SOUTH KOREA

Businesses Zero In on Southeast Asia: Southeast Asia has replaced the United States as the region most favored by South Korean businesses for opening new factories, a government report said. The change reflects the search by Korean companies for low-wage areas for new operations. Wages have nearly tripled in South Korea over the past five years, and industry officials said Korean investors have grown disenchanted with what they consider high wages and low productivity in the United States. Dozens of South Korean companies are rushing to build plants in China to make textiles, toys, footwear and electronic parts. The government’s report was highlighted by Goldstar Co.’s statement that it has decided to move its television assembly plant from Alabama to Mexico to take advantage of lower wages.