Tariq Hussain's "Diamond Dilemma"

Fraud scandal exposes South Korean malaise

(Tariq Hussain) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:08:37 +0900

(The Times Higher Education Supplement, October 2007)

Ineffectual regulation and a desperate need for qualifications are fuelling corruption. Michael Fitzpatrick reports. South Korea's obsession with academic pedigree has exposed its higher education system to levels of fakery, fraud and exploitation rare in other developed countries. Read here for full article

Graduating from the right university, very often a foreign institution, can be the ticket to a successful and comfortable life. As a result, the pressures on South Korean teenagers are immense. Hundreds commit suicide every year because of fear of failing the exams needed to enter higher education. Thousands of others uproot themselves in pursuit of foreign degrees, which are generally perceived to be more prestigious than those awarded domestically.

Little wonder then, according to some commentators, that South Koreans look to loopholes, shortcuts and sometimes outright fraud to try to work the system.

"Titles count for a lot in Korea; academic titles even more. And academic titles from internationally renowned universities are perceived as the most prestigious and can by themselves be door-openers and career- openers," said Tariq Hussain, Korean education commentator and author of Diamond Dilemma: Shaping Korea for the 21st Century.

"Given this excessive focus on such titles, there is an incentive to bend the rules or even cheat. And occasionally these things are uncovered and lead to the downfall of the person involved."

An enthralled Korea has just witnessed the scandal arising from one such monumental rule-bending, namely the unmasking of a professor of art history as a fraud.

Shin Jeong-ah, who rose rapidly from gallery assistant to professor at Seoul's elite Dongguk University, was found to have invented her degrees, including a doctorate from Yale University and two lower degrees from the University of Kansas. She also claimed as her own work a plagiarised PhD thesis.

Unfortunately for Ms Shin, she rose too quickly in the eyes of some colleagues, and a whispering campaign prompted her employers to check her academic credentials more closely. They were all false. Ms Shin had barely completed her high-school studies.

Kim Kyung, a Seoul-based author and cultural commentator, observed: "I call our country the Republic of Forgery after Hwang Woo-Suk (caught falsifying research on cloning last year) and all the funny, fake luxury watches you see.

"To be honest, I feel sad and even stifled to live in a society where obsession with academic pedigree can easily drive one to crime."

"Few people realise that the real problem lies within the 'elites' who may actually have graduated from prestigious universities but (with qualifications) that are completely worthless."

Nevertheless, Ms Kim said, keeping up appearances, however illusory, is deemed important for staying ahead in Korean society. Ms Shin, whom she knows, took this maxim too far and is now under arrest and charged with faking degrees to obtain employment and with embezzling funds from a Seoul museum.

But the disgraced professor is not alone in taking such risks. There are more than 60,000 full-time professors in South Korea and, according to the Korea Research Foundation, about one in 30 has dubious qualifications.

The demand for academic qualifications, particularly from elite universities, is so great in South Korean life that those without a respected qualification can find themselves regarded as second-class citizens.

Profitable businesses have been built on supplying carefully crafted fraudulent documents to those keen to get on. Only periodically are their deceptions uncovered.

In the fallout from the Shin exposure, actors, officials and now even a famous teaching monk have been implicated in claims of fraud. Observers say that employers have moved to scrutinise employees' CVs and verify the authenticity of the academic qualifications they list.

Much breast-beating has followed in a country that feels it has done its best to establish and maintain a fair and honest education system.

To be admitted to university in South Korea, candidates must sit and pass an entrance exam. The exam is fact-based, which detractors claim leads to rote learning. The authorities say that fact-based exams reduce the potential for plagiarism and the subjective marking inherent in an essay- based test.

The rigorous entrance exams have helped preserve the domestic reputations of South Korea's universities even though they perform poorly in international league tables. But once students enter higher education the majority are guaranteed a pass - although the amount of work and the standard of degree awarded differs hugely between courses and universities.

