Tute 1: CyberKorea
From Asian Digital Cultures
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
South Korea, being one of the 'Four Asian Tigers of Asia' (the other three being China, Singapore and Taiwan), is superior in terms of land area, education and it's ICT (Information Communications Technologies) infrastructure. Over the past four decades, the country has risen from one of primitive communication technologies to one of the world's most "teledensed". This research will examine the factors that have shaped the Korean telecommunication industry, the developmental stages, the consequences of rapid development, the current status of Korean telecommunication market, it's major websites, and finally what lies ahead for South Korea.
[edit] History of Telecommunication Industry
South Korea has developed rapidly over the past 30 years, from one of the poorest nations in the 60’s to the most highly developed Countries in the world. This rapid growth is due to government intervention in industry, labour and credit markets. The government during the 60’s achieved high growth through authoritarian capitalism (Abena, 2003) directing resources to what it believed to be high productivity sectors, protecting local industry from foreign competition and even to the extent of social management of privately owned corporations (Kim, 2004). This was successful till the 80’s where recession and relations between the government and huge conglomerates (Chaebols) led to corruption which caused political scandal in the mid-90’s. During the Asian economic crisis (around 1997-1998) the government instigated reforms to move South Korea from a highly authoritarian model of economic development to an open market system of consumer choice, democracy and law.
The movement from authoritarian to liberalization of South Korea’s telecommunications can be seen during key years in the development of South Koreas telecommunications industry.
1961
Government implemented a 5-year telecommunications plan the purpose of which was to increase telephone usage.
1982
The creation of the Korean Telecommunication Authority a 100% government owned corporation. During the same year DACOM is created by private and public sector to provide data communications.
1984
Korean Mobile Telecommunications (KMT) is formed as a subsidiary of KT Corp.
1994
Korean Mobile Telecommunications (KMT) is privatized, becoming SK Telecom (SKT). Ministry of Communication (MOC) becomes Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC.)
1998
Maximum of foreign ownership increase to 49% because of the 1997-1998’s economic crisis.
2002
Full privatization of Korean Telecommunication (KT Corp)
South Korea has had a relatively short but successful implementation of broadband internet; subscriptions in 2002 had passed 10 million which is incredible as broadband started in 1998 by Korean Thrunet Corp. As of end-December 2001, the high-speed Internet user rate in Korea was 17.16%, the largest in the world followed by Canada (8.4%), Sweden (4.96%), and the USA (4.47%) and Japan (2.23%) (Persson 2002).
The Ministry of Information and Communication says that 98% of local districts have high-speed Internet access through copper wire telephone lines. The factors that have allowed South Korea such exponential up take of broadband is due to a number of factors. Geography has played an essential factor due to high population density, where more than 50% of the population live in apartments. The next factor has being the decrease in broadband costs because of government intervention. Finally the government implemented policies to decrease the digital divide in South Korea by increasing the number of PC available in households.
South Korea is in the process of moving from ADSL to VDSL a next generation of high speed Internet. Through the implementation of VDSL the South Korean government estimates that 85% of home will have 20.000 kbps connections.
References
Persson, C. 2002. "Korea-Pioneer in Mobile Internet", Exportradet Swedish Trade Council, viewed on 9 May 2007, <http://www.exportnytt.swedishtrade.se/docfile/6949.pdf>
Kim, S. 2004. "Privatization and Industrial Relations of the Public Sector in Korea", Korea Labor Institute, viewed on 7 May 2007, <http://www.kli.re.kr/iira2004/pro/papers/SangKonKim.pdf>
Abena, C. 2003. "Comparative study on the effectiveness of telecommunications regulators - Case Study Korea”, Infoscience, viewed on 16 May 2007, <http://infoscience.epfl.ch/getfile.py?mode=best&recid=27815>
[edit] Policy
According to Gartner Dataquest, cited in “Internet use in South Korea” (John, 2002), South Korea has achieved 54.8 per cent broadband penetration into homes, which places it first in terms of broadband Internet penetration globally. This is a remarkable figure when compared with 11 per cent in the USA, 6.2 per cent in Japan, 1.3 per cent in England and 0.6 per cent in Australia.
The Korean government implemented various policies designed to increase internet use among the general population. It provided “internet literacy” lessons to homemakers, the elderly, military personnel, and farmers. In June of 2000, the government implemented what was known as the “Ten Million People Internet Education” project, the purpose of which was to provide internet education to ten million people (Wikipedia, 2007). The policy provided the high speed and quality internet services and promoted the emergence of various internet-based businesses such as online trading and transaction services. Also, broadband can send data to users at a rate 50 to 100 times faster than of telephone dial-up modem, but the cost of broadband is only slightly more than that of dial-up service (John, 2002).
South Korea have a Ministry of Information and Communication, which has a specialized subsidiary called The Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity (KADO) that is dedicated “to narrowing the domestic and international digital divides.” (Korea,net , 2007) One of it’s principal efforts is ‘Used PC Distribution’ which distribute used computers from the government, public organizations and private businesses. The local beneficiaries are orphans, the disabled and those on public assistance. The organization is also active overseas assisting thirty countries with about 11,000 PCs since 1998. (Korea,net , 2007) Another initive of KADO is the ‘Korea Internet Volunteers’ (KIV) which have sent “436 teams of IT specialists to 57 countries. Each team of professors and university students provides local people with IT training and an introduction to Korean culture for one or two months.” (Korea,net , 2007)
South Korea however now a market leader in the hi-tech realm, is often first to be faced with emerging issues, from the cyberworld. One of these issues is the phenomenon of ‘gold farming’ inside many Online Games. Which involves a player acquiring virtual wealth inside a game and then selling it to other players for ‘real world’ money. This practice has alarmed gaming companies and governments alike (as it is estamated to be a billion dollar market)(Paul, 2006) . The South Korea government through Ministry of Culture and Tourism has proposed a bill which aims to control the exchange of virtual currency. Designed to "tighten regulations on hazardous gambling activities," the bill would prohibit the sale and purchase of virtual currency, but would not impose controls on item trading. The proposed bill received support from some in the game industry who claim the commercial exchange of virtual currency can disrupt balance and competition inside the game. (Paul, 2006)[1].
