Abstract
The present work examines the development and international competitiveness of the die and mold industry in South Korea, and discusses possible measures for maintaining the competitive edge of the Japanese counterpart. The trade statistics for 1996-2000 showed that Korean exports of molds grew by a factor of 2.6 in the period from 1996 to 2000 while imports were halved. As for dies, exports grew rapidly by a factor of 35.2 from 1996 to 2008, while imports decreased to less than one third, thus changing the balance to excess of export. The trade specialization ratio increased in the same period from 0.4 to 0.8 for molds and from -0.8 to 0.9 for dies. On the other hand, changes in the unit price competitiveness suggest that the growth of die exports resulted from low prices. A field survey revealed that the catching-up of process has been promoted by a strategic alliance of industry, government and academia. After the success of the strategy, Korea's present problem is how to establish orientation to innovation. Japan is now inferior to Korea in prices but maintains the superiority in product quality. It needs further promotion of innovation, along with effective inheritance of technology, new business models and industry-academia collaboration, to maintain the superiority.
