U.S. Firms Told to Be Aggressive in Korea Market

U.S. businesses could lose a potentially lucrative trade advantage to Western European countries if they do not act swiftly to satisfy the South Korean government’s desire to buy U.S. products, the executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in South Korea warned during an export trade seminar Wednesday in Garden Grove.

Earlier this year, officials in Seoul announced plans to import $2.6 billion worth of products that South Korea normally buys from Japan, stressing that the government would prefer to buy from the United States.

But U.S. Chamber executive James W. Booth said while the South Koreans have spent $600 million of that allotment since then, just $200 million was used to buy U.S. products.

Ki Soo Kim, the South Korean consulate general in Los Angeles, told the 160 local business representatives at the Garden Grove seminar that there will be 300-400 South Korean buyers inspecting U.S. products at a U.S. products show in Seoul scheduled for Nov. 2-5.

Wednesday’s seminar--sponsored by the city--was organized to provide local businessmen with information on how they can improve their sales to Korea.

The key, Booth said, is to increase sales activity in South Korea, where U.S. companies have not been aggressive enough. That lackluster performance was the principal reason that $400 million in export business originally earmarked for the United States went to England, France and other European nations, Kim said.