Another area the South Korean Government is writing world first policy on is the interaction between people and robots. “ ‘The Robot Ethics Charter’ (BBC News, 2007) will cover standards for users and manufacturers and will be released later in 2007.” [2] The charter is being drafted to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa. South Korea is turning toward robotics in part, as a response to the country's aging society. An Internet connected robot in every South Korean home is part of the governments "ubiquitous dream" of a networked world. Park Hye-Young of the ministry's robot team has said "Imagine if some people treat androids as if the machines were their wives." Or "Others may get addicted to interacting with them just as many internet users get hooked to the cyberworld" (Unknown, 2007).
References
John, Y. & Gorman, G. 2002. "Internet Use in South Korea", Online Information Review, Bradford: 2002, 26(5), pp. 335-345
McNeill, D. 2006. “South Korea: Look east to see the future of the Internet”, TheIndependent.com, viewed on 17 May 2007, <http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article1996815.ece>
Unknown, 2007. "Communications in South Korea", Wikipedia: Communications in South Korea, viewed on 19 May 2007, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_South_Korea>
Paul, R. 2006. “Korea considering gold farming regulation”, Arts Technica, viewed 14 May 2007, <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061227-8503.html>
Unknown, 2007, “Robotic Age Poses Ethical Dilemma”, BBB News, Technology, viewed on 3 May 2007, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6425927.stm>
Unknown, 2007, “Gov't agency turns confiscated PCs into symbols of hope”, Korea.net: Gateway to Korea, viewed on 20 May 2007, <http://www.korea.net/News/News/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20070511010>
[edit] Internet Development
The growth of online media can be attributed to a number of factors:
In the mid 1990’s, during the turbulent economic crisis, the South Korean government saw a market in producing high-tech goods, which was beginning to become popular around 1997. Not only was it a lucrative business, it created many jobs for South Koreans. In fact, the high-tech industry was what saw them through the financial crisis. “The South Korean government ensured competition by ending state-owned Korea Telecom's monopoly. The government spent billions of dollars building a fibre grid, reaching schools and government buildings, and offered another billion in financial incentives to phone companies that strung broadband links to homes. Tough competition drove prices down, demand surged and the country was on a roll” (Forsberg, 2005).
In order to remain competitive on the international scale and at the same time acknowledging a worldwide digital revolution that would impact the country, Korea sought to establish a “knowledge-based society” in 1999. The policy named Cyber Korea 21, under the guidance of the government-led information promotion committee, aimed to develop Korea’s information structure, increase nationwide productivity and create new businesses and jobs. (Oh, 2001). “The first initiative is to improve the quality of life for the general public. To do this, the government is providing PC units to schools. The second initiative involves general steps to ensure the competitiveness of Korean industries as a whole, such as support for the construction of e-commerce system in steel, shipbuilding and other traditional industries. The third initiative is to establish an electronic document distribution system to be used by administrative bodies” (MoGIT, 2007). The government increased the telecommunications budget 3 times over this period from 499.3 billion won in 1996 to 1.6 Trillion won in 2002.
After Cyber Korea 21, the project was extended to incorporate global objectives for Korea and the telecommunication industry. The e-Korea Vision 2006 aimed to continually educate and promote IT to the public, as well as to create subsidies for businesses. It hoped to eventually bring South Korea to the global stage.
The online medium has flourished and is continuing to grow, particularly with many households embracing high technology in their daily lives. The online medium has also gained popularity as a source of information over the mainstream news. The interactivity on the Internet has allowed many to express political views and have their voice heard. Korea’s dominantly right-winged media is often despised by its citizens, and most of them have turned to the Internet for more balanced political news.
References
Forsberg, B. (2005) “The future is South Korea: Tech firms try out latest in world's most wired society”, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 March 2005, viewed on 19 May 2005, < http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/13/BROADBAND.TMP>
Unknown, 2007, “Government Policies”, MoGIT, Management of Global Information Technology, [Online], viewed on 19 May 2005, <http://www.american.edu/carmel/jw6194a/Korea_files/government.htm>
Oh, K. S. (2001), “Toward a Knowledge-Based Information Society: Korea’s Experiences”, presentation for the National Computerization Agency, Republic of Korea.
Kim, E, Hamilton, K. 2006. “Capitulation to capital? Ohmynews as alternative media”, Media, Culture & Society, 28(4), pp.541-560.
[edit] Online communities
[edit] Forums / Cafes / Blogs
If forums and blogs are how the Americans share there ideas and information, Koreans were more into creating online relationships with people they know offline, Koreans also like to share their lives and ideas with people online. The principal of SK communications and founder of Cyworld Yoo Hyun oh said in an interview that “minihompy in Cyworld is like a Korean version of a blog". Blogs in Korea are not as popular as in Western countries. But Korea has created a slightly different version of blogs that are referred to as clubs and cafes. The term cafe is used as the synonym for "Internet forum" . Clubs and Cafes are similar type of social networking site. But as blogs are mainly updated by its user, clubs and cafes allows every member to contribute. Thus it is more integrating than blogs. There are number of main sites which provide blog-like services.
