The fifth annual G20 Summit, taking place next week in Seoul, will aim to impress the Group of 20 world leaders and delegate with the country's high-tech advances — ultra-fast communication, portable broadband, Web-connected mobile television and other futuristic technologies — "that have become rather humdrum for Koreans," in one assessment.

KT, the nation's biggest broadband provider and telecommunications giant, will be handling the high-tech during the Nov. 11-12 G20 Seoul Summit and the corresponding global conference of global business leaders. Hyundai, meanwhile, is providing the official cars for delegates, including its luxury Equus brand and BlueOn electric vehicle, above.

It's also, naturally, an opportunity for nation-branding (more than half of Koreans expect the G20 spotlight to boost Korea's brand) and city branding, particularly in terms of the host city's arts and culture offerings. “The G20 summit will be a chance of a lifetime for Seoul to show off its global competitiveness,” the city's mayor, Oh Se-hoon, told reporters.

Can a new global bank emerge from the last big banking crisis to wrestle away business and prestige from bailout-tainted mega-banks? Nomura Holdings hopes so.

Positioning for dominance with the newly-added weight of Lehman's Asian, European and Middle East operations, Nomura has been accumulating talent, shoring up capital, and signaling its intent to expand in its current markets while developing opportunities in the US.

Nomura faces several short-term challenges. The brokerage wisely shut down its US-based mortgage-backed securities unit in 2007, but the subsequent downfall in the Japanese market -- due to Lehman -- forced the bank into a sell-off.Continue reading...