"Academic standards in Korean universities tend to be lax," said one Seoul-based professor who declined to be named. "Students are often not expected to study at university, while cheating at all levels of the education process is all too common. Plagiarism is also rife, and teachers do little to stop it."

It has become part of the system that students do no work at college but they are, nevertheless, sure to graduate, according to Robert Koehler, a former South Korean university lecturer, journalist and foremost blogger on the country.

"Once you get into a good school, your life is set. It really doesn't matter what you do there; all that matters is the name of the school on the diploma once you get out. Colleges don't want to risk screwing up kids' lives for ever by failing them."

The South Korean Government made attempts at reform in the 1980s, demanding that universities introduce graduation quota systems, which would fail the lowest 30 per cent of students, but such demands proved unpopular. Standards, say some professors, are reflected in international standings. With not one Korean university listed among the world's top 100, South Korean parents and their children value study abroad.

"Maybe the best indicator of Korea's education crisis is the ongoing exodus of young Koreans," Mr Hussain said. "For every foreign student who comes to Korea, there are 18 Koreans leaving the country to study abroad. This is the worst ratio of any Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development country."

This exodus in search of "super" degrees overseas and the domestic bogus degree scandals have led some academics to speak out.

Jung Jin-soo, a professor of art at Sungkyunkwan University, recently told the national daily newspaper Chosun Ilbo that many degrees granted in Korea amounted to fakes.

"I have approved many poorly written dissertations. Masters and doctoral theses passed through the legitimate process are often also substandard," he said. "Graduate schools are bent on recruiting students, so they are lenient in approving theses.

"Most college professors are accomplices in this lenient screening. Seventy per cent of papers written by professors themselves, only to add to their resumes, are rubbish. They are assessed by colleagues who don't examine one another's work thoroughly."

The OECD has been scathing of South Korea's university system. In its latest report, it called on the Government to provide greater autonomy for universities and reduce the reliance on the state-run university entrance exam.

The South Korean Education Ministry has declined to comment.

A PENINSULAR PRIMER

- There are four main types of higher education institutions: regular four-year degree universities and colleges, two-year junior vocational colleges, four-year teachers' colleges and graduate schools.

- There are 50 national (public) universities, with this number set to be reduced to 35 within two years.

- More than 80 per cent (358) of South Korea's universities are private. The Government wants a 25 per cent cut in their number by 2009.

- Only 0.2 per cent of students in the country are foreign - the lowest percentage in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

- There are 1.59 million students in tertiary education in South Korea, according to the OECD.

- Public expenditure per student in tertiary education is £3,470.

The Education Gap – Wasting Korea’s Most Valuable Asset?

(Tariq Hussain) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:06:14 +0900

(Book Review on Australian Education International (AEI), September 2007)

Diamond Dilemma, by resident Korean expert Tariq Hussain, is a new English-language publication examining Korea’s rapid economic industrialisation and related social issues, – including education, – and asks ‘what’s next?’. Read here for full article

The work was first published in Korean in 2006 by Random House Joongang. Australian education providers interested in furthering their understanding of Korea will find it an enlightening reference. Refer also http://www.diamond-dilemma.com/tt/eng/ for details about the book and author.

Hussain’s harsh, though always constructive criticism of the country’s education system is built on a deep respect for the country’s achievements to date, including in education. In Chapter 8, Hussain examines Korea’s ‘education miracle’, which he says has so far succeeded in producing the country's most valuable resource – its people and human capital – but is now in need of reform.

Unmasking this ‘miracle’, including its top PISA rankings, Hussain measures it against the ‘enormous input’ of resources. ‘No students anywhere spend as many years in school as they do in Korea (12.3 years, the highest among OECD countries); no country spends as much money on education, at 8.2 percent of GDP; no parents anywhere spend more money on the private education of their children, at 3.4 percent of GDP and more.

Hussain assesses that for Korea to continue to move forward, it needs to move away from its input reliant, top-down training tradition, which has been the backbone of its rapid industrialisation, and move toward what he terms ‘true education.’