Major Korean forums, cafes and blogs are operated with the following sites listed below:
1. Cyworld.
Cyworld operates a social networking site called “Clubs” where people with similar interest join to share information, problems, or ideas. Currently there are over 1 million (1,181373) clubs operating under 18 main categories including leisure, music, politic, education and so on. Any user of the Cyworld can easily create a Cyworld club but it is their personal duty to promote their own club. The club with the most members are “making online friends” and “cyworld minihopy decorating help” clubs with over 0.3 million members. These clubs have over 100 sub categories with different interests such as “learn to use photoshop”, “meet your lover”, “good poems, quotations”, “what to wear” and so on.
2. Naver.
Naver is the most popular web portal in South Korea from its’ launch in 1999. It was the first portal site to provide search engine services in Korea. It also provides a wide range of internet services including a news service with comprehensive coverage from more than 90 media sources, E-mail services, and an academic thesis search service. Naver’s blog services have being the leading blog homes for many blog users in South Korea. When Cyworld launched, many different social networking sites lost massive amounts of members except for Naver blogs. Some Bloggers even criticized people who were what they considered Cy-addicts saying that Cyworld’s minihompy is full of personal gossip that would interest no one, and that Naver blogs focus more on real information. Due to this split between bloggers and cy-addicts Naver has being able to retain a stable membership.
3. Daum.
Daum is also a popular web portal in South Korea. It offers many internet services including E-mail, forum,s shopping, news and of course cafes. Daum was at its’ most popular in early 2000 then it fell behind Cyworld. Cyworld and Daum have similar styles for Cafes. But because Daum was the pioneer of cafes, they still remained leader of café culture in South Korea with biggest café communities. Daum has 23 categories with more similar characteristics to Blogs than Cyworld’s cafes, daum is about informing the users than just being a social networking tool.
References
Kim, J. Y. 2005, "Search with Naver, E-mail with Daum, minihompy with Cyworld", ETnews.co.kr, viewed 10 May 2007, <http://www.etnews.co.kr/news/detail.html?id=200509280037>
Konrad, R. 2006, "Korean Social Networking Phenomenon Aims to Crack American Market", Associated Press, viewed on 29 April 2007, <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-08-13-cyworld_x.htm>
Unknown, 2007. “List of Social Networking Websites”, Wikipedia.com, viewed on 4 May 2007, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites>
[edit] Participatory journalism
Participatory Journalism is a relatively new model of journalism where readers or the public have some form of involvement in the news-making process. It is sometimes loosely interchanged with the term citizen journalism – however, in citizen journalism the people are wholly responsible for the producing, research, publishing of news (Nip, p.218, 2006). An example of citizen journalism is personal blogs. Participatory journalism allows for more interactivity especially on the Internet where news can be commented on, tagged or hyperlinked and this diffuses the top-down news dissemination model that is typical of mainstream news.
Participatory Journalism in South Korea was characterised by 3 major Phases (Woo-Young, 2005):
1st phase: (1990’s) In the characteristics of this phase, Netizens used online bulletin boards to discuss political issues, in which the views were very different from what was happening in mainstream media. Many of these arguments’ spoke out against political and press conservatism. This phase allowed for rebellious groups to create a variety of online discussion groups.
2nd phase: This phase was characterised by the creation of beta versions of alternate media sites. These alternate medias sites one being [www.ddonji.com Dbonji Ilbo] published parody articles based on mainstream conservative newspapers, the main target was the most influential conservative media outlet "Chosum Ilbo". The most important characteristic of this phase was user generated online content to foster alternate media movements.
3rd Phase: During this phase alternative media parody and anti-establishment websites voiced criticism about conservative media but did not succeed as alternative social media sites. Two sites that did succeed have been Ohmynews.com and non-gaek sites. What these sites did incredibly well was the use of citizen participation and interactive communications to mobilize public activity. OhmyNews in particular challenged established conservative media outlets and the greatest success being the 2002 presidential election.
An example of participatory journalism in South Korean can be seen in Seoul-based site, OhmyNews.com, where 80% of the news is generated by citizen reporters. The site began in February 2000 as an experiment in citizen journalism, founded by Oh Yeon-ho who previously worked as an investigative journalist for a magazine. It rides on the concept that every citizen is, or can become, a reporter. The success of the site has been debated to be specific to Korea, a country with an “overwhelming dominance of conservative papers", additionally, "three-quarters of homes have broadband access anand unipolar society - one issue can engulf the nation in a day or two”. (Fifield, p.9, 2004).
OhmyNews also started out with an aim to give the conservative and liberals an equal balance of voice, and to become a free, independent medium that was uninfluenced by the pressures of commercial news organizations. This model of news publishing is popular with young Korean netizens who were deeply frustrated that their views were ignored by the mainstream media and as a result distrusted it. More than 40,000 contribute as citizen journalists for OhmyNews, and the site manages about 150 to 200 stories daily, which are then screened and checked by staff editors hired by OhmyNews.
The site is popular for its comprehensive opinion reviews, film reviews and travel stories, however OhmyNews’ most widely sought after themes are politically dominant news and has proved to be assertive in influencing political and social movements in South Korea. During the South Korean general elections of 2002, Ohmynews covered the events of the elections, particularly focusing on the portfolio of Roh Moo-hyun who was advertently left out of mainstream coverage, for fear of his left wing involvement. Due to OhmyNews’ focus on Roh, he was able to run for presidency in fair representation – “[OhmyNews’] tireless coverage of Roh Moo Hyun in the 2002 presidential election – a candidate largely ignored by the mainstream press – won it the first post victory interview with Roh, nationwide recognition by millions of the president’s young followers and the grudging admiration of Oh’s foes, the newspaper barons” (Wagstaff, 2004)
OhmyNews has had its problems though: generally related to inaccurate or misleading reporting – “Critics have said that a lot of material on OhmyNews is both wrong and incendiary and would not pass muster overseas”, (Wagstaff, 2004), to which CEO Oh has hired experienced journalists in hopes to continually build up the integrity of journalism on OhmyNews. Its chief editor tells the Far Eastern Economic Review that “[he] sees his job as slowly raising the level of professionalism within the organization while encouraging individual journalists to dig up stories other newspapers won’t touch” (Wagstaff, 2004))
In July 2005, OhmyNews International was started where more than 850 citizen journalists in over 85 countries contribute global news in English. In August 2006, Tokyo based company Softbank Corp paid OhmyNews $11 Million to establish a Japanese version of the site.
