Seven members of the Korean Kyunggi Technology Company Association visited Atlanta last week to decide whether the city is a viable place to set up small to mid-sized technology and consulting operations in the U.S.

The delegation, accompanied by June Towery of Womble Carlyle Sandridge and Rice law firm’s Atlanta office, will also visit Austin, Texas, and Richmond, Va., to evaluate the business climate, tax issues, living environment and infrastructure resources of each region before making a final decision on where to set up shop.

Atlanta, they agreed, has a fairly low cost of living, active government support for international investment and strength in research and development, and would be an effective base to establish U.S. operations, though no final decision will be made until the end of the trip.

Members of the delegation included CEOs from small and mid-sized Korean high-tech firms based in Kyunggi province, including Digital Square Co., a manufacturer of digital audio and video equipment; Ezen Telecom Inc., a digital surveillance systems supplier; Macro Business Network, a consulting firm; Neoidea Co., a producer of 3-D Web technology; Route Co., a solar visor producer; Samil Accounting Corp. and Vatech System Co., a manufacturer of data communication products.

They plan to set up operations clustered in one U.S. city, explained delegation member Dae-Song Chang, to take better and more efficient advantage of the available resources.

The delegation met with officials from the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism (GDITT), Fulton County government and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce during their stay.

Delegates also attended a presentation at the Georgia Resource Center, toured the Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technology (GCATT) and visited the Supercomm trade show held at the Georgia World Congress Center.

For more information about the delegation, contact Ms. Towery at (404) 827-7000. Available Web sites for the participating Korean companies are as follows: Digital Square Co.  www.digital-square.com; Ezen Telecom www.ezen.co.kr; Neoidea Co. www.newidea.com; Route Co. www.solarvisor.com; Vatech Systems Co. www.vatech.co.kr