean TMT sector and more. Feel free to contact me.

Yours Yunho Chung
Managing Partner, Veyond Partners