References
Woo-Young, C. 2005. "Online Civic Participation and Political Empowerment: Online Media and Public Opinion Formation in Korea", Media, Culture & Society, 27(6), pp.925-635.
Kim, E. & Hamilton, K. 2006. "Capitulation to capital? Ohmynews as alternative media”, Media, Culture & Society, 28(4), pp.541-560.
Nip, J. 2006, “Exploring the Second Phase of Public Journalism”, Journalism Studies, 7(2), pp. 212-236
Wagstaff, J. 2004, “Korea’s News Crusaders”, Far Eastern Economic Review, 7 Oct 2004, pp. 32-34
Moon, I. & Kenji, H. 2006 , “Voices From the Street”, Business Week, 15 May 2006, Issue 3984, pp. 46-47
Fifield, A. 2004, “Korea's Citizen Reporters Take on Traditional Media”, The Financial Times London (UK), 6 Nov 2004, p.9
Min J. K. 2005, ‘Journalism as a Conversation”, Harvard Nieman Reports, 59(4), pp. 17-19
Kahney, L. 2003, “Citizen Reporters Make the News”. Wired.com, viewed on 11 May 2007, <http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2003/05/58856>
[edit] Social networks
Cyworld’s achievement
Cyworld was founded in September 2001 and within three years it achieved about 10 million members and now it has over 20 million daily users, the site is definitely emerging to be a strong model for the future of social networks. Cyworld adopts online social networking concepts similar to MySpace, Hi5, Facebook and Friendster, but is particularly popular for being a “strange blend of Blogger, Flickr, and videogame-like avatars” (Schonfeld, 2006). Over 40% of the South Korean population has a Cyworld account with up to 90% of South Koreans in their 20's having account. Cyworld allows users to create their own outward appearance of minihompy by purchasing Dotori (Acorn) with real money. And all digital items cost US$0.20 to US$9. Cyworld makes average of more than US$270,000 a day. As Cyworld is owned by a largest mobile carrier SK Communications, they allow Cyworld users to post as many photos from the camera phones at the price of nothing.
What can users do in Cyworld?
Cyworld allows users to create their own 'world' called 'Minihompy' (mini-home). Where there are clothes, furniture and accessories to buy. Cyber communication is ever more active than it is in the real world. This 'minihompy' revolution started because it is free to register and almost all functions are free except the purchase of digital items like a backgrounds, music, furniture and skins would cost some ‘dotori’ (acorns), which is the currency used in Cyworld. Dotori has to be purchased with real money and most virtual goods cost less than US$1 a piece, which is affordable to cyworlds target demographic around twenty years of age. The way one’s mini-home is decorated would reflect a members’ personality and status, and users who did not decorate are considered boring. (Schonfeld, 2006).
The site has become so popular that some 40,000 companies, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and universities have joined as members to promote their businesses and activities through Cyworld
Within a minihompy there are different sections including a profile page, photo book, notice board and a visitor’s book, it enables users to show their personal daily life or thoughts. Because of the busy lives of modern people, there had being a decrease in interpersonal communications but cyworld has given the opportunity to be reconnected and create new social networks. As cyworld became so popular, there have being many concerns from schools and business as Cyworld affected productivity as well as slowing down the Internet.
Within a mini-home, users can put up unlimited pictures, post a blog, chat with friends, send virtual greeting cards, make ‘cybuddies’ (friends) . Cyworld is even accessible with a mobile phone. The draw of Cyworld is its ability to make one feel part of a community – “The chain of wave-riding visits creates communities on the Net, which often develop into clubs of common interest in the real world: clubs for fishing, bike riding, and going to jazz performances, among others” (Moon, 2005). Senior Manager of SK communications told the Business Week, “Our goal is making users' online activities entwined with their offline life," says Shin Byung Hwi, senior manager at SK Communications” (Moon, 2005)
According to Professor of Psychology at the Yonsei University, Whang Sang Min said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that almost one-third of Cyworld users were women between the ages of 21 and 30. These women find liberation and a voice in online communities, a freedom that is not possible offline in a country that is still conservative and follows a patriarchal Confucian structure. (Yoon, 2005)
References
Schonfeld, E. (2006), “Cyworld Attacks!”, Business 2.0, 7(7), pp. 84-89
Moon, I. (2005), “My World is Cyworld”, Business Week, 26 September 2005, Issue 3952, pp. 80-84
Yoon, L. (2005), “South Korean Women Discover Personal Liberation on Internet”, The Wall Street Journal, 8 June 2005, p.1
[edit] Social impact
[edit] Gaming addiction
Video Game Addicts
According to the Washington Post, article "Gaming Addiction vs Gaming Professionalism", 2.4% of South Korea’s population aged 9-39 suffers from gaming addiction. In 2005, ten people died from game addiction related causes. A couple in Incheon was arrested in June 2005 when they left their 4 months old daughter alone for five hours while going to an internet café to play games. The baby died of suffocation from turning over on her stomach (Chung, 2006). In October 2002, 24-year-old Kim Kyung-jae collapsed and died after playing computer games at an Internet cafe in the city of Kwangju. He had been playing virtually non-stop for 86 hours. "The only breaks he had where when he briefly stopped to buy cigarettes and use the toilet," said Detective Hong Gun-hee, the investigating officer, (Gluck, 2002).