Korean culture is heavily influenced by Confucianism and Koreans adhere to strict hierarchical relationships in today’s modern society. In this environment, students are discouraged from questioning their teachers. Such unquestioning acceptance of the ‘facts’ and emphasis on rote memorisation of ‘correct’ answers, stifles creativity and critical thinking skills, and results in a ‘well-trained but uneducated workforce.’

Foreign executives usually praise Koreans for their ‘discipline, dedication and hard work, the hallmarks of a highly trained workforce, but recognise four main weaknesses:

lack of critical thinking and problem-solving skills
lack of communication skills
lack of diversity
leadership gap

Hussain also describes Government influence on education, for example how in the 1970s President Park Chung-Hee used education to support his economic policy. Education became about ‘producing a certain number of students for specific subjects which could support the country’s industrialisation drive – schools and universities became the training grounds for Korea Inc.’

As industrial policy shifted towards electronics industry heads of universities would meet annually with the heads of the ‘chaebol’ (family run conglomerates such as Samsung, Hyundai etc.) to ask them about their expansion plans and how many graduates they would need. ‘Most subjects were highly regulated and entrance to university was controlled by the government. Careers became predestined, choices were few and students were classified the moment they entered school.’

Hussain notes that an increasing number of Koreans are swapping ‘training’ in Korea for ‘education’ overseas, including Australia, resulting in Korea having the worst education and university trade balance of all OECD countries (Australia he notes ranks top in its university trade balance ‘due to its explicit focus on building a competitive education service industry’).

The book contains many more interesting facts and anecdotes and is well worth reading in full.

Tariq Hussain grew up in Germany as son of Pakistani-German parents. He holds a Bachelor in Management from the London School of Economics, and a Masters in Development Economics from Cambridge University. Mr. Hussain, who is fluent in Korean, lives in Seoul with his wife Keunhae and their three children.

Ten Years after the Financial Crisis (Various publications, July 2007)

(Tariq Hussain) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:03:10 +0900

Monday, July 02, 2007

Asia recalls crisis that brought it to its knees (AFP)

HONG KONG: When Thailand floated its currency on July 2, 1997, it meant to ease the immediate pressure on its faltering economy.

Instead, it set off a chain reaction which destroyed many of the gains of Asia’s “economic miracle” years as currencies, stocks, commodities and property prices went into free-fall and governments scrambled to limit the damage.

A decade on, most analysts believe the seismic shock changed the region’s economy for the good and that a repeat is unlikely—most markets are back up to 1997 levels, the underlying fundamentals are in better shape, and lessons have been learned in terms of better international cooperation.

But memories of the bad times linger.

“It was a very traumatic time. Our [economy contracted] by almost eight percent in 1998 after a very extended period of robust expansion,” said Lee Heng Guie, chief economist at CIMB Investment Bank in Kuala Lumpur.

“It resulted in a significant loss of wealth and capital flight . . . There were a lot of corporate problems . . . high [bad debts], rising unemployment, deflation and investments which collapsed,” Lee said.

For years, Thailand and its regional peers—the Asian Tiger economies—had built their growth on exports to the United States and Europe. Flush with cash, everything looked possible.

Fortunes were made as flamboyant businessmen became celebrities overnight, hawking their wares and rags to riches stories. The Bangkok stock market was a hotbed of speculation and manipulation.

“There was too much investment, too much consumption. It was excessive in every way,” Thai Finance Minister Cha-longphob Sussangkarn told Agence France-Presse.

Then global demand slowed and China, with a massive 50-percent devaluation of its currency in 1994, emerged as a major competitor for the export markets in its own drive for progress.

Pressure built. Through 1995 and 1996, Thailand’s export growth slowed and its balance of payments deteriorated, sparking warnings the baht was overvalued at 25 to the dollar and should be allowed to weaken.

Reluctant or unable to work out any other policy, the Thai government dug its heels in, raising interest rates and spending billions of dollars trying to maintain the status quo.

