Korea, the Hard Way: Battling Invisible Trade Barriers: A Story from the Front Lines of America

Manufacturing has declined to only 17% of our GDP as more and more American employees see their jobs being sent overseas. Our politicians, economists and journalists try to explain it away as a drift towards the transfer of manufacturing technology. Are we really "drifting" into a post-industrial society? Hard evidence suggests otherwise.

The Korean technique is to first force incoming American companies into joint ventures with local Korean companies and then "strip" the technology over time. Along with our technology go good paying American jobs and eventually our middle class.

"Korea: the Hard Way" is a story about one of the first foreign companies to slip "through the cracks" and achieve 100% foreign owned status. A story from the author’s unique experiences negotiating a minefield of invisible, and some not so invisible, non-tariff trade barriers used by a bureaucracy trying to push us into a joint venture with a local company.

Since there was no local partner to take care of the "dark side" of doing business in Korea, Frank was drawn into doing business "Korean style" and deal with "under the table" land contracts, inflated construction receipts, falsifying business scope, corruption, bribery, setting up phony shell companies, money laundering, tax avoidance and more.

Not satisfied with recent progress opening the notoriously difficult Korean automobile market, Frank hopes that "Korea: the Hard Way" will be a call to arms for the American consumer to help correct the situation in a way that is sure to be heard all the way back in Seoul.