South Korean Government supports the addicts through centers for people with on gaming addiction operated by The Korean Agency for Digital Opportunity & Promotion (KADO). In 2003, it counseled 2,243 people. The amounts increase in 2004 to 8,978 people and reached over 10,000 people in 2005. "We diagnose internet addiction as a compulsive disorder like pathological gambling or eating disorder," said Lee Sujin, a psychologist and researcher at the one of the centers"Youth who become obsessed by the Internet and gaming have experienced failure at school. They have less interaction with their family and friends and get lonelier." South Korea’s Ministry of Information and Communication is also opening similar centers at universities and funding anti-addiction courses (Chung, 2006).
At counseling session organized by the Centre for Internet Addiction Prevention, teenage boys were discussing their addiction. Seventeen year old Ki Kyoung-soo, admitted he typically spent half a day on the internet, but said he wanted to cut down. "In the holidays, I'd play until five in the morning - 12 straight hours."I had trouble sleeping. When I was in bed, I would stay awake, just wanting to play games again." (Gluck, 2002)
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPGs or MMO) has increased extremely, from less than a million subscribers in the late 1990s to more than 13 million worldwide in 2006. The most widely played MMO, Blizzard Entertainment World of Warcraft, has 6.5 millions players worldwide, most of whom played 20 to 22 hours per week. Nick Yee, a researcher from Stanford graduate and creator of Daedalus Project, cited in "Lost in an Online Fantasy World" did a survey of more than 40,000 MMO players, the average player is 26 years old, hold full-time jobs. 70% have played for 10 hours straight at the same point, and about 45% would describe themselves as “addicted.” “The game gives them a social status and value that they are less and less able to achieve in the real world,” Yee said. “As a result, the real world get worse and the virtual world gets better in comparison" (Khazan, 2006)
Why does it happen?
Peter Buse in “Nintendo and Telos: Will you ever reach the end?” wrote that console games, have the similar addiction as online gaming in Korea, as they attempt to collapse the distinction between narrative story and narrative as performance. The plot of narrative depends on the player participating in the game, letting the protagonist character directs its own life in fictional world. (Buse, P. 1996)
If a game was designed on the purpose of enjoyment and entertainment, addiction comes from turning it into “game mastery”. There is a process when the first time people play a game, they frustratingly lose the character or life in a tricky part of it. After they repeat it enough times, they will defeat the enemy and get closer to an elusive End, so the psychic acts as a device for managing trauma. Unconsciously, the player repeats a painful experience, not for pleasure evidently, but to master it.
Marsha Kinder, cited in Peter Buse article said that mastery has traditionally been a "masculine" preoccupation as it has dragged growing boys away from their healthy habitat, the sporting fields. This is also supported by a report from the Korean Network Information Centre (KRNIC) that more men than women used the Internet for fun and games (26.3 per cent versus 18 per cent, respectively) (John, 2002). Nintendo and online games, both offer the lure of “completing” all the levels of one of their games. Buse added, “Mastery, like death, has no fixed address.”
"Bad Influence", one of the ITV program, cited in Buse article, reviews that video games has similar kind of addiction with drugs: it promote a sort of expenditure without reserve where the player, like the addict, will divert all resources to the financing habit, become parasitic in the family - in the sense of no return on money put toward the habit.
Professional Gamers
Lim Yo Hwan is 25, has a 587,000- strong fan club and is sponsored by SK Telecom, South Korea's largest cell-phone company. He is a registered professional gamer. Professional Gaming in South Korea has the biggest online gaming community, with the leading players of games, such as Starcraft treated like pop heroes. South Korea’s government is helping fund the construction of the World’s first e-sports stadium, to be completed in 2008, where big screens will soon display big competitions. Professional gamers in South Korea are currently playing Starcraft, FIFA Series, and Warcraft III. There are TV networks provide for 24 hour programming dedicated to PC and console gaming, both cover South Korea’s professional gaming scene. Ongamenet, for example, broadcasts a three months long Starcraft’s tournament live every particular time. The tournament is called the ``Star League, and previously it has been sponsored by KT Freetel, Tokyo- based Olympus Corp., and Coca-Cola Co. Shinhan Bank is the latest sponsor.
Lim mentioned above, was interviewed at a recent ‘Star League’ tournament, where he was seated second and is quoted saying, "It's a tough job to be a pro gamer, but I feel people are recognizing it as a real profession, sponsorship by a bank shows that the gaming industry is gaining respect." The first winner of the ‘Star League’ was rewarded a cash prize of $80,000. Second and third place winners can win up to $50,000 and $30,000. Competition to win audiences among broadcasters has become common. The World Cyber Games (WCG) is held to qualifiers professional and amateur gamers at Seoul.
Pantech & Curitel Communications Inc, a South Korean mobile phone company, spent 1 billion won to set up its 'Curriors' team in August 2004, with key player Lee Yun Yeol, 21, signing a three-year 600 million won contract. In comparison Korea's professional baseball players earned an average 71 million won last year. Lee has a following of 170,000 in his Internet fan club. Choi Seong Keun, senior manager at Pantech & Curitel's domestic marketing team has said "Whenever one of our players comes out wearing a new product, it stirs interest among the crowd in the studio and viewers at home, "We think it has a marketing effect of 5 billion won per year," or five times the amount the company spends on sponsorship.
In July 2004, the finals of the current "Sky League" competition that featured gamers from SK Communications and HanbitSoft was held in Busan. More than 100,000 game fans filled the outdoor stadium set up on the beach to watch the best-of-seven series on giant screens. The same day in the city, Korea's professional baseball All-Star game drew a crowd of 15,000. [3]
References
Buse, P. 1996. "Nintendo and Telos: Will You Ever Reach the End?" Cultural Critique No.34, pp. 163-184.