Finally, in the early hours of July 2, with the reserves spent, the central bank announced it would no longer support the baht, opening the floodgates to speculators making a one-way bet the currency would fall sharply.

The baht lost 18 percent overnight, tumbling to 56 to the dollar by early 1998. The stock market plunged 75 percent over the balance of the year.

The impact on the region was immediate because many countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea—had followed the same policy on growth and ran into similar problems.

Humiliation was heaped on disaster when they had to accept help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) along with its free-market philosophy and an uncomfortable opening up to foreign businesses.

South Korea felt the pain worst. Its state-directed economy was pried open under the terms of an IMF rescue package, which included a record $57 billion.
Overseas investors were able to buy distressed assets cheaply, a fact that still rankles in a strongly nationalist country.

Nevertheless, many feel the outcome was positive even if the immediate pain was great.

“It was bitter medicine that South Korea had to swallow. It created a lot of pain . . . but I think the upside was that the economy, especially the financial system, has become more stable,” said Tariq Hussain, a business consultant and writer on South Korea’s economy.

Indonesia was both traumatized and transformed, with then-President Suharto forced from office after 32 years amid massive protests against heavy-handed rule and soaring prices.

“Suharto’s fall brought about a democratic political system—from president down to the district chief, all must be elected directly by the people now, an important power shift,” said Fauzi Ikhsan, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank.

IMF-mandated reforms also saw vast state monopolies dismantled and the role of national, favored conglomerates reduced, Ikhsan said.

While Japan and China were not immediately at risk as the crisis unfolded, they were not immune either.

Japan was already mired in its own crisis caused by the bursting of the asset bubble in the early 1990s, ushering in a decade of economic stagnation, deflation and bad loans that crippled the country’s banks.

“Even without Japan’s financial and economic difficulties, the Southeast Asian crisis and the Korean crisis would have happened,” said Masahiro Kawai, a prominent economist and former deputy vice finance minister.

For China, now the world’s undisputed factory floor, the crisis made the leadership both cautious and determined to press on with reforms.

“China became very prudent in opening its financial market. The defensive mentality was on the rise. That prudent attitude is still in play today,” said Andy Xie, an independent economist based in Shanghai.

-- AFP

Lectures and Presentations on Korea's Future

(Tariq Hussain) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:49:57 +0900

Tariq Hussain continues to present his thoughts on Korea's future to Korean and international audiences. Recent public appearances include speeches at the Foreign Bankers' Group in Seoul, at Ehwa Women's University and Sejong University (to the joint Sejong-Syracuse MBA program).

Korea's fortunate few

(Tariq Hussain) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:48:59 +0900

Donald Kirk 01-Apr-2007

Call them the “chaebol class” – that is, the family members of the owners and power-brokers of the Korean chaebol, a word that literally means “fortune clusters”.

Like the nobility who rose to power in Europe in the Middle Ages, the heirs to the mighty chaebol or conglomerates that have come to dominate the Korean economy since the Korean War are firmly ensconced, preparing for their heirs and extended family to take over while fending off assaults on their authority from bureaucrats and underlings. Korea’s new nobility so far is more than holding its own despite arrests, scandals and, periodically, tragedy.

Take the latest case involving one of the most visible heirs to a chaebol fortune, Hyundai Automotive Chairman Chung Mong Koo, oldest son of the legendary Hyundai group founder, Chung Ju Yung, who died six years ago after dividing his fortune among his six surviving sons. Chung is now free on bail of more than one million dollars, having received a three-year prison sentence in February this year for bribing government officials from a slush fund of nearly $US140 million stolen from his own companies.

Hyundai executives fully believed the judge would suspend the sentence, as he did a 30-month sentence imposed on Hyundai Automotive Vice Chairman Kim Dong Won and lesser sentences against two other executives. “Obviously we are greatly disappointed,” says a Hyundai spokesman, but the betting is that “MK,” as he is known will still get off on probation and a suspended sentence.

