New breed of on-line traders beats recession<\/p>\n
By Ahn Mi-young<\/p>\n
SEOUL (DPA): When Kim Ki-Moon, 35, lost his job as a computer
\nprogrammer in a construction company to the South Korean economic
\ncrisis, he began a frantic search for work.<\/p>\n
Twenty months later, still without formal employment, he is
\nmuch more relaxed and rarely thinks about his old 2.5 million won
\na month (US$2,100) position.<\/p>\n
In the past year he has become a "cyber trader", dabbling in
\nfinancial markets via the Internet from his home in southern
\nSeoul.<\/p>\n
"At first, I lost more money than I earned. Now I am learning
\nto read the market," he said.<\/p>\n
On a typical day recently, he bought some electronics shares
\nafter hearing of a firm's robust memory chip sales, then off-
\nloaded stocks of another venture company which he had bought a
\nfew days earlier.<\/p>\n
Although he won't say how much he earns, Kim said he has had
\n"a few lucky months" in which he made much more than he did in
\nhis old job. He now has a lot more leisure time to spend with his
\nwife and four-year-old son.<\/p>\n
Cyber traders<\/p>\n
Kim is part of a new wave of day-traders in South Korea, the
\ncountry which, according to industry experts, has the world's
\nlargest per-capita number of online stock traders.<\/p>\n
Almost 1.2 million cyber traders are trying to make a fast
\nbuck online, and together they account for almost one-third of
\ntotal daily stock transactions on the Seoul Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n
The president of the online TNT Club for cyber traders, Cho
\nKyu- Man, 33, said: "For many unemployed, cyber-trading has
\nbecome a good out-of-work source of income, if they are lucky and
\nsmart enough."<\/p>\n
Some young people are now leaving their secure company jobs to
\nenter the lucrative fray of the information age and become full-
\ntime Internet day-traders.<\/p>\n
Many of them prefer the freedom this lifestyle offers to being
\nlocked into stressful corporate life.<\/p>\n
The online revolution has spilled over into the realm of Cyber
\ncafes and Internet-PC game rooms, a mushrooming industry in the
\ntechnology-savvy East Asian country.<\/p>\n
Within the past year, their number has grown from 3,000
\nInternet PC rooms to more than 13,000 nationwide.<\/p>\n
At a cost of only 5,000 won ($4.20) for a two- or three-hour
\nstay, these businesses offer fast connections and sophisticated
\nsoftware that is constantly updated.<\/p>\n
An analyst of the Internet Multi-Culture Association said,
\n"The Internet PC room is a typically Korean success model that
\ncreates some 4 trillion won of market value annually."<\/p>\n
Only a year ago, it was mostly students playing video games
\nwho populated the PC rooms.<\/p>\n
Now, young company employees-turned-online-traders, aged in
\ntheir 20s or 30s, are often seen sitting alongside the teenagers,
\nbrowsing through animation sites or chatting by e-mail.<\/p>\n
Sensing the potential of these unique new Cyber cafes -- which
\nare outfitted for both serious work and play -- a group of PC
\nroom businesses have teamed up with 10 local brokerage houses
\nbacking them.<\/p>\n
Playing it different<\/p>\n
They are "different from other nations' Internet cafes," said
\nHur Hyun-June, the marketing leader of Chung-oh Communications
\nCo, a franchise owner of some 80 PC game rooms nationwide.<\/p>\n
"These rooms are operated not only for individual fun, but
\nalso for online business use on high-speed connection networks
\nsuch as ADSL or cable TV transmission."<\/p>\n
Growth has been so frantic that these Internet rooms are now
\nthe major customers for these high-speed connections from the
\nnation's largest telephony giant, Korea Telecom and the local
\ncall start-up Hanaro Telecom.<\/p>\n
The two telecom companies are now busy installing more ADSL
\nlines with new equipment from Alcatel of France.<\/p>\n
Chung-oh Communications now hopes to export its new success
\nmodel across the Sea of Japan.<\/p>\n
The company is finalizing talks for a 2:1 joint venture for PC
\nrooms with one of Japan's top five game development and
\ndistribution companies.<\/p>\n
"Something that hits off in Korean usually hits off in Japan,
\nand vice versa," said Hur. "That is why we are going to launch
\nthe PC rooms in Japan."<\/p>",
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