economy - High wages force foreign companies out of Korean to China

Foreign enterprises are leaving South-Korea because of high wages, writes the Korea Times today. Danish toymaker Lego has decided to pack its bags, after earlier this year three larger pharmaceutical companies left: GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly and Wyeth.Korea is losing its global competitive edge, the paper says:

Wages in Korea are five to 10 times higher than China and India, and even higher than in Ireland. Foreign companies have also been troubled by labor strikes for years. Soaring land prices stemming from rampant speculation as well as administrative red tape definitely worked against Korea. Add to these problems the country’s perennial security risk and it is easy to conclude that it would be strange for foreign companies to stay. Foreign direct investments fell 8.4 percent in the first half of this year.