Nat'l brand positively impacts foreign buyers' purchases of Korean goods: poll

Nearly 7 in 10 foreign buyers think that South Korea's national brand is having a positive impact on their purchases of products from Asia's fourth-largest economy, a poll showed Thursday.

According to the survey of 213 foreign buyers, 72.9 percent of the respondents replied that their imports of South Korean goods have been affected positively by the country's national brand.

Slightly over 25.4 percent said South Korean products remind them of high quality, followed by reasonable prices with 16.9 percent and originality with 15 percent.

The poll, taken by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) from Feb. 21-March 4, also showed some 67 percent answering that South Korea's national brand has improved compared with the past.

South Korea's national brand has been boosted by so-called K-content (31.8 percent), Korean companies' development (25.6 percent) and growth of the country's economic power (20.8 percent).

Specifically, those foreign buyers have singled out K-pop and Korean culture, including the global popularity of the all-Korean Netflix survival drama "Squid Game" and boy group BTS.

According to the findings, 30 percent of the respondents have picked Japan as South Korea's top competitor, followed by China with 23 percent and Europe with 11 percent.

In KITA's 2013 survey, China was chosen as South Korea's top competitor with 43.6 percent, with Japan coming next with 37.3 percent.

The latest survey also showed 33 percent of the surveyed buyers picking high prices as South Korean products' weakness, trailed by insufficient after-sales service with 15 percent and "partner trust" with 13 percent.

Those foreign buyers said South Korea should develop and spread diverse K-content, promote excellent companies and their products, and step up the government's international activity, according to the poll. (Yonhap)