I have been in Seoul for the past two days visiting clients and our amazing team. I find Korea deeply changed from my last trip a year ago. Here are some observations:
1. The Media Scene Deeply Troubled— Print advertising is evaporating and digital subscriptions are not making up the revenue hole. Mid-sized newspapers and national magazines are going out of business. The digital start-up media is flourishing, with 13,000 registered social media sites. Broadcasting is also troubled, with the third largest network, SBS, reporting huge operating losses.
2. Anti-corporate Sentiment— Our Trust Barometer data on Korea shows that trust in business is terribly low, well below that of government, media and NGOs. Unlike most other markets, Koreans do not expect business to lead. Further, Koreans feel that CEOs are self-serving and short-term oriented.
3. Grand Ambitions— Lotte Corporation has recently moved into its new headquarters, 123 stories high, along the Han River, just in time for its 50th birthday. From retailing to hotels, this company is indicative of the new Asian giants, ambitious and aggressive.
4. Beauty and Fashion Center— One of the cab drivers told me that Seoul is the new plastic surgery hub of the region. Women want the heart shaped face and button chin of the Korean woman, he said. Similarly K-Pop continues to dominate the music scene and stores are jammed with Chinese and Japanese tourists looking for Korean clothing.
5. President Moon— The newly elected President is deeply popular, at 66 percent favorable. He has gotten kudos for his communications style, frequent and open. His opening to North Korea is viewed positively though the more conservative party remains deeply skeptical.
6. The Winter Olympics— The Games were a success from an artistic viewpoint. But from an economic and image perspective, the Olympics did little to change Korea’s reputation nor was it a tourist bonanza. A huge amount of money was spent on infrastructure, especially roads, with limited potential return.
7. An Independent Road— Americans have always been welcome in Korea, a bond forged by the Korean War in the 50s and reinforced through the economic boom that has taken the country from poverty to prosperity. But with the imposition of steel tariffs, the harsh tone on the North Korean nuclear threat and the withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Trump Administration has weakened this special relationship.
I leave for China now feeling somehow saddened by the new distance in the Korean-U.S. relationship. It is like your little brother going off to college and you visit him for the first time. He has new confidence and an attitude of self-reliance, which you admire but long for the past when you shared every secret.
Richard Edelman is president and CEO