Moon Hwy-chang, professor emeritus of Seoul National University, delivers a lecture to participants in the Business+ Forum at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency

By Park Jae-hyuk

Foreign businesspeople in Korea learned fundamental factors of Korea's economic growth, sharing opinions about strategies for the country to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), during a forum in Seoul hosted by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Finland Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Korea, Thursday.

Under the theme of "Doing business in Korea," around 50 representatives from foreign companies here listened to a lecture by Moon Hwy-chang, professor emeritus of Seoul National University, on "the mindset of Korean business and government."

Instead of introducing Korea's idiosyncratic business etiquette ― such as exchanging business cards with both hands and bowing ― the professor offered a more in-depth analysis of the Korean culture for the foreign participants to better understand the country's business environment.

He said he "challenged" the traditional approach that merely attributes Korea's economic growth to cheaper labor, export promotion, chaebols and strong government and Confucianism, criticizing such an approach as being "too superficial."

According to Moon, Korea achieved economic growth, thanks to a productive labor force, efforts to learn global standards, cooperation between public and private sectors and a desire for a better life.

He added that Korea should prioritize the provision of better resources, the market, efficiency and strategic assets to attract FDI. The professor stressed this because multinational firms tend to evaluate those business factors first before they evaluate regulations and incentives when they consider making direct investments in certain countries.

Lyu Jae-won, executive vice president of trade-investment data at KOTRA, said he hopes the forum boosts FDIs in Korea by reducing the psychological distance between foreign businesspeople and Korea.

"In order for foreign companies in Korea to achieve innovative outcomes with pro-business policies, it would be absolutely essential to increase their fundamental understanding of Korea's business culture and environment," he said in his opening remarks.