By Kim Sung-jin
Staff Reporter


The brand value of South Korea fell for the third straight year in 2004. Korea ranked 12th among 36 countries surveyed.

Samsung Electronics boasted of the greatest brand value among all Korean corporations with its brand value assessed at 21 trillion won.

According to the Korea Institute of Industrial Policy Studies (IPS) Wednesday, Korea’s brand value was estimated at $370 billion.

The IPS reckoned Korea’s brand value on the basis on merchandise and service exports, tourism revenue, national competitive ranking by foreign institutions and survey results on the degree of intimacy felt by foreigners.

Korea ranked ninth in sovereign brand value among the 16 major countries back in 2002, when the IPS began the survey, and its rank dropped to 10th spot among 33 countries surveyed in 2003.

The IPS attributed the deterioration of Korea’s brand value to the fading of Korea’s friendly image as the host country of the 2002 World Cup finals among foreigners and to the inclusion of Hong Kong in the survey subjects. Hong Kong ranked 11th.

The United States had the greatest national brand value of $3.2 trillion, trailed by Germany with $1.7 trillion and Japan with $1 trillion.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics’ brand value increased by 3 trillion won this year, from last year. Samsung Electronics maintained its top spot for the third consecutive year.

Korea’s mobile service leader SK Telecom ranked second with its corporate brand value estimated at 8.19 trillion won, followed by Hyundai Motor with 6.5 trillion won and fixed-line telecom and Internet service provider KT with 5.46 trillion won. LG Electronics’ brand value, which amounted to 3.18 trillion won, was fourth greatest.

In the financial industry, Kookmin Bank ranked first with 1.9 trillion won. Shinhan Bank followed with 1.4 trillion won.

Samsung’s Zipel, Pavv and Anycall were picked as the best refrigerator, digital television and mobile handset brands in Korea, LG’s Tromm and Whisen as the best drum-type electric washer and air-conditioner brands, and Olympus as the best digital camera brand.

sjkim@koreatimes.co.kr