The Hindu Business Line : Seoul stirring

Take away the Korean signboards and the strange smells, Seoul could well pass for a city in Europe with its neat roads, green cover and disciplined traffic.

One of the palaces of the Chosun Dynasty, which ruled Korea for over 500 years.

August is a pleasant time to be in Seoul, South Korea. The temperature reigns in the 20s and you can get by in shirtsleeves. Carting woollies and windcheaters just adds to the baggage, though it can get freezing in winter, when it snows. Seoul's an orderly city; take away the Korean signboards and the strange smells, it could well pass for a city in Europe with its neat roads, good green cover and disciplined traffic. It looks unlike other cities in South-East Asia, which have their peculiar variety of traffic.

The city is dotted with small hillocks and the Koreans have drilled lengthy tunnels through them to get through to other parts of the city. There is a bewildering array of cars in this surging city of 12 million, with a fairly good underground system, and the range is from large, luxury cars to the Hyundai Atoz, akin to the Santro.

One doesn't spot too many of the Santro look-alikes or the Daewoo Matiz — the preference is for large cars or SUVs. The Sonata, a luxury car in India, is a lowly, ubiquitous cab here! The market only recently opened up to foreign cars, so most of what you will see are Korea-made cars. There are plenty of models from the five Korean car-makers: Hyundai, Daewoo (now owned by GM), Kia (now a Hyundai company), Renault Samsung and Ssangyong Motors, which makes one of Korea's most luxurious cars, the Chairman. All those cars on the road should have some fallout, which we saw on ourway back to the airport. Traffic into town at 6.30 a.m. was jammed for at least five miles!

Chaebol power

One had only read about the overpowering presence of the Korean chaebols (industrial conglomerates), but seeing is believing. While LG seems to have stolen a march over its counterpart Samsung in India, it is the $36.5-billion Samsung Electronics that is a powerhouse in South Korea, LG being significantly smaller. The chaebols have taken centre-stage in Korean society; they are everywhere. LG and Hyundai are also into petrol retailing; you can see their bunks all over town. Samsung manufactures everything from high-end semi-conductors to plasma TVs, kitchen appliances and cell phones, and even has Samsung-branded cars on the roads. The hotel one stayed in, the Shilla — Seoul's best hotel — is also owned by Samsung. On one of Seoul's shopping thoroughfares, one saw a shopper swinging a Hyundai shopping bag. We were standing outside a Hyundai department store. And one thought Hyundai made only cars.

Swinging Seoul

Seoul rocks, and how. Over the weekend, the streets are jammed as are the pubs and bars. The happening street is Itaewon, also called American street because of the proliferation of stores of top American brands. It also has to do with the presence of a large American military base near Seoul; American soldiers unwind here on weekends and one did see large beefy soldiers in civvies swaggering around.

Our hosts took us to the Hongik University area, the city's main clubbing district, where Korean youth rock to the latest-in-the-US beats and the partying goes on well past the wee hours. While we staggered back to the hotel around 4 a.m. in a cab — quite safe — our Indian hosts for the evening went on to swill some more stuff, breakfasted at 7 a.m. and then headed home.

The city apparently never sleeps, at least on weekends, more so that night, as the lawns around Seoul's town hall broadcast the South Korea-Paraguay Olympic football match at 3 a.m. on giant screens. South Korea, unfortunately, lost quite narrowly.

English twisters

Learning English, we learnt, is aspirational. Shop signs are still grappling with the language though. Itaewon has a shoe store called Athlete's Foot; one wondered if the footwear chain knew that the ailment actually smelt. There's more: Buy the Way is a supermarket chain that's all over Seoul. Did they mean `Buy on the way' or `By the way?' A Canadian we encountered said she saw more such peculiarities on menu cards, one of which said `noodles with fungus', while the restaurant actually meant mushrooms!

While on the subject, Korean food is not for the faint-hearted or weak-stomached. Barbecue of any meat you crave for is made right in front of you on small burners, and you can sample the fare alongside a salad with a baby octopus thrown in. The best part of visiting Korean restaurants, one learns, is that those who serve you don't expect to be tipped.

Technology rules

The South Koreans are tech-savvy, going by their world leadership in several gadgets and semi-conductors. A media team from the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and India was given an exposition of Korean technology by Samsung — from high-end LCD and oversized Plasma TVs to computer monitors and giant-sized fridges. The conglomerate has already seized over 20 per cent market share in several electronic goods and components. We were also given an exposition of the intelligent, networked home of the future — only, the future was happening now in several Korean homes that have lapped up new digital technologies. (Read Business Line, Catalyst, dated September 2, 2004: The future at home)

Goodwill for Indians

Our Indian friends in Seoul tell us that there is a lot of goodwill and respect for Indians, thanks to the software czars of the country. One of the Samsung managers told us he studied in the US for a couple of years, where several Indians were his colleagues. He describes them as `brilliant people'. Only, he says ruefully, he would need to go back to the US to meet them again; none of them have gone back to India.

Picture by the author

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