Chung, Y. 2006. "Gaming Addiction vs Gaming Professionalism", Telecom Korea. viewed on 13 May 2007, <http://www.w2forum.com/i/Gaming_Addiction_vs_Gaming_Proffesionalism>
Gluck, C. 2002. "South Korea's gaming addicts", BBC News Asia Pacific, 22 Nov 2002, viewed on 13 May 2007, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2499957.stm>
John, Y. & Gorman, G. 2002. "Internet use in South Korea", Online Information Review, Bradford:2002, 26(5), pp. 335-345
Khazan, O. 2006. "Lost in an Online Fantasy World", Washington Post, 18 Aug 2006. Viewed on 13 May 2007 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/17/AR2006081700625_pf.html>
[edit] Cyworld addiction
What makes Cyworld so addictive?
There have been many observations about Cyworld addiction. Here are few reasons that make Cyworld addictive as well as popular:
- Simplicity – it is not required to know HTML codes or have any specific type of technical skill.
- Easy connection with others. - People can easily keep there relationships through their minihompy instead of having to meet friends in person.
- Unlimited uploading service. - Cyworld provides unlimited uploads.
- It’s free.
- Easy to find the people – Cyworld provides 'a member searching system' but only when the member allows themselves to be found.
According to A.H. Maslow in his study of humanistic psychology, he stated 5 different desires that people have:
- The needs of the body – craving for food, sexual desire, desire for sleep.
- Desire for Security.
- Desire to be part of a group, being loved by people.
- Desire for recognition by others.
- Desire for self-actualization, about to achieve personal goals.
Theoretically Cyworld relates to and satisfies desires 3, 4 and 5. For desire 3, people can keep in touch with friends and others through Cyworld as well as express themselves and be loved by others. Desire 4 - As Cyworld indicates the counter for the number of visitors, popularity of the personalized home. Desire 5- People can create new relationship with others or keep there existing relationship and fundamentally strengthen there personal sphere. For example they can write a composition and let others read it or put up a best photo.
What are the behavioural patterns of Cyworld addicts?
It is now normal that people spend at least two hours a day uploading new photos, writing in their online diaries, checking their visitor book, and re-visiting people who have previously visited their minihompy. Users become obsessive about messages and comments from friends and the amount of visits their minihompy has had. Moreover when there is a decrease in the number of people visiting their home, or a decline in mails their receive, some Cyworld users start start to believe that they have been socially ostracized. So in order to receive more attention from others, many would spend all day putting up new photos, new messages, additionally, they visit as many friends as possible, answer every message and also spend excessive amounts of money to decorate their minihompy to attract others. However, the positive aspect of the minihompy can be is its use as a tool to keep in contact with people who are often too busy to meet up physically, and the online space lets one know what’s going on with their close friends through messages and photos.
Problems engaged with using Cyworld
Cyworld lets people be “il chon” which means “close friends”. "Il chon" happen when both parties agree to be in a relationship. So there is an option where certain information is only available to their Il chon. This helps to control how personal information is circulated. However problems start to arise when their relationship declines or they become Il chons begin to disagree. There have been many cases where people were threatened by their close friends who began spreading there most personal information after relationships fail. Because of this there is an increased caution in the Cyworld portal of whom to trust information with.
References
Schonfeld, E. 2006, "Cyworld ready to attack Myspace", Business 2.0 Magazine, viewed on 28 April 2007, <http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/27/technology/cyworld0727.biz2/index.htm>
Happycampus, 2006,'Correlation Between Cyworld Addiction and Adaptation of Society', Happy campus, viewed on 3 May 2007 <http://km.naver.com/list/view_detail.php?dir_id=80801&docid=31766710>
[edit] Online shopping
As more commercial activities, educational material, computer games and entertainment are offered online, access to the Internet has become increasingly important in South Korea. As the use of the Internet in South Korea grew almost exponentially, so did the two specific Internet commerce sectors: banking and shopping. Even the leading broadcasters now offer much of their content online. The Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) channel sells downloads of news and other programs an hour after they are broadcasted on television (Watts, 2001).
Users’ Description
Based on reports by the Korean Network Information Centre (KRNIC) in December 2001, the average Internet access time of users is approximately 12.08 hours a week, with the accessing time from 6 pm to midnight on weekdays. Most respondents use the internet for doing schoolwork (21.1 per cent), followed by fun and entertainment (18.4 per cent), work (16.7 per cent), and others (13.8 per cent), where mostly respondents use it at home (80 per cent) (John, 2002).
According to the Korean National Statistics Office (KNSO), online shoppers were found to purchase mostly electric or electronic appliances and telecommunications products the most, comprising 17.9 per cent of total sales (John, 2002).
Internet Banking and E-commerce
At the end of March 2002, all domestic banks and the post office in South Korea, as well as overseas banks (Citibank, Hong Kong, and HSBC) provide Internet banking services such as checking balances, electronic funds, transfer, checking foreign exchange, credit card loans, and paying of public utility bills. At the same time, around 25.5 per cent of South Koreans use Internet banking, which is more than 12 million people (John, 2002). In the business to business arena, Samsung Corporation has been a leader in introducing e-commerce. Its cyberwarehouse[4], a merchant system that allows business customers to order goods and products in its site (Ahn, 2000). Samsung expects to reach 140 million pounds in online sales, while LG group is on course to take 54 millions pounds (Watts, 2001).
A survey by eRatings found that 12% of Internet users in the city in South Korea had made a purchase online, compared to Australia, 14%, Singapore, 9%, and Hong Kong, 4% (Yoon, 2001).
While Internet users are using e-commerce to purchase goods and services, they are also be the main customers of financial institutions or internet banking. Recently, internet services providers have made efforts to strengthen Internal security for cyber transactions and trading. More competition among banks has provided internet banking customers with more functionality, such as better lower banking services, even lower fees, which have promoted cyber banking and online transactions (John, 2002).
