The former chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce thinks Korea’s policies regarding Canadian-made Blackberries, Canadian beef and access to the auto sector are major barriers to the conclusion of a Korea-Canada FTA and hurting bilateral ties.
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16 Comments
I wonder if those phones would catch on here. Koreans just call when they need to talk, unlike North Americans who prefer to send text messages.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Unlike in our country, where SMS are way cheaper than calling, in here they have not much regard on the cost of calls. It could still be popular, though, just for the novelty of being one of the elite who owns the world-reknowned Crackberry.
For someone who runs a company that provides consulting services to support inter-Kor/Can trade, this dude really doesn’t understand Koreans.
Yeah, that’s really gonna get respect. Tell them we elect pot-smoking child molesters to public office.
China?!!? India?!! Japan?!!? Korea does not compete with those countries, it dominates them!! How dare you even mention the name of Korea in the same breath with those peasants and war criminals!
What the hell’s a Blackberry, white man? You wanna talk about business or pastries?
Strange I was told by KT that it was possible to buy this phone here BlackBerry 7100i, the numbers are bellow.
Buy 382-7272
Tech 6400-8482
Manager 2166-0442
Strange, letter considering it is possible to buy the product he says that is not available here.
PS> hope there is nothing wrong with putting the numbers in the posting. They are not personal numbers they are the work numbers KT gave me to find the phone.
#4,
Only that model is available in Korea because the Korean government requires that all phones be WIPI compatible. That’s the grief that is being voiced in that article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIPI
“Tell them we elect pot-smoking child molesters to public office.”
Quit slamming teachers.
Correction…grievance, not grief. Call it a Freudian slip if you will,but I was in a hurry when I wrote it.
Now, now, Mr. Mao, I did not and have never slammed teachers*. All three jokes in my post were targeting the Korean home bias. The first was entirely topical, and related to well-known recent news stories.
*OK, except just this one.
http://www.rjkoehler.com/2007/.....ent-120324
hmm…
I knew the numbers cause i was in the market for a PDA. The samsung blackjack model sucks.
The blackberry actually looked realy nice.
Should have known better about Korea. Only one thing to do now ask for more money.
hmm…
I knew the numbers cause i was in the market for a PDA. The samsung blackjack model sucks.
The blackberry actually looked realy nice.
Should have known better about Korea. Only one thing to do now ask for more money at work.
I have a friend who is a mobile phone developer and according to him Blackberries will never take off here. The reasons he gave are;
1. Korean cellphones do a good job in sending and receiving text messages.
2. Koreans prefer to use their laptops to read and send e-mails. That and the fact that Korea is extensively “wired” and the availability of mobile Internet services from KT and SKT, that can be used with laptops(expensive and there are some regions where the service isn’t available, but it hasn’t stopped some people from signing up for it).
the snarky witticisms regarding “pot smoking child molesters” are getting old. Not!
the snarky witticisms regarding “pot smoking child molesters” are getting old. Not!
Que? I know a company here where Blackberries are standard issue to all senior staff. Thet don’t seem to have a problem.
#11,
Yes and no. Koreans prefer to call when they use their phones, not send messages.
Even then, Korean cellphone makers shouldn’t be hiding behind the Korean government imposed WIPI platform if they are so sure that Korean consumers wouldn’t like what the competition has to offer.
Blackberries are one thing–who knows whether or not they would catch on here. Canada has valid and important beefs over the meat and auto industries. There is no real reason why American beef can be imported and Canadian beef can’t. Yes, there have been a few more cases of BSE reported in Canada than in the US, but that’s only because we’re actually testing for it.
Korea seems to think that having a larger population than Canada automatically gives it the upper hand in negotiations, but I think Korea has the most to gain from the FTA. In the scope of things, beef, Blackberries, and cars are relatively small concessions.