Such a denouement would be typical in a system in which chaebol leaders are regularly getting in and out of trouble, sometimes spending time in jail, only to re-emerge stronger than ever. Chung Mong Koo’s motivation, after all, was one that all Koreans can appreciate -- a case that again proves the power of heredity, nowhere more so than over the chaebol who dominate the economy. He wanted to place his only son, Chung Eui Son, 34, president of Kia, a Hyundai subsidiary since 1998, in a position to gain undisputed control over the group.

That goal was one reason for share manipulation, say prosecutors, in which the elder Chung dipped into the slush fund, setting up a satellite company as the logistics arm of the group, watching its profits soar and then floating the shares at fantastic prices. Thus Eui Son could ensure control over Hyundai Automotive's main companies.

The scandal at Hyundai Automotive dramatises “the corporate issues as well as the chaebol style,” says Tariq Hussain, long-time corporate consultant in Seoul and author of a well-received study, Diamond Dilemma: Shaping Korea for the 21^st Century. “Korea still has a poor track record of corporate governance. Only significant improvements across the board will change anything.”

Hussain believes Chung’s case may have very negative implications for foreign investment in South Korea. Partly as a result of top-down control, typical of Korean bureaucratic culture, he believes, “the Korean government faces the issue of corporate governance” inside the chaebol.

Countering claims of business as usual, the Federation of Korean Industries, made up of chaebol chieftains, argues that “corporate governance of Korean corporations is remarkably changed” since the 1997 economic crisis. Korean companies “try to improve their governance structure for building up external trust,” says the FKI in written response to questions. Companies may be “a little responsible,” the FKI acknowledges, but cases reflect “excessive” government regulation.

The fear remains, however, that lack of accountability at the highest levels stifles competition and innovation in an environment dominated by the chaebol. No one’s predicting another crisis on the magnitude of the one ten years ago that forced the government to go to the International Monetary Fund for a $US58 billion bailout, but the overwhelming size and power of the chaebol means smaller companies are often unable to compete. For many small/medium enterprises, the key to survival is to work with the chaebol as suppliers of parts, as consultants or as buyers or distributors of chaebol products.

On a broader level, analysts worry about the implications for corporate governance of a system ruled by the chaebol a decade after economic crisis nearly bankrupted the economy. Hyundai Automotive people do not deny the impact. “Certainly we’ve lost momentum,” says a Hyundai source. “There’s no doubt this trial has been a big distraction.” A corporate official says Hyundai Automotive is paying a price for the damage to its image in sagging sales at home and abroad.

Factoring in the rising value of the won against both the dollar and the euro, the results are startling – net income last year was approximately $US1.7 billion, down from approximately $US2.3 billion the year before. “Won appreciation,” says the official, “has forced readjustment of our export strategy” with added emphasis on smaller vehicles. Driving home this point, Chung, in February visited the Hyundai Motors plant in Chennai (formerly Madras), India’s second biggest car manufacturer in terms of sales of its small-size model and exports of small cars to Europe.

Although Chung, 68, presided over the opening of a Hyundai Motors plant in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2005 and ground breaking for construction of a Kia Motors plant in Georgia last October, the group has had to postpone plans for a plant in the Czech Republic and is going slow on future expansion.

Whether Hyundai Automotive – Korea’s second largest chaebol after the Samsung group – will change in terms of corporate governance is another matter. “Definitely this case demonstrates the past practices will not be accepted in the future,” says Nam Sang Koo, president of the Korea Corporate Governance Service, which rates the level of corporate governance under the Korea Stock Exchange and places Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors in the mediocre “B” category. “It will have an impact.”

Chung’s chances of getting a suspended sentence appear likely in an election year in which the conservative Lee Myung Bak, former mayor of Seoul, remains the leading prospect in December’s election to succeed the liberal President Roh Moo Hyun. Business people are quietly confident that Lee, who rose to chairman of Hyundai Engineering and Construction under Chung Ju Yung, would free him even if a higher court ordered him to jail.

