Illustration = Reporter Chu Deok-young [email protected]
New Year (辛丑年) The new year is bright. This year, amid the re-proliferation of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), the word hope comes more desperately.
2020 was a year of struggling to survive. Corona 19, which hit humanity, infected 83 million people worldwide and killed 1.81 million people. The domestic situation is also deteriorating. The number of confirmed patients is living in a’severe winter’, with about 1,000 people increasing every day. My heart is heartbreaking at the words of an elementary school student saying, “I don’t have a best friend,” because I can’t meet a child with a nose shedding familiar with a mask.
When vaccination begins and treatments are available, Corona 19 will someday end. Economic actors must survive until then. You shouldn’t stop looking far and preparing for the future.
Self-employed businesses, such as restaurants, karaoke rooms, PC rooms, health clubs, etc., have become a big hit with Corona 19. That doesn’t mean you can’t sit down. Kim Seung-ri (33), who founded a health club in Songpa-gu, Seoul last March, started producing a 1-minute PT video and sending it to more than 90 members. Communicating with members who can’t come to the gym and building a foothold for recovery.
The aviation and travel industries, which have suffered devastating blows, must also prepare to take a chance again when the epidemic retreats. My Real Trip, a travel service platform company, has advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-based customized recommendations by increasing its development manpower despite the crisis. Jeju Island travel products were increased from 700 to 3,000.
It was a great comfort to confirm the potential of’K manufacturing industry’ last year. Our companies were staggering for a while in the early days of the Corona 19 crisis, but soon took the center and beat. Semiconductor and electric vehicle batteries have expanded their dominance in the global market. In the bio-pharmaceutical field, it has found future growth engines. Modena’s proposal for consignment production (CMO) separately from vaccine supply is a result of high evaluation of Korea’s manufacturing competitiveness.
The performance of major companies including Samsung Electronics is record-breaking. There is also an analysis that there are 118 listed companies that are estimated to have recorded the highest sales last year. It is known that the current account surplus until November of last year has already exceeded the annual target ($65 billion) due to strong exports.
Crisis has been overcome by challenging people and companies. From the 1st, the Korea Economic Daily publishes a special series of’Hope 2021-Let’s Run Korea Again’ over 10 times. We plan to discover and deliver stories of people on-site who are struggling to end Corona 19, entrepreneurs who grow their businesses in search of opportunities, and companies and deliver them to readers.
It will also capture the desperate voices of entrepreneurs saying,’I want to work with excitement.’ This year, I hope that all economic actors will overcome Corona 19 and enjoy more’economic freedom’.
Reporter Ryu Si-hoon [email protected]
Ⓒ Hankyung.com prohibits unauthorized reproduction and redistribution