Will 'Hallyu' inflict India?  

Shashwat Chaturvedi






MUMBAI: In 1997, the South Asian economic juggernaut came to sudden standstill.
Precipitated by the Mexican Peso crisis, foreign investors started pulling out

money from different economies.






South Korea was one of the worst affected; the stocks came tumbling down and big
corporate firms were embroiled in corruption charges. A pall of gloom descended

upon the Asian tiger.






But that was nine years ago; subsequently a lot of economic reforms were
introduced, companies were restructured, the government took a keen interest in

the revival and invested heavily in infrastructure. Lo and behold, South Korea

was back in the reckoning again!






Its flagship companies, Hyundai,
LG,

Samsung,

were helping in spreading the Hallyu (the Korean wave) across the U.S., Japan,

China, Taiwan, Europe, etc. While the manufacturing sector was going strong, the

Korean government established Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA) to

promote the cause of the fledgling software industry.






Korea is one of the most networked country (in terms of broadband) globally,
with most of the houses linked through optical fiber cables (OFCs). It is also

the home to one of the most dynamic gaming industry. Koreans are avid gamers,

indulging in online as well as mobile games.






Thus, Korea today commands around 60 per cent of the online gaming market
globally, the market is worth approximately $1 billion per annum. Now, Korea is

looking East, at India specifically.






KIPA has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Association of
Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)

for cross promotion. A delegation from KIPA is currently touring India, looking

out for alliances.






Leo Hwa Chiang, director (Business Development), iPark Singapore, (a venture of
KIPA), said, “The Korean software industry specializes in entertainment, and

we are currently looking at tie-ups with companies providing content and mobile

operators in India. Online gaming is a big thing in South Korea and we intend to

bring it to India.”






Leo has already made two trips to India trying to get a feel of the industry.
Traveling to different cities, before zeroing in on Mumbai.






Why it took so long for KIPA to land in India? Leo is candid: “Lack of
understanding. We always knew about the Indian revolution, but we had to feel it

first-hand before we made any moves. Also, there were a lot of intellectual

property rights

(IPR) concerns,” he says.






But, so is it in China, notorious for the high levels of piracy. “The market
is huge, so huge that our companies still make sufficient revenues in spite of

piracy. We are hoping the story is repeated in India,” he explains.






Gaming has not quite caught on in India, there are bandwidth issues and then
there are the Rupee ones. A decent game download on a mobile costs anywhere

between $3-4 and add to it there are not many PC Bangs (cyber cafes in Korean)

that promote gaming.






“It is the chicken and egg situation, since there is no quality content
available. The cyber cafes haven't really taken off in India simply because

they do not have something unique and innovative on offer. This is where Korean

gaming companies fit in. There is a huge market opportunity in India and we want

to be the first one,” he says, excitedly.






Currently, most of the companies are getting their development done in China,
Leo hints that a lot of this development could be shifted to India depending

upon different factors.






KIPA is currently holding a seminar in association with NASSCOM, showcasing its
products to different industry players. KIPA has set up iParks across eight

locations globally, could one India be a future location.






Myong You, Contents marketing Division/Manager, Digital Contents Business Group,
KIPA, nods in approval. “Of course, why not? A lot depends on the business

needs of the Korean companies,” he says. Will KIPA consult successful Korean

companies in India, like LG, Samsung, Hyundai, etc.?






“No. Our business and focus is very different from theirs,” counters Leo.





Korea and India's association go quite far back in history. Buddhism that
evolved in India, reached Korean peninsula sometime in the 5th or 6th century

A.D. South Korea shares the same Independence Day with India, i.e., August 15th

(Korea was liberated from Japan two years earlier than India, 1945).






Korea is the 14th largest economy in terms of GDP (IMF Report 2005), while India
is the fourth. The vast potential from closer collaboration is there to be

exploited. Hence, Hallyu is quite welcome in India.