Lee refrains from comment on the Hyundai Automotive case, but leaves no doubt where he stands when it comes to the economic policies of Roh and his aides. He believes the government is “ideologically socialist” and that major companies “should be allowed maximum freedom.”

That view underlies conservative thinking on the economy in a presidential campaign that is likely to end a decade of left-of-center rule that began with the election of Kim Dae Jung in December 1997. Since Korean presidents under the 1987 “democracy constitution” cannot run for a second five-year term, conservatives are convinced that now is the opportune time to return to power on a wave of reaction against what many see as leftist leadership.

Many Koreans are fed up with the culture of corruption that surrounds the chaebol and their relations with the government. However, Koreans are so jaded when it comes to corruption and politicians in general that the issue is not likely to rise before voters during the campaign. The government’s Uri Party is dissolving as a result of internal bickering as well as disillusionment with Roh’s leadership, leaving the field open to conservatives to stage a comeback.

As long as the economy keeps growing by four or five per cent a year, demands for sweeping reform remain muted. Both the Uri Party and its opposition, the Grand National party, are dedicated to maintaining the stability of the economy in its present form. Chaebol chieftains routinely give to both.

Lee Myung Bak’s reform agenda if carried out would turn the clock back on decade long efforts at limited chaebol reform. If Chung Mong Koo fails to win a reprieve this year on his initial appeal, he is certain to hope for mercy next year after the inauguration of a new, conservative president, very possibly Lee.

The nemesis of the chaebol families is the government’s Fair Trade Commission, which persists in coming up with ways to try to curb the power of the bosses. According to current rules, companies in the 18 chaebol with assets of more than six trillion won each, somewhat above $ US 6 billion, are banned from pouring more than one quarter of their total equity into companies in the same group. That’s bad enough, as far as the chaebol are concerned, but now the FTC wants to reduce the movement of funds among companies – the mechanism by which the leaders of the chaebol class maintain their grip even while their own total holdings are often below five per cent and sometimes much less.

Denouncing the proposal, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry provided the rationale for the system. The government “must recognise the contributions of big conglomerates,” it said, “rather than focusing on how to reform the structure of corporate governance.”

Tariq Hussain’s final observation is telling: “My gut feeling is the Korean soul will prevail,” he says, when it comes to the fate of Chung Mong Koo at the hands of the Korean legal system. “People are screaming, without him at the helm it’s difficult to make decisions. Hyundai Automotive is the pillar of the corporate structure, and that consideration will prevail over other concerns.”

Donald Kirk is a freelance journalist based in Seoul, South Korea.

Link : http://www.the-diplomat.com:80/article.aspx?aeid=2684

Hiddink deelt museum met zeevaarder

(Tariq Hussain) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:45:20 +0900

Hiddink deelt museum met zeevaarder door Simon Trommel Oranje speelde zaterdag in Seoul tegen Zuid-Korea. Dat vonden de Koreanen mooi. Nederland neemt een speciaal plekje in hun hart in. Zeeman Hendrik Hamel ontdekte Korea. En Guus Hiddink zette als bondscoach het land definitief op de voetbalkaart. JEJU/SEOUL - Op het vakantie-eiland Jeju bevindt zich De Sperwer, het grote schip waarin het Hamel- en Hiddinkmuseum huist. Het ligt in een toeristisch gebied dat jaarlijks 1,1 miljoen bezoekers trekt. Tienduizenden bezoekers per jaar, vooral scholieren, komen naar het Hamelmuseum. Ze zien er het verhaal van Hendrik Hamel, de Nederlandse zeeman die op de Koreaanse kust strandde, door de koning werd gepakt en wist te ontsnappen. En dan is er Guus Hiddink.

Vol trots wijzen een paar Koreanen op de oranje T-shirts uit 2002. Ze zijn gemaakt in de Achterhoek. South Corea-Varsseveld staat erop. Ze lachen er een beetje om. Korea schrijf je toch echt met een K, zeggen ze een beetje verontwaardigd. Voor de rest kunnen ze de Nederlandse steun voor het Koreaanse elftal van 2002 wel waarderen.

