Mayor Hopes Korea Connection Is Cornucopia : Garden Grove Official Sees Positive Opportunities in Seoul’s Buying Plans

On a trip to Washington a few months ago, Garden Grove Mayor Jonathan H. Cannon called on the South Korean ambassador to the United States to solicit ideas on how to assimilate the growing Korean community in his city.

From that brief meeting emerged an idea that could enable businessmen in Garden Grove and Orange County to cash in on South Korea’s plan to buy $2.5 billion worth of U.S. products.

“We were looking for ways to improve American-Korean relations, and the ambassador told us about the buying mission,” Cannon said. “It became very obvious that this would be a positive way to take advantage of our Korean connection.”

After the talk with the ambassador, Cannon and his group sought advice from the U.S. Commerce Department on how to promote and eventually sell Orange County products to South Korea.

As the next step in the plan to sway that business to his city in particular and Orange County in general, Cannon has organized a daylong export-trade seminar to help local businessmen export their products to South Korea.

“This has been a combination of a lot of people’s thinking,” the mayor said.

The July 15 seminar, which will be held at Garden Grove’s Community Meeting Center, will be a prelude to the U.S. Products Show in Seoul Nov. 2-5, which Cannon plans to attend.

During that exposition, U.S. businessmen will display their wares to potential South Korean buyers. However, those interested in participating in the November trade show must notify the South Korean government by Aug. 1.

Cathy Baranger, executive assistant to Garden Grove City Manager Delbert L. Powers, said up to 300 Orange County business representatives might attend the local export trade seminar. And those will probably be the people from Orange County who will participate in the exposition in Seoul four months later.

“We will be advising them on how to export to Korea. We see this as a way in which they can expand their business to Korea,” Baranger said.

The seminar is sponsored by the City of Garden Grove. The Korean Chamber of Commerce of Orange County--a group of local businessmen--and the Korea Trade Promotion Corp.--an arm of the Korean government--will help advise local businessmen how to export their products to South Korea.

Cannon has also recruited James W. Booth, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Korea, to address the local conference. Booth, who lives in Seoul, will advise participants on the proper channels and procedures to export products to Korea.

Sang Woon Lee, the head of the commercial section in the South Korean Consulate in Los Angeles, will describe his country’s plan to import about 300 products from the United States.

Cannon said that the South Korean government has identified 300 products it normally imports from Japan and has “found that they can just easily buy those products from the United States.”

“And those are the products that they are looking to buy from us,” he said.

Cannon, who has received permission from the Garden Grove City Council to travel to Korea in November at his own expense, wants to lead a delegation of Orange County business representatives who can drum up export contracts during the U.S. Products Show there.

“That’s my plan. I hope (business) representatives from Orange County and Garden Grove can go, display their products and show the South Koreans they can do business with them,” he said.

Cannon said he also sees another benefit for the Koreans who have settled here. Because most Korean immigrants in this county are in retailing or small import businesses, large trade export to their former homeland may not initially entice them.

“But assuming this thing takes off, I see a good opportunity for Koreans here becoming sales representatives for American companies, using their skills and language to conduct the (export) business to Korea,” he said.