Daum out to defy critics on Jeju relocation.

(From The Korea Herald)

By Kim Tong-hyung JEJU ISLAND ? When Daum Communications, the operator of Korea's largest Internet portal Daum.net, announced plans for a possible relocation of its Seoul headquarters to Jeju Island last March, skeptics questioned the logic of moving a hyperactive Web company to one of the country's most underdeveloped business regions.

More than three months have past since the launching of the relocation project but the company is still unclear what Jeju Island will mean to Daum's future. However, driven by the local government's intentions of developing the region into the country's next boomtown as well as the increasing demand for an efficient workplace environment, the company is committed to carry on with the experiment and hopes for future advantages in administrative support and overseas marketing.

"The experiment is to find out whether Jeju would be a good place to do business and we won't relocate if not convinced. But so far, I like what Jeju could bring to our company," said Daum chief executive Lee Jae-woong.

"By possibly cutting down tax-payments and lease spending as well as other costs, I believe that we could invest more in employee welfare and product development," he added.

Daum signed a preliminary agreement with the Jeju Island provincial government in March to move its headquarters to the southern resort island. If a 2-year test period through 2005 at the possible future location is satisfactory, the company would relocate its headquarters by 2014, assuming Daum board approval.

Last month, Daum dispatched 16 members of its Net Intelligence Lab, an engineering group that develops systems for customized Web services, to work in Jeju City, the regional capital located in the northern part of the island. The company also opened a regional branch office in Jeju City last month, currently occupied by 38 employees of the company's news and media division. Daum plans to send an additional 100 staff members next year. Jeju Island is located about 130 kilometers south of the mainland's southernmost tip.