Chul Na Ki heeft een winkel naast de torenhoge replica (driekwart grootte) van De Sperwer waar Hendrik Hamel en Guus Hiddink huizen. De souvenirwinkel hier is een compleet Hollandmuseum, met uiteraard foto's van de voetbalmeester zelf en van het Varsseveldse 'Guuseum'. Er staan klompen waar bezoekers een rondje in kunnen lopen. Gezien de schaafvlekken op de vloer maken ze daar driftig gebruik van.

Jeju staat bekend als huwelijksreisbestemming. Bruidspaartjes kunnen in de winkel op de foto met een hart van tulpen. Of op een gezellig bankje omgeven met tulpen. Die trouwens van plastic zijn.

Ki wijst op de gelijkenis van de Nederlandse en de Koreaanse klomp. ,,Waarschijnlijk hebben wij Koreanen dat model afgekeken van de kleding van Hamel.''

Bezoekers Chelyaen Kim en Myounjin Han vinden het Hiddinkmuseum leuk. Het succesverhaal van 2002 wordt goed verteld. Maar het mag groter en er mag meer uitleg bij over 2002, vinden ze. ,,Dat mag natuurlijk niet ten koste van Hendrik Hamel.''

Sociale ordening
Directeur Don Roelofs van Koreaspecialist Shilla Travel hield zich in 2002 bezig met de logistieke ondersteuning voor de NOS. ,,De Koreanen waren helemaal niet tevreden, totdat Hiddink opeens begon te winnen. Je zag die totale gekte steeds groter worden. Op een gegeven moment dacht je: kan dat enthousiasme nog groter? Ja. Eigenlijk is dat nooit meer opgehouden. Hiddink is in Korea nog steeds een god.''

Daarom zeggen alle bezoekers van het museum hetzelfde. De aandacht voor Guus Hiddink mag best wat groter dan die ene kleine ruimte met twintig displays waar foto's en attributen liggen. Hiddink is nog steeds belangrijk. Hij veranderde de cultuur in Korea, zegt marketingdirecteur Byung-soo Han van de regering van Jeju. Korea is een land waar sociale ordening heel belangrijk is. Een jongere begint niet met eten voordat een ouder iemand begint.

Voorbeeld
En of het nu om voetbal gaat of om een ander facet van het leven: vroeger speelde je de bal toe aan degene de je kende van je eigen universiteit. Hiddink zei: kijk naar de kansen en de mogelijkheden van iedereen en creëer zo de beste gelegenheid. Korea moet Hiddink daarom nog steeds als voorbeeld nemen, zegt de uit Duitsland afkomstige zakenman en columnist Tariq Hussain. ,,Korea en Hiddink, dat is de succesformule voor dit land in de 21e eeuw.'' Hussain schreef een boek over de Koreaanse samenleving, The diamond dilemma .

De marketingafdeling van het bestuur van Jeju hoopt dat Hiddink toeristen blijft trekken. Er wordt op het eiland druk geprobeerd meer toeristen uit Europa te werven. Voor een plek op de internationale toeristische kaart hebben de Koreanen veel geld, tijd en moeite over. En het eiland heeft veel te bieden. Vulkanen, watervallen, locaties waar de in Azie populaire Koreaanse films worden gemaakt. Alleen uit Europa en de VS mag het aantal toeristen nog wel wat groeien.

Link : http://www.nd.nl:80/Document.aspx?document=nd_artikel&id=93841

Leadership Potrait: A Passion to Contribute

(Tariq Hussain) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:38:30 +0900

Seoul/South-korea

Tariq Hussain; Representative,
North East Asia, Maxmakers;
Advisor; Columnist

"A Passion to Contribute"

Sometimes it takes an outside view to find out about necessary changes. In this sense Tariq Hussain brought a new vision to South Korea. In 2006, he launched an analysis of Korea called "Diamond Dilemma: Shaping Korea for the 21st Century" that has been greatly appreciated by the audience inside as well as outside the country. But his book is only part of what the consultant and economic expert wants to give to his adoptive country "My contribution is clearly focused on the economic challenges, i.e. what are the key priorities Korea needs to address to to continue its economic success and transformation?"

