[Opinion] Spirit for Challenge Badly Needed

American music Web site “imeem.com,” which enjoys growing popularity with Internet users from around the world, utilizes a “social network” where various groups interact with one another. This social networking site has become more popular among Koreans since Korean-American Steve Jang joined as a partner. Users can enjoy whatever music they like for free. Advertisers pay for the free listening. However, downloading requires money. Imeem.com, filled with multinational sounds, is a fledgling site that was launched as recently as in 2006. However, it surprised the world by placing itself on the top ten list of most popular sites in the U.S. It showed that a small company can assert itself in the global arena if it makes the most of diverse demands of consumers.

Kwon Do-hyeok, CEO of qbox.com, a local Korean music site, said this is what American Internet businesses are good at. Taking a closer look at newly-established Web sites since 2003, which include the world’s 20 most popular sites, we see how these sites have succeeded. Among them, seven sites are American (e.g. YouTube), five are Japanese (e.g. Mixi), and only one, TStory, is Korean.

CEO Kwon has set his eyes on the global arena. He started running qbox on a trial basis in Silicon Valley. “If we want to target global markets, we should base our business in the U.S. market in terms of marketing and fundraising,” said Kwon. What spurred his sprit for challenge once again was the takeover of British “Bebo.com” by AOL. For 850 million dollars (about 858.5 billion won), American global Web site AOL purchased Bebo.com, where musicians upload their music and fans can listen to it and share their musical tastes with friends.

With the number of successful cases rising, venture capitals and those setting up business are increasing. YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, who recently visited Korea, said, “In Silicon Valley, setting up a business is possible once you’ve visited a venture capital firm and given presentations three to five times.”

However, this is unfathomable in Korea because “people in Korea no longer seek challenges,” said Jang Hyo-gon, CEO of Innomove Group, a consulting firm. Well-educated Americans choose challenging careers, but highly-educated Koreans prefer comfortable occupations that provide secure futures. It is said that new employees in Internet venture companies quit once competing job training to move to a big, secure company in the same field. This exemplifies people today who prefer security over challenge. Has Korea already grown too comfortable?

Editorial Writer Hong Kwon-hui, konihong@donga.com