Interview highlight G-STAR organizing committee, chairman Hong Ki-wha G-STAR poised to become one of world's top 3 game shows The most important way in which to make GSTAR 2006 a global-level game show is to attract world-famous foreign companies through active overseas marketing, according to Hong Ki-wha, chairman of the G-STAR organizing committee. In an interview with the Korea IT Times, Hong - who is also president of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) - said, "The committee is going all-out to attract the world's top-tier game companies and invite global buyers to the Game Show and Trade, All-Round (G-STAR 2006), which will be held at Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province on Nov. 9-12." The Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) and the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) jointly support the international game show, organized by the G-STAR organizing committee. Over 180 domestic and foreign game companies will introduce their new products and technologies at 2,000 booths at KINTEX during the G-STAR 2006 period. Meanwhile, about 160,000 people, including government officials, executives and staffs, and experts in the game industry are expected to visit the exhibition to be held on a lot of 53,541 square meters. "The G-STAR 2005, which was held at the KINTEX on Nov. 10-13 last year, focused on maximizing exhibition effects by gathering various kinds of existing game shows to one place. However, the G-STAR 2006 is aimed at bolstering its international competitiveness through global marketing and growing up to one of the world's top three game shows," he said. "In line with this, the G-STAR organizing committee will participate in the E3, the biggest annual international game fair to be held in Los Angeles, the U.S. May 10-12, leading 16 Korean companies," he said. "We will establish a booth at the E3 to publicize the G-STAR 2006 and stage active marketing activities there," he said. Asked about the future marketing direction for the G-STAR 2006, Hong said that Korea's hosting of the game show 2006 is a very good decision to strengthen the international competitiveness of the domestic game industry. Noting that the G-STAR 2006 is the world's biggest game show in terms of the exhibition scale, he said, "It indicates that Korea's online game industry has been growing up at a rapid pace and expanding its great influence over the global game market." The KINTEX can accommodate about 2,000 booths on a 53,541 square meters of lot, much bigger than the 30,000 square meters of space in Tokyo TGS and 50,000 square meters in the E3 of the United States. On the committee's marketing strategy to attract keen interest from world-famous game companies, the committee chairman said, "I think business to business (B2B) is aimed at establishing close networks among companies. We will exert best efforts to establish a large-scale exhibition hall equipped with state-of-the-art facilities where foreign buyers can attain exact information and engage in business consultations with domestic game makers in an amicable climate." "In a nutshell, we will prepare for a market place in Korea through which the G-STAR can secure a firm position as a toplevel international game show," he said, adding that the organizing committee will make an in-depth analysis of applicants to the G-STAR 2006 and map out a proper PR strategy. On the bipolarization of the domestic game industry, Hong said, "Not only large game makers such as Nexon but also small and financially weak game companies are required to participate in the G-STAR 2006 in order to beef up their international competitiveness. It is the only way for the nation's game industry to bolster the driving force and advance into profitable overseas markets. "To help small and medium-sized game companies introduce their products more effectively to foreign buyers, we plan to provide them with a center place of the exhibition hall, while allotting the edge of the hall to large game companies," he said. Hong also stressed the importance of arranging matchmaking between overseas buyers and domestic game companies with high international competitiveness. "Related to this, the G-STAR organizing committee will actively arrange for matchmaking between overseas buyers and domestic game companies and implement various methods to help the G-STAR enter the ranks of the world's big three game shows," said Hong.

The following are excerpts from an interview with Hong Ki-wha, chairman of the G-STAR organizing committee and concurrently president of KOTRA: Q: What are the ripple effects that G-STAR will have for the exhibition industry The exhibition industry is a service industry with high value added as it not only provides participating companies with good chances to find out buyers, but also generates such economic ripple effects as creation of employment, an increase of income in relevant regions and expansion of regional base facilities. In particular, G-STAR greatly contributes to improving the nation's trade balance and offers IT-related enterprises favorable opportunities to introduce their advanced technology and knowhow. In fact, export consultations made between domestic and foreign game makers during the GSTAR 2005 amounted to $200 million, showing the high global competitiveness of Korean game makers. Q: The G-STAR organizing committee plans to set up a Korean pavilion at E3 in Los Angeles that domestic game companies can share. Would you comment on the reasons for this and the strategic idea to operate the pavilion jointly According to the 2005 Korea's white paper on game, about 49 percent of the nation's game companies picked the E3 as the best game exhibition that they hope to participate among overseas game shows. In addition, a growing number of Korean game makers have a thought that participating in overseas game shows is the best way for their overseas marketing. At the same time, foreign companies in the global game market are paying greater attention to Korea's online games than before. Would you outline some of the support measures for Korean companies participating in the Korean pavilion First of all, we will arrange their participation in various game events organized by KOTRA, Korea Game Development and Promotion Institute (KGDI) and other relevant institutions. Along with this, we will actively provide domestic participants with chances to attend receptions and other business meetings in the U.S. by making the best use of our networks with overseas game associations and organizations. For instance, we will invite them to the "2006 E3 game export road show" and extend various supports, including PR marketing and management for buyers. Q: What are the visible benefits that Korean game makers can gain through their participation in the E3 In 2004, a total of 15 Korean game companies participated in the E3 Korean pavilion and engaged in export consultations amounting to $56.4 million, while making actual contracts of $6.26 million during the game show period. Meanwhile, 17 domestic companies participated in the E3 Korean pavilion in 2005, engaging in export consultations worth $115.19 million and signing export contracts worth $9.41 million. This year, we have set the export consultation target for the E3 at $120 million and plan to hold a variety of events to help domestic game makers diversify their overseas markets and increase game exports.