Raised in Munich as son of Pakistani-German parents and educated at the London School of Economics and at Cambridge University, Tariq Hussain now lives in South Korea´s capital Seoul with his wife and soon to be four children. During Tariq's time at Cambridge, a Korean professor´s tale about the country's miraculous rise from one of the world's poorhouses to an industrial powerhouse made him discover his passion for the East Asian country. A Heinz Nixdorf scholarship in 1997 allowed him to pursue this passion, to find out more about the country and start a professional career there. For more than seven years he worked for the global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton where he had "the chance to be at the core of corporate Korea at a time of unprecedented changes following the 1997/8 financial crisis. I not only learnt the basics of business, consulting and professionalism, but also shaped my key theses about the future of Korea."

In 2005, he quit his job in order to write a book, a step he couldn´t have taken without trusting in his own vision. "The close friends whom I consulted prior to making the decision all saw my passion for this project - and so did my wife, whose consent was critical. I finished the Korean version in ten months and the book was well-received by the Korean public and press as a unique 'outsider's inside view.'" Today he is working as NE Asia representative of Maxmakers, a Swiss advisory firm which is trying to set new standards by creating compelling leisure and commercial destinations. The company's aspirations seem to match with his own goals. "I hope that through my work at Maxmakers I can make an - albeit small - contribution to Korea's much needed transition from a manufacturing to a service economy, and to attracting foreign direct investment. My current work is as a continuation of my vision to play a part in North East Asia's - and particular Korea's - transformation." In addition to his work at Maxmakers and for the media he is also an advisor to various organisations - "more or less all linked to the goal of helping Korea to achieve its full potential."

South Korea has gone through a period of phenomenal growth since the 1960s. It is now on the verge of establishing itself as a "fully developed country" and is facing economic and social challenges as well as questions of security concerning the neighbouring North Korea. While Tariq Hussain envisions tremendous opportunities for InWEnt´s activities and a continued, mutually beneficial dialogue between South Korea and Germany, he does not see any glaring capacity building needs. "The one area where capacity building may have an impact is the environment. I believe that the majority of Koreans are still underestimating the importance of addressing environmental concerns --- this issue has traditionally been, and still is, relegated to the overriding goal of economic development. The two should be seen as mutually interdependent and reinforcing." Tariq Hussain tries to spend his limited spare time with his family that he considers as "his all-important source of balance". His future he sees in a close connection with South Korea´s development. "I believe that the depth and objectivity of my analysis is quite unique in a country that tends to be dominated by powerful interest groups, each of which are defending their rather narrow self interest, often at the expense of society at large." By sharing a vision for the future built on credibility, trust and a passion to contribute, Tariq Hussain hopes to be at the center of change in one of the world's most dynamic regions.

Link: http://www.gc21.de/ibt/alumni/ibt/en/fr … k%3Dlead

Cirque du Soleil's message to Korea

(Tariq Hussain) — Wed, 09 May 2007 17:05:04 +0900

[Video] What are the future prospects for South Korea?

(Tariq Hussain) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:31:46 +0900

Brilliance or Breakdown? What are the future prospects for South Korea? How can the country maintain its phenomenal growth trajectory and transform itself into a vibrant, knowledge-based economy? The "Diamond Dilemma¡" seeks to answer these questions. It provides a profound, provocative, and unique outsider's inside perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing South Korea. The book received wide-spread acclaim and media attention in Korea, where it was released by Random House Joongang. The English version is now available through major distribution channels in Korea and around the world.

Thanks and best regards,

Tariq

[MBC] News Who

(Tariq Hussain) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:40:08 +0900

Tariq Hussain appeared on a major TV program (MBC, "News Who") to comment on succession planning at the chaebol.

# References : http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/culture/newswho/