Publisher’s Column of ICA President Cho Sung-kap COLUMN Accelerating IT Export by Finding, Supporting New Main Export Items ccording to a recent report by tion of Korean exports last year. A The International Cooperation Now, many Korean companies are Agency for Korea IT (ICA), Korea’s IT pleading for more support as they lack export will more than double this year. resources. Although Korea is striving to This conclusion, reached from a survey be an export power, it is true that there of 370 IT companies, tells us that we are many factors that inhibit further marketplace. can count on IT exports as an engine of economic growth. According to a survey, the top ten growth this year and that the IT sector It is not just today or yesterday that online game companies will achieve is a critical issue area for the enhance- Korean companies suffer from insuffi- sales that amount to 947.7 billion won ment of national competitiveness. cient resources. To promote exports in and the number for mobile games will In 2004, worries on a worldwide eco- the IT sector, the enhancing of techno- be 300 billion won this year. It is nomic downturn appear to be somewhat logical power is the only sound option. remarkable that online game companies fading as the market is picking up in The importance of developing original (50%) and mobile game companies advanced industrialized countries such as technologies by an expansion of R&D (63%) will maintain a momentum of the United States, the United Kingdom investments is now a common sense rapid growth this year. and Japan. Similarly, more people are concept that all would agree with. This year, as in the past, ICA will do its becoming optimistic about the prospect Organic cooperation and coordination best to support the game industry that of an economic recovery in Korea. among research activities conducted by has emerged as a producer of main Revitalized domestic consumption businesses, universities and research export items. We expect that the export combined with the continued expansion institutes is obviously a necessary con- potential of the game businesses will be of exports will allow Korea’s IT com- dition to offset Korea’s lack of maximized and consolidated by infor- panies to overcome the sluggishness resources. Considering that the compe- mation exchanges and a networking they have experienced of late. tition will become tougher within the among domestic companies and the effi- As in the past, exports -- especially IT, it goes without saying that a diversi- cient linkage among the export routes. exports of the five major export items -- fication of IT export items is much Of course, we will explore and sup- matter. The Korea International Trade called for. port, as well, other IT sectors that can Association (KITA) recently pointed to It is for such reasons that this issue of become “the world’s number one” so the fact that IT products -- semiconduc- ‘IT KOREA Journal’ turns your atten- Korea’s IT industry can realize its tors (US$19.5 billion), wireless com- tion to online games. Because Korea growth potential to its fullest extent. munications equipments ($18.7 billion), has the world’s best Internet infrastruc- and computers ($15 billion) -- over- ture, it is quite natural that Korea is whelmingly occupy an important por- emerging as a leader in the online game IT KOREA Journal _ 1 CCOO NN TT EE NN TT SS Published by ICA∙IT Export Magazine MARCH, 2004 4. Cover Story/ Kim Nam-ju Ceo of Webzen 6. New Products -J.C. Hyun System launches new models of computer main boards -Aralion launches SATA based storage for small and medium sized companies 16. MIC News 30. ICA News 36. Export News -Telson Electronics Signs a $12 Mil. Contract for Mobile phone Exports IT Korea Journal (ISSUE 6) to Taiwan -Fishing-CAM Exports $10 Mil. Amount of ‘Fishing Rods with Camera’ This Year 51. Special Report The World’s Best, Korean Games Publisher 1. Online Game Cho Sung-kap -Trends in domestic online game market Senior Advisor Huh Sang-woong -Interview / Kim Jeong-ryul, CEO of Gravity Consultant -Introduction of Major Korean Online Game Companies Cho Joon-sang, Han Ji-young Editor -Thailand, Another Market in Asia Stanley Park -Interview / Kim Woo-sik, Chairman of the Korean Game Export Photograph Editor Kang Hong-kyu Association Associate Reporter 2. Mobile Game Shim Woo-sung, Kim Jong-yul Oh Hyun-sik, Choi Kyung-yeal -Market Trends of Local Mobile Games Design Director Lee Ji-hyun, Woo Soon-sik -The Leading Local Mobile Game Companies Marketing Manager -Interview / POCKETSPACE’s president Kim Do-sik Bob Chang Associate Manager Kim Jong-chol, Han Mi-sun 81. Market Report/ 2003 Business Results of Domestic Mobile Industry Published by ICA (International Cooperation Agency for 88. Company Interview KOREA IT) -Mointek 8F, NCA