Tactics
According to Yoon, in the article “Too Shy to Buy”, South Koreans are experts in finding secure and convenient ways to charge customers for their online buys, referring to a good billing system developed. “Better billing solutions make people more comfortable spending money on the Internet,” said Max Hwang, country manager for Internet measurement company Netvalue in Korea, “And when they’re more comfortable, consumers will be more willing to shop for bigger and more expensive things online.” (Yoon, 2001)
Threats
On the other hand, when Asian customers became attracted to the power of internet in 1999, logging on to buy everything from clothing to cars, South Korean salespeople suffered the e-commerce’s impact. Ahn Mi-Young, in the article “Asia awakes to e-commerce” explained that car dealers and stock brokers are especially anxious about their decling sales.
“I begin to fear that the Internet might take my job away,” said Song Jin-Ho, a salesman at a Hyundai Motor Cooperation. He says face-to-face selling has decreased from 68% to 52% car sales in a year. Car makers and dealers have promised to sue their web competitors for selling vehicles at low prices that disrupt the way traditional business has been done, but no one is optimistic about the results (Ahn, 2000).
In 2000, online stock trading in South Korea accounts as much as 70% of turnover in the country, up from only 5% to 10% before (Ahn, 2000). More and more customers switch to cyberdealers, as the government recognizes electronic signatures as legal. “Someday more than 80% of the cars will be sold via the internet malls,” predict Joo Woo-Jin, professor of business management at Seoul National University.
Shin Jong-Ho, one of the customer, claimed that he felt “sort of guilty” if he walked into a dealer, asked him every detail but walked away without buying it. Instead, he turned into an Internet auto malls. One advantage for customers buying from cyberdealers is the variety of automobiles they can see in one place. Furthermore, Ahn added, if web retailers can survive on slim margins, the jobs of many salespeople who can’t figure out a way to provide alternative services could be at risk. (Ahn, 2000)
References
Ahn, M. 2000. "Asia Awakes to e-commerce", Industry Week, Cleveland: 1 May 2000, 249(9), p.27
John, Y. & Gorman, G. 2002. "Internet use in South Korea", Online Information Review, Bradford: 2002, 26(5), pp. 335-345
Yoon, S. 2001. "Too shy to Buy", Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong:13 Dec 2001, 164(49), p.44
Watts, J. 2001. "Korea Keeps Faith with Wired World", Guardian, 5 December 2001, viewed on 13 May 2007, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4313450,00.html>
[edit] Piracy
Anthony Leong, the Toronto-based author of “Korean Cinema: the New Hong Kong”, wrote that in less than a decade, South Korea’s film industry has blossomed to a vibrant business mimicking the earlier transformation of Hong Kong’s film business in the process. In 2005, the South Korean market surpassed Germany to become the world’s fifth biggest (Paquet, 2006). However, the most significant challenge is digital piracy (Leong, 2004).
Digital piracy has plagued South Korea’s entertainment industry as South Korea has a high broadband penetration. A recent Motion Picture Association of America [5] survey found that 58% of South Korean Internet users have downloaded movies illegally.
Furthermore, the DVD sector has shown virtually no growth since 2002. The most frequently cited reason for DVD’s stunted growth in Korea is piracy. With some fastest broadband connections in the world, capable of downloading a DVD-quality feature film in 30 minutes, a widespread downloading culture has emerged among young Koreans. At the same time, the government has turned a blind eye to scores of vendors selling pirated DVDs in subway stations and on street corners throughout Seoul (Paquet, 2006). Paquet added, a cultural factor may also play role, as young Koreans mostly socialize outside the home and have less time to spend in “DVD rooms,” where couples can rent a private room to watch a disc together. (Paquet, 2006)
In 2005, revenues for sell-through DVD added up to only 63% of the VHS rental market – despite years of steady decline of the latter. While top-performing films can sell up to 10 million tickets in theaters, major DVD releases such as “King Kong” struggled to sell 30,000 units in South Korea, as only 20% of Korean households currently own a DVD player and consumer spending on DVDs has been virtually flat. Meanwhile, distributor revenue has fallen from US$46.7 million in 2003 to US$35.5 million in 2005. The revenue remains low although major distributors such as Warner Bros, Sony, BVI, Fox, and locally based Taewon have tried various strategies to drag more customers. They have tried to target discount stores such as WalMart and leading Korean retailer, Shinsegae E Mart[6](Paquet, 2006).
References
Leong, A. 2004. "Behind the Boom", Variety, New York: Oct 4-10, 396(7), pp.1-2
Paquet, D. 2006. "Is DVD Dead in South Korea?", Variety, New York: Aug 7-13, 403(11), pg. 8
[edit] Political impact
There are 2 examples of how the web has been used in Korea to effectively impact policy and mobilise people to collective action:
The Blacklist Campaign
In the 2000 general election, an alliance of about 500 civic groups, compiled a list of 164 politicians who they considered to be corrupt and unfit for office. The laws in Korea restricted civic groups organising any kind of outdoor political activity. So they turned to the web where the used websites, blogs, alternative online media sites and discussion groups to distribute their list. This campaign was very successful nearly 70 percent of the candidates on the list where not re-elected. This movement was considered to be South Korea's second democratization movement attempting to remove barriers to political reform.
2002 General Elections
The second being the 2002 election. The 2002 presidential election showed how powerful online papers and discussions rooms had become in Korea. On the eve of the 2002 election Chung Mong Joon revoked his support for Roh Moo Hyun, a reformist presidential candidate of the URI party.
