by Sunwoo Jung (jsunwoo@chosun.com)

Foreign news agencies are once again filling their news stories about Korea with riot-related terminology. "Plastic bags with fermented shrimp," a new weapon that made its debut in the Buan riots, was added to the list of descriptions for Korea, and a report on November 15 described a police officer pummeling a passerby with a metal shield.
The reports make Korea look like a country of violence and disorder. Yoon Yun-soo, the CEO of FILA Korea, said that during his business trips to other countries, foreign CEOs inquired into his health and safety.
An overseas resident official said that the image of Korea now is reverting to that of the chaotic 1980s, saying that pictures of the violent demonstrations and rallies reported on TV and newspapers are ravaging the image of Korea, which is already hurt by the North Korean nuclear crisis.
Kim Jung-tae, the president of Kookmin Bank, the nation's largest bank, recently asked about the labor-management relationship at an Indonesian bank that Kookmin had acquired. It is "easier than in Korea," Kim was told.
The World Market Research Centre (WMRC) lowered Korea's operational risk rating from 2.5 to 2.25 on November 12, due to the country¡¯s combatant labor unions and to the increasing number of demonstrations. The WMRC said militant labor unions are one of the most serious factors in the decrease in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Korea.
Samsung Economic Research Institute estimates the FDI for this year to be US$1.2 billion, only one-tenth of 1999's US$10.6 billion.
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