U.S. Imports All The Rage In South Korea

Those who live in the past limit their future: The Korean-Japanese enmity is not what it used to be. Korean pop (K-Pop) is huge in Japan. Japanese manga is huge in Korea (and China, for that matter).

@Bertel Schmitt Alright, well I got an instant reaction from the children when I showed them a Japanese car emblem. This was in mid 2009, not ages ago. There was plenty of enmity, obviously taught by their parents. I might add the children were around age 9-11 as well.

@Bertel Schmitt "Those who live in the past limit their future" More like "Once bitten, twice shy." K-Pop isn't "huge" in Japan, and the Koreans much prefer their own "manwha" over Japanese imports. Prominent Japanese messageboard 2Chan still has a section dedicated entirely to ridiculing Koreans, and people of Korean descent in Japan are still non-persons, legally and socially. "Asian unity" is mostly a dog and pony show designed to fool gullible Westerners.

@Bertel Schmitt Korea and Japan, I watched a show not long ago (with in years, think it was on PBS world, so not really any Murdoch type initiatives or anything.) Japan spends more on Archaeology, as a % of national budget, than the other members of the G7 combined, in some vain effort to prove that the civilization in no way was transferred from the mainland (especially korea), that magically they just popped up on an island and than migrated the other way. If that isn't nationalism in the face of science than I don't know what is.

@Bertel Schmitt So why did Hyundai withdraw from Japan? I guess Korean Kei cars haven't caught on as much as K-pop.

@Bertel Schmitt American pop culture permeates the world with our music and our movies and that hasn't prevented folks from being anti-American. Some might say it provokes anti-American sentiments, others might say that from some quarters it even cultivates those sentiments (like Michael Moore's documentaries, who took Michigan taxpayers' film incentive money to make a movie about crony capitalism - let me count the ways of Moore's hypocrisy from his mansion on Torch Lake to his mistreatment of employees).

@Bertel Schmitt I've been living in Seoul for a few years now (married to a Korean, actually), and Bertel is basically right. The sentiment is much less than it used to be. Yes, lots of children will still tell you, "Japan is bad!" but that's about as far as the anger goes (Well, one must include Dokdo/Onnajima in that fight, I suppose.). It's just left over aggression from some people in the older generation, and the kids don't really know why they say it. Koreans love, like most others, just about anything mechanical that the Japanese produce. There are Samsung cars here, but most everyone knows it's just badge engineering. I have never come across anyone who wouldn't buy a Toyota just because it's Japanese. I'm sure those people are out there, but then, the KKK still exists, too.

@Carbeurated. That's because you are in Seoul and because you are a foreigner. Get out in the provinces, particularly towards Jeollada farm country and you'll hear an earful. Particularly if you can pass for a native.

There are many larger cars there, just most are Korean models which didn't make it over here. Daewoo Statesman Hyundai Equus (now here) Kia Enterprise Ssanyong Chairman Ssanyong Rhodius Hyundai Galloper Hyundai Terracan Samsung SM7

@Corey Lewis Oh right, I actually did know about the Daewoo Statesman (see Holden Statesman), but not about many of the others besides the Equus. Thanks for the info. It seems like a lot of those cars have been phased out -- Enterprise, Galloper. The Rodius is interesting because you can get it as a 4-row vehicle to seat up to 11. Do those cars sell in decent numbers? That's really what I meant -- that those big cars sell in sufficient numbers that it's worth importing.

@Corey Lewis Yes I think I only saw the Daewoo Statesman once or twice. I noticed it because of how dang long it was. Most of these cars were ACTUALLY something else, as with the Statesman, just rebranded and slightly altered for Korea. Galloper and Terracan are Monteros, the Enterprise was actually a Mazda something or other, the Chairman was 85% Mercedes, the SM7 is a Maxima/Renault something. But, the thing to know is that IF you're a big businessman and/or you work at a bank/corp/etc you MUST have a large (preferably black) car. They are all over the place. They sell in great volumes. Koreans are very fond of their large-sized "home cars" as they call them. The Equus is by far the favorite. Though I did see one Park Avenue, a couple of Land Rovers, the occasional LS460 (rare) and in my part of town there was a black ~04 Town Car.

@Corey Lewis You're mixing up CUVs, SUVs, MPVs and large sedans there. For KDM makes in terms of sedans, in order of popularity its: Ssangyong Chairman Hyundai Equus Renault-Samsung SM7 In roughly equal numbers with BMWs, M-Bs and Audis, depending on where you are in Korea and what part of town you're in. Lexuses aren't too popular outside of Seoul (and maybe the other metro cities) but I do spot a lot of them on highway drives.

@Corey Lewis Not mixing. I was referencing large cars which are volume sellers.

The Cruze is an old Daewoo Lacetti, so they're quite familiar with them.

Although it's not as big as Kia/Hyundai, GM Korea is a pretty big player in the KDM. Not to mention that the three smallest GM vehicles on the US domestic market - Spark, Aveo/Sonic and Cruze are essentially GM Korea cars. GM doesn't sell the Equinox here, but they do sell the Captiva, which is a smaller SUV/crossover. Ford, OTOH, does have a much smaller presence, but it's more visible than just a few years ago.