On June 16th, Korea’s second official chapter of Skal International was born with the official launching ceremony of Club No. 703, the Incheon chapter. Held at the Hyatt Regency near Incheon International Airport, dignitaries from the tourism industry gathered to celebrate the occasion. President of Incheon Skal and General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Incheon Adam Simkins presided over the ceremonies, which were attended by airline executives, hotel general managers, tour agency executives, and government officials including the President of the Incheon Tourism Organization, Jae-geun Choi, who also addressed the gathering. skalincheon.org

Aren’t you tired of being ignored? I sure am getting frustrated with listening to people ignoring you. Frequently we walk into a meeting and we’re met with nothing but resistance. The response always comes back, “99% of the population in this country is Korean, so we target Koreans with our advertising.” And we have to respond, “So if you could hit 1% of the Korean population with your advertising, in a publication that truly helped improve readers’ lives and had great reader loyalty, you wouldn’t want to do that?” And then they think about it for a second, and respond, “No, we’d love that!” Then why do advertisers continue to insist on ignoring the 1% of the Korean population that speaks English – not to mention the hundreds of thousands of tourists and business people that are visiting here on any given day?

Even now, if you look at our advertisements, most of them come from foreigners themselves – foreign or foreign-trained dentists and doctors, foreign executives, and foreign management companies, and foreign-owned and -operated businesses. They know the market is out there, because they’re part of that market! And they know 10 is one of the best ways to get the word out about their products and services to that market. The real problem is that we’ve made the most-read English magazine by expats and tourists in Korea, but the Koreans don’t know about us yet!

We want nothing more than to expand the pages of this magazine and provide more content and information each month, more articles and more events, but until Koreans start recognizing and enjoying 10, it’s just not going to happen. Hence, I have a little request for our readers out there. Tell your Korean friends about us. When you find out about a concert/festival/marathon/etc. that your Korean friends don’t know about, tell them they would know about it too if they read 10. Recommend 10 to your Korean co-workers or students who speak some English. There’s no more comprehensive event magazine in this country each month, and that includes in the Korean language. So do your Korean friends a favor, and tell them about us. Someday they’ll thank you for it, and we’ll thank you right now!

Stephen Revere, Managing Editor

We all know the familiar story of how in the last 60 years Korea has gone from the ravages of war to become an economic powerhouse. However, less well known is the increasing globally responsible duties Korea has taken on commensurate with its economic power. From co‐hosting the G‐20 summit this year and FIFA World Cup in 2002, to providing naval vessels off Somalia and UN peacekeepers in trouble spots, to being a major aid and volunteer donor to less‐developed countries, to providing the current Secretary General of the United Nations, Korea has come of age on the world stage.

The British Chamber of Commerce in Korea (BCCK) is pleased to announce that it will host a highly informative panel discussion on Korea’s new global leadership role with three highly distinguished panelists. Make your reservations quickly as space is limited.

Panelists:
Mr. Euh Yoon-dae, Chairman, Presidential Council on Nation Branding
Mr. Chun Yung-woo, 2nd Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Mr. Lee Doo‐hee, Professor, Business Admin, Korea University

Moderator:
Mr. John C. Burton, Deputy Editor, JoongAng Daily (former FT correspondent in Korea)

Price : KRW 60,000 (members) / KRW 70,000 (non‐members)

Members attending without RSVP will be charged an additional KRW10,000RSVP by Wendesday,16th June to administrator@bcck.or.kr

Payment to Kookmin bank: 813‐01‐0229‐248 BCCK, or by credit card at door.

Cancellations made later than 12:00pm 16th June will be charged at the full rate.

In the current unpredictable real estate market, anyone looking to buy a house could use a bit of sound advice. This is even more true when the house in question happens to be located in a foreign country where English is more often studied than spoken.

To learn more about the housing market in Seoul and to get some concrete advice on buying your own house, you can attend this month’s banking seminar at Standard Chartered 제일 the Private Bank.

