Frank Wang, CEO and mastermind behind DJI, the world famous manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), built a drone empire from humble beginnings. Founded in a dorm room at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, what began as a 20-member company transformed into an industry leader with more than 8,000 global employees. In just 10 years, DJI opened up branches in 17 different cities with key offices in Shenzhen, San Francisco, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Seoul.
   Last year, the company opened its first overseas flagship store and the first DJI Arena in Korea to foster the local drone culture among the public. And the timing couldn't be more perfect—South Korea's trade ministry announced that it would throw its weight behind the promotion of 12 new industries in 2017, especially drones. Most notably, the country will invest an impressive KRW 500 billion (USD 428 million) to foster the industry by 2019.
   In a recent interview with KOTRA Express, Moon Tae-hyun, Country Manager of DJI Korea, talked about why DJI opened up its first overseas flagship store and drone arena in Korea and the company's efforts to spearhead the industry.

What makes DJI rise above the competition?
   Throughout the past 11 years, the key differentiator that sets DJI apart from other companies is that it has made flight experience as effortless as

possible. Our key product lines include the Phantom, Inspire and Matrice. At the end of the day, our mission is to make UAV technology more accessible, reliable and convenient to the mass public.
   Today, DJI is more than just a drone manufacturer; it's a pioneer in the gimbal market that boasts unrivaled technological expertise. We brought our smooth video technology to the ground with the Ronin and Osmo series, giving creators wider options to implement their creativity.

Why did DJI choose to do business in Korea?
   The DJI Korea flagship is our first overseas store which opened in March 2016.
    Korea is a highly digital and mobilefirst market, fueled by the influence of Kpop, Korean dramas and locally produced content, among others. And with more and more people consuming video content on their mobile devices and the growing community of photographers and content creators, DJI sees Korea as a very important market with strong growth potential. In fact, Korea is known for having a mobile internet penetration rate of 88 percent, with 50

percent of people in the country watching videos online. Every second, more than 400 people watch a video on their smartphones.

In your opinion, why do you think drones have experienced explosive popularity in the country?
    The growing interest in drones is the result of two important factors—drones are becoming increasingly easier to use and every day, people are seeing more possibilities of drones in different industries.
    While the trend is the same globally, we've learned from the Korea flagship store that local customer interest spans across different demographics—from teenagers to the elderly, and from recreational users to those seeking to start their own business using our aerial technology.
    At this stage, educating the public is an important aspect to any kind of technological advancement/adoption. As the leading UAV manufacturer, we strive to educate consumers with safety guidelines, best practices and video tutorials which can be found on our social media channels, website (http://www.dji.com/flysafe) and in our product packaging. We also have a global education and safety program