{"id":2904,"date":"2016-06-22T16:02:27","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T08:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.www.innovationiseverywhere.com\/?p=2904"},"modified":"2016-06-22T16:02:27","modified_gmt":"2016-06-22T08:02:27","slug":"south-korean-startups-save-conglomerates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovationiseverywhere.com\/fr\/south-korean-startups-save-conglomerates\/","title":{"rendered":"Can South Korean Startups (and the government) Save its Flailing Giant Tech Conglomerates?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With 17 percent of the GDP, it\u2019s fair to say that\u00a0<\/span>Samsung<\/span><\/a> is South Korea, or at least has represented it on the global business stage for the last decade or so.<\/span><\/p>\n

But for the last year or so, with the contraction of the global economy and the dynamism of Chinese (<\/span>Xiaomi<\/span><\/a>) and Indian (<\/span>Micromax<\/span><\/a>) competitors in the smartphone industry, the giant chaebols of South Korea \u2014 Samsung first, then Hyundai and a few others \u2014 have experienced difficulty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only did their profits stop increasing, but for some like <\/span>LG<\/span><\/a>, they have been \u201cbleeding money, and subsequently talent,\u201d according to our contacts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"top

South Korea chaebol statistics<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h2>\n

The fall of the chaebols \u2013 how South Korean giant conglomerates stall<\/span><\/h2>\n

In a country where those huge conglomerates used to attract the graduate students from the top three universities (collectively known as SKY1 for Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University) and be the primary scale of social life and recognition, this is quite a shock.<\/span><\/p>\n

If South Korea went from having the same GDP as Ghana in 1957 to being on par with Israel or New Zealand today, it\u2019s partly because of the investments driven by thegovernment, and, in a new era of trouble, it again put a huge stack of money on the table to transform the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here comes the (smart) government<\/span><\/h2>\n

After a week of exploration of the business and startup scenes in Seoul, a few recurring comments allow us to understand a big change has been in the making for the last two years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Innovation

South Korea Creative Economy launch<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not everyone seems to like the current president, <\/span>Park Geun-hye<\/span><\/a>, but, without exception, everyone has \u201cgive credit\u201d to the way she has been driving quite a revolution via her \u201ccreative economy\u201d plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

The program, announced in her inaugural address of 2013, has since been developed into\u00a0<\/span>a set of strategies<\/span><\/a>, and, depending on sources and articles, range from a few to a few dozen billions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the most prominent investments:<\/span><\/p>\n