Date and Venue: Tuesday, June 15^th at Gangnam PB Center (Yeoksam Stn. Line 2, ex. 3 Capital Building 3rd Floor)

Time: 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Topic 1: Buying a House in Seoul (7:30 – 8 pm)

Andy Suh, a professional real estate agent from Landmark Real Estate & Home Relocation, will be providing an overview of the real estate market in Seoul. You can expect the following topics to be covered:

-Type of housing available for purchase in Seoul

-Current real estate prices and real estate price forecast

-Documents and qualifications required to purchase a house in Korea
Topic 2: Getting a Mortgage in Korea as a Foreigner (8 – 8.30 pm)

Mariya Maderich, a private banker from Standard Chartered the Private Bank, will be making a presentation on how to get a mortgage in Korea as a foreign home buyer.

If you would like to sign up for this seminar, please, RSVP by e-mail to Maderich.Mariya@scfirstbank.com by June 14^th.

Daewoo Securities last investment seminar great success, with over 20 people in attendance. This time they are going to invite a fund specialist and an auto analyst from their research center to give a presentation about Korean fund market and the outlook of the Korean auto industry for the 2nd half of 2010 and some of the top picks among auto makers.

1) Overview of Korean fund market and product line-ups presented by Mr. Jay Park (fund specialist, Financial Product Development).

2) Outlook of the Korean auto industry and top picks among auto makers presented by Mr. Michael Yoon (auto analyst of Daewoo Securities).

Time and Venue :

16,970,000
Vehicles registered in Korea in 2007.
The US has over 245 milion, while Spain, with a slightly lower population than Korea, has over 27 million cars.

People per registered car in Korea in 2007.

The comparable number in China is 33.1 and in the US it is 1.2.

421
Airplanes owned by the domestic airline carriers.
5 times the number of planes owned in 1970.

432
Kilometers of high-speed rail that Korea had running in 2006. At the same time France had 2,798, while the US had (and still has) zero.

Dongdaemun Market, you say? No, not that one. We’re talking about the Korean stock market, which has recovered from the global financial crisis with a strong rebound since last year with the stock prices of major blue chip companies at an all-time high.

If you’re interested in putting some money in the Korean stock market or have thought about purchasing Korean stocks, you’ll enjoy this free seminar.

DATE: April 30^th
TIME: 6 – 7 pm
LOCATION: Daewoo Securities, WM Class Yeoksam Centre.
ADDRESS: 3F, Aju Bldg, 679-5 Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea (map below)
COST: FREE!
PROGRAM:

-       Introduction to the Korea stock market
-       KOSPI outlook for 2010
-       Q&A

RSVP: Those who will attend the seminar need to send confirmation to Kyung Suk Choi (Alex) by April 26^th at kyungsuk.choi@dwsec.com

It’s said that you’ve got to spend money to make money, but Standard Chartered Bank once again turns that truism on its head with another free banking seminar. If you’re trying to figure out the best way to invest your hard-earned capital in a struggling world economy, let the lecturers in this seminar series show you the way.

Program:

Gold Rush 2010
Mr. T.J. Kim, a manager from Black Rock Asset Management Firm, will provide information on the mining and gold industry in 2010 as well as present Black Rock Asset Management’s funds (KRW/USD) that are related to this industry.

Date and Venue: Thursday, April 22nd at Gangnam PB Center (Yeoksam St., line 2, ex. 3, Capital Building 3^rd Fl)

Time: 7:30 PM~8:20 PM

If you would like to sign up for this seminar, please send your RSVP to Mariya at Maderich.Mariya@scfirstbank.com by April 20.

Any long-term resident of Korea has at some time had to deal with Korea’s distinctly foreigner-unfriendly banking system. Quite often you will hear, “I don’t think we can do that.” Translation: foreigners need not apply. That’s all changed with the opening of Shinhan Bank’s Seoul Global Center on the first floor of the Seoul Finance Center downtown. This is where you hear, “Sure, we can do that for you.” This is where the tellers speak English, Japanese and Chinese. This is where you can sign up for Internet banking all in English. This is where foreigners who qualify can actually get credit cards made from real plastic with honest magnetic strips and everything! If you’re a new resident to Korea, making the new Shinhan Seoul Global Center your first stop in Korea will make your entire adjustment to this country a whole lot easier.