‘South Korean Products Remain Significantly Undervalued’

The Institute for International Trade of the Korea International Trade Association said in its report on May 29 that the brand value of South Korea based on IMF data was US$1.092 trillion for the years of 2015 and 2016, much lower than those of the United States, China, Germany and Japan. The institute also mentioned that South Korean products were undervalued in many cases due to the shortage of the brand value of the country.

According to the report, the brand value of the United States amounted to US$20.574 trillion and that of China was about seven times the brand value of South Korea during the same period. Each of Germany, Japan and Britain surpassed South Korea by a factor of three or so while each of France and India did so by a factor of about two.

The brand value of South Korea was undervalued in terms of GDP, too. Specifically, the brand value compared to GDP by country was 76% in the case of South Korea whereas it was as high as 111% for the United States, Britain and Germany.

Under the circumstances, as of 2012, South Korean products were exported at an average discount of 9.3%. The so-called Korea discount was particularly conspicuous in the case of products exported by small firms and exports to the United States and Europe, which showed a discount of 10.6%, 11.5% and 13.7%, respectively.