[Special report] THE KOREAS ⑦

The country's biggest successes in consumer electronics are LGE and Samsung Electronics.
49b-7-218
South Korea's industrial structure is unusual, says POSCO’s boss, Lee Ku-taek. Its steel consumption per person is the fourth-highest in the world, yet most of the steel eventually goes overseas: nearly 100% in the case of POSCO's shipbuilding clients, and 60% in the case of Korean carmakers. The steelmaker also serves South Korean construction companies abroad, for example in Dubai. Its customers' eagerness to conquer fiercely competitive markets overseas may have kept POSCO lean. 'Steel's competitiveness here has made South Korea what it is,' says Mr Lee, 'and I'm hugely proud of that.'
Now that he is hoping to buy DSME he sees the chance to double the shipbuilder's value, which the stockmarket currently puts at $6 billion, by concentrating on complex products such as oil rigs. In shipbuilding, Mr Lee points out, the less you need to weld, the more you save. POSCO, he says, can tailor plates to specific ships, making the product much cheaper.
After two decades of building up its domestic market, says Mr Lee, POSCO will spend the next two decades establishing a powerful presence overseas, through greenfield sites and acquisitions, including in mines that can secure the company's supply of ore. It will be following the example of South Korea's consumer-electronics companies, which sometimes used almost military methods for their push overseas. At LG Electronics (LGE) they tell a story of a country manager who was dropped into Algeria during the civil war when other multinationals kept away, put off by the risk. When he emerged several years later, he had built up a multimillion dollar franchise

A. 어휘
industrial structure 산업구조. steel consumption per person 1인당 철강소비량.
eventually 결국에는. eagerness 열망. now that=since.
complex products 複合(복합)제품. oil rigs 석유採掘(채굴)장비.
currently 현재는, 지금은. fiercely 맹렬하게. competitive 경쟁적인.
weld 용접하다. tailor [요구.조건에 맞도록] 짓다, 만들다. plate 철판, 板金(판금). specific ship 특수 선박. domestic market 국내 시장. overseas 해외에서.
a powerful presence 강력한 존재.
acquisition 취득. mine 광산. ore 광물. civil war 內戰(내전).
multinational 多國籍企業(다국적기업). put off 버리다, 피하다. emerge 출현하다.
franchise 독점판매권, 특권.

B. 구문
- Its customers' eagerness . . . made South Korea what it is.
cf. may have + pp. ...했을지도 모른다 (과거에서 현재까지의 추측).
[무시무시하게 경쟁적인 해외시장을 정복하려는 고객들의 열망이 포스코를 군살 없는 강인한 회사로 만들었을 것이다. 포스코의 강철경쟁력이 오늘 날의 한국을 만들었다.]

49b-8-219
The country's biggest successes in consumer electronics are LGE and Samsung Electronics. Only a decade ago consumers abroad hardly knew them, and if they did it was as makers of cheap knock-offs of classier brands, notably Sony. Today they have annual sales of $43 billion and $92 billion respectively, along with a reputation for making hip and sophisticated mobile handsets, MP3 players, televisions, digital cameras and more. LGE, for instance, is the world's largest maker of plasma televisionsSamsung has recently overtaken Motorola to become the second-biggest maker of mobile phones. Samsung's stockmarket capitalisation, at over $80 billion, has raced past Sony's and is second only to Apple among consumer-electronics companies. Samsung Electronics now makes the televisions on which Sony sticks its name badge.

All we need is love
Dermot Boden, LGE's new chief marketing officer, explains that much still needs to be done to realise the company's global ambitions, but his appointment, as a non-Korean, indicates the direction in which the best South Korean companies are going. South Korean companies, like Japanese ones, tend to recruit managers internally, rewarding length of service and often putting generalists into positions calling for special expertise. Exceptionally, LGE this year brought five overseas specialists to form part of the 20-strong top team of executives, among them Mr Boden, an Irishman who had earned a reputation for building consumer-goods brands.
Branding, says Mr Boden, is what LGE needs now. The company has superb products and offers excellent service. (It needs to in South Korea, where impatient customers put down the phone if it is not answered within ten seconds.) Yet emotional attachment to LGE's products, Mr Boden points out, remains low. Products come and go: a new mobile-phone model, for instance, is typically on sale for only about six months. It is a brand that encourages the customer to keep coming backand if he likes LG mobile phones, he might consider buying, say, an LG television. Samsung has already gone down this road, raising its profile by sponsoring the Olympics and Chelsea football team.

A. 어휘
consumer electronics 가전제품.
knock-off 複製(복제). classy 고급의, 훌륭한. notably 명백하게.
annual sales 年(연) 매출. respectively 각각. reputation 명성. overtake 추월하다.
stock-market capitalization 주식시장 現時價計上(현시가계상).
realise 실현하다. appointment 임명. recruit 채용하다. internally 내부에서.
generalist 일반업무에 근무하는 사원, 만능선수. call for 요구하다.
expertise 전문지식. exceptionally 예외적으로. executive 경영간부, 理事(이사).
20-strong top team of executives 20명의 최고경영간부 팀. superb 훌륭한.
impatient 성질 급한. emotional attachment 정서적 애착.

B. 구문
-rewarding length of service
[ 장기 勤續(근속)을 보상하다.]
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