Building, Mugyo-dong Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea -NRD-Tech E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.ica.or.kr Tel: 82-2-2022-1400 94. Internet Statistics Fax: 82-2-2022-1499 100. Industry News Editorial Design & Printed by CP&R Kim Nam-ju, the CEO of‘ Webzen’ COVER STORY Kim Nam-ju the CEO of‘ Webzen’ TheTheThe onlineonlineonline gamesgamesgames willwillwill bebebe oneoneone ofofof thethethe entertainmentsentertainmentsentertainments enjoyedenjoyedenjoyed bybyby peoplepeoplepeople ofofof anyanyany age,age,age, dueduedue tototo thethethe variationvariationvariation ofofof thethethe gamegamegame subjects.subjects.subjects. ● Reported by Cho Joon-sang ([email protected]) Q: The great success of Webzen in China has become develop a new game to advance into the US and Europe by the topic of conversation lately and it is known that your 2005. company succeeded launching its products in Taiwan Q: What are the difficulties in exporting online games? and Japan. Please explain your plans to the entering of A: The difference in the“ emotions”is the most difficult. the US and European market places. Different from the success in China and Asia which have A: We listed our stocks in NASDAQ in order to advance similar cultures with our own, a great emotional difference into the US market. We plan to advance into Thailand within exists in Europe and the US. For example, individually the near future. We are considering to connect with major playing games other than multi-connection games are uni- game development companies into the US and Europe to versal in the European market. In order to overcome such advance into the US and Europe. We are in a hurry to cultural differences, pre-researches of the market and local- 4 _ IT KOREA Journal COVER STORY ization will be enhanced. USA and Japan. Q: China is the largest market of the Korean domestic Q: It is known that the powerful companies of CON- online games; however, it is prospected that China will SOLE games, such as the Sony and Microsoft Corpora- be Korea’s greatest rival. Please explain about your tions, will advance into the online game market based on preparations for the competition with China. enormous capital and marketing power. Do you have any A: Even though Korea is the leader of online games, it is counter-plans? true that the countries like China are pressing hard on Korea. A: I think that the advance of the existing powerful game It is important to secure an independent development ability companies will be a crisis and a chance for the Korean online and operation ability to succeed in competition. game companies at the same time. The existing CONSOLE Q: What are the key points for a successful advance game companies will take three to four years in developing into China? online games and learning operation know-how. During that A: Thorough contracts with business partners and man- time, we will grow in the online game market by such action agement of the business partners are important. However, it as advancing into Europe and North America that are still is also important to confirm the reliability of the partner unexploded territories. before making the contract. We researched the reliabilities of Q: Please explain your future plans in business. the local companies before selecting Nine.com as a local A: First, my plans for this year are the establishment and partner in China. When the business partner was selected, a the operation of a game portal site. win-win strategy should be arranged based on mutual confi- And, a new product following the‘ Mu’is being devel- dence. We consider that the key of the success was division oped which be published in 2005. The new product is being of the roles like the Webzen took charge of developing developed to be advanced into the Europe and North Amer- games and the Nine.com took charge of local services. ican markets. Q: What are the“ self-confidences”of leaders of the Q: How much amount of time, budget and manpower successful online game companies? are required to develop a multi-connection game, in gen- A: Foreign countries recognize the competitive power of eral? the Korean online games. The foreign companies were not A: It depends on the size of the game. On average, the confident about the success of the online game business a development of a complete online game requires about 30 few years ago, but they are aggressively trying to service the people, 7 to 8 billion won, and about a year and a half. Korean online games, now. The foreign companies recog- Q: What is your management philosophy as a CEO? nize that the online game business is an attractive item due to A: I think that management is“ finding a hidden value”, so the large revenue compared to the sales, because online I try to throw out preconceptions and to find unseen values.