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What is the Future of Korea in 2013 2007/11/01 By Sae-hee, Han Korea will fall into oblivion as it fiercely competes in mid-tech areas. That’s an eerily prediction of how Korea will look like. CEO Forum Korea 2007 was held on the 31st in the Grand Intercontinental Hotel, where AT Kearney experts gathered to assess the reality of Korea sandwiched between advanced economies and emerging economies, and predict the future, based on scenario method. The scenario bases present conditions and presents Positve, Negative, and Neutral on the categories of globalization, geopolitical dangers, population, technology, and natural resources. According to the scenario, Korea lags behind in the field of new technology except for IT and its strong mid-tech competitiveness pales in comparison with China’s. Ban, Young Gon, AT Kearney Korea partner said that while advanced and developing countries are committed to technological innovation by means of attracting talents and conducting M&A, Korea remains complacent. He went on to say that if the trend continues, Korea will be overtaken by China in terms of technology. The scenario paints the future of Korea negative, as Korea is still lost in past successes and can’t realize the real conditions in the market, leaving it losing competitiveness in the area of mid-tech and. The country’s leading technology will disappear in no time. Paul Laudicina, the chairman of AT Kearney said in the keynote speech, “Korean businesses can’t innovate themselves fully without strengthening global cooperative models such as M&A and joint venture. However, the scenario also paints a positive picture of future Korea, if the country succeeds in attracting overseas talents and realizing technological innovation and becomes a Mecca for future new technology as a leader of new technology in convergence. Han, Chang Hoon, a director of AT Kearney, presented the positive forecast on the condition that Korea makes the most use of mid-tech, maximize profits, and invest in high-tech development. In the mean time, participants on the occasion forecast the neutral picture of the country’s future in the poll, after the presentation. They believe that Korea will become neither a top-notched country nor a developing one. Many topics were discussed, ranging from globalization to threats posed by North Korea and China to aging society, which are considered to affect Korea in the future.