Business Organizations Law Commons^™

Negotiating A Deal In Korea: Reflections Of A Battle-Scarred Veteran, Michael E. Zacharia

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

In 1996, for an international widget company focused on selling to the Japanese tourist and looking to expand its business, Korea was the Promised Land. Korea had a widget business well in excess of (U.S.) $500 million, and was the second most popular Japanese tourist destination. No foreign companies were in the market, and my client BWC (a world-renowned widget company), sought to change that. They did, for a while. This paper analyzes select aspects of the twelve months of Round One negotiations that led to the triumphant signing of a Joint Venture Agreement with SY, a leading Korean widget …