Daegu, Korea's third largest metropolitan area located just 3-hundred kilometers southeast of Seoul, has once again grabbed the attention of global investors and local media.
US billionaire and investor Warren Buffett arrived in the city on Monday for a two-day visit to attend the ground-breaking ceremony for a new factory ran by TaeguTec, the Korean branch of Israeli toolmaker IMC Group.
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns an 80 percent stake of the global toolmaker.


[Interview : Eitan Wertheimer, Chairman
IMC Group
] "Move within the last 14 year of shares was to put IMC family into Berkshire Hathaway family. And we are very happy with what we did."

The 80-year-old investor said Korea is an appealing pool to invest in due to its high number of large companies.

[Interview : Warren Buffett, Chairman & CEO
Berkshire Hathaway] " We hope…we find wonderful businesses in Korea, in the United States, and the UK, wherever it may be, we are ready to invest.
And basically the bigger the better. So large companies appeal to me. And Korea has a number of large companies obviously so it's a hunting ground."

And his company has committed more than 35 billion US dollars to global takeovers in the past two years alone.
Meanwhile, TaeguTec has experienced sound sales growth since the aquisition in 2006.
However, the firm does not have any plans to go public, as most of the profits are utilized to benefit its 12-hundred employees.


[Interview : Shin Suk-hwan, General Director
TaeguTec] " It is hard to meet him even once for ordinary people, but we have already met him twice. As Mr. Buffett said last time, he makes our benefits the first priority and that's what I believe."

What makes Buffett so legendary is not his immense wealth, but his personal frugality and philanthropy.
He has vowed to give away 99 percent of his fortune to society, mostly through the Gates Foundation.


[Reporter : Yang Ji-woo
jwyang@arirang.co.kr] "Buffet, who is both a great investor and active philanthropist, says… people should look into investment opportunities based on their long-term value so they maximize their resources during this time of economic uncertainty.
Yang JI-woo, Arirang News. Daegu."

Reporter : jwyang@arirangtv.com