Almost immediately after Joon's revoking support for Roh, OhmyNews chat rooms were crowded with supporters of Roh. For 10 hours about 570,000 people accessed this article on OhmyNews and the total number of pages viewed reached 20 million. The OMN discussions room was flooded with messages asking people to take part in the election. Netzitens also made plans for Election Day to use the Internet and mobile phones for a massive campaign urging people to take part in election and vote for Roh. Through this campaign Roh beat the favoured candidate Lee Hoi-Chang of the GNP.
'The guardian of the United Kingdom published this heading after the victory of Roh “World’s First Internet President Logs On: Web Already shaping Policy of New South Korean Leader.”'
The 2002 presidential election was a pivotal event for the online site OhmyNews and showing online participation could lead to offline social political mobilization. Today in South Korea citizen e-participation (Woo-Young, 2005) is characterised by convenient access to detailed information, free exchange and expression of opinions and the formation of cyber groups.
References
Woo-Young, C. 2005. "Online Civic Participation and Political Empowerment: Online Media and Public Opinion Formation in Korea", Media, Culture & Society, 27(6), pp.925-635.
Kim, E & Hamilton, K. 2006. “Capitulation to Capital? Ohmynews as alternative media”, Media, Culture & Society, 28(4), pp.541-560.
Westra, R. 2006. The Capitalist Stage of Consumerism and South Korean Development. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 36(1), pp. 3-25.
[edit] Case study
In "Choong Ang Ilbo" (7 March 2005), Authors Phil Gyu Kim and In Sup Shin had wrote an article on how Korea’s rapid development of Internet should keep up with preservation of public peace and the moral issues. It pointed out that Korean people needed more notions on piracy issues, hacking and also the level of preservation.
Illegal music downloading.
With the development of Internet speed in Korea, it takes less than 10 seconds to download a music track. A website, known as Soribada was created in May 2000 - it is a a P2P file sharing service which enables users to share music for free. In 2002, Soribada was told to discontinue their service under court orders, but a while later Soribada 2 was launched with very minor changes to it's functions. In 2002, Soribada 2 was again discontinued and Soribada 3 was offered, where MP3 files could be purchased at a small cost. But because there were still illegal music sharing between users, the Korea Music Producing Association sued the company so that it was put under provisional attachment by the court. Soribada has continued to changing its’ function with fifth version out now in the market. However, to day, there are still offenses carried out through the site and disagreements between the company, music firms and artists.
Soribada was highly sought after by citizens because to the public, it was not known to them that downloading of music was illegal. Neither did the government intervene to help take these issues under control. As a leading music market in Asia, Korea still suffers heavily from music piracy issues and there have many numerous music producing agencies that become bankrupt. Music artistes have also been forced to give up their career, stunting further growth of South Korea's entertainment business. Although Soribada continues to provide music downloading, music has to be downloaded with a charge per song. This has led to it's decline in popularity and South Koreans are turning to other websites looking for free music.
Moral issues on commenting and a suicide of singer and actors.
Almost every Korean news portal provides commenting systems attached to articles. It has become increasingly popular to put up opinions, criticisms or just mere greetings on these comment boxes, and this is often done in anonymity. The commenting system has been received by South Koreans as a space where they can exercise freedom of speech. However, it has also become a culture in cyberspace where Koreans tend to critize very negatively - often posting derogatory and critical comments. In early 2007, a femal Korean singer committed suicide after receiving a series of unpleasant comments on her Cyworld blog. The comments were directed at her image portrayed by the media and her looks - most of them highly critical. As a result, she suffered melancholia and eventually took her life.
Since then, some have started to realize how influential their single comments are to the people they discuss about. Some have started good commenting campaigns and the real-name commenting system have been implemented on some portals. Some portals now limit the commenting on the personal news articles where people can possibly criticize in a bad manner. It is also arguable that many of these could have been avoided if the government had stepped in.
References
Donald, 2007, "S. Korean pop singer U-Nee commits suicide", NEWSGD.com, viewed on 11 May 2007, <http://www.newsgd.com/pictures/ent_pic/200701230029.htm>
Cho, J. 2006, "KOREA, Internet music sharing blocked", Korea Times, viewed on 12 May 2007, <http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=47429>
[edit] Interview
Translated from Korean Version
The interview took place at the Seoul Plaza Hotel in 2006, with Park Suk Bong from Empass , Yoo Hyun Oh From Cyworld and Kim Young Sum from Konan technology, a social gathering for the development of a new search engine business.
SK Communications Yoo Hyun Oh explained: "I'll want to improve the structure of the national search engine market, which is now monopolized by Naver.com. By creating more local competition we hope to become more competitive globally. He emphasized that through the cooperation with the two other companies, it will strengthen the search engine sector, which used to be the weakest component for SKCom.President Park said "Empass" has the same quality equal search engine as Naver."
Question and Answer Session:
Q. You have picked the word 'co-operation' instead of 'corporate takeover', is there a significance in using such words?
A. It depends on your point of view, it feels a little too one sided to call it corporate takeover, SK is becoming the chief stockholder for both companies, but I want to emphasize that we are partners. Both companies are very passionate about the search engine business, so rather than call it a takeover, I wanted it to be seen as a cooperative relationship between our businesses.
Q. How about the rights of management?
A. The rights of management will remain with the current board of directors, the reason for takeover is we want the technological ability of the people and the business. President Park and Kim's rights for management control remain.
Q. In Korea, Naver.com monopolizes portal sites, Do you have any plans to beat Naver.com through cooperation with other companies?
A. All three Naver.com, Daum, SKcom portal sites have specific skills and abilities. Naver.com specialises in being a search portal, Daum for cafes and Email services and SKCom for its social network site Cyworld. The search engine sector makes more money. so Naver.com has high sales. As the internet develops there will be more changes, a new business model is needed to take advantage of this. Naver might be dominant now but there are many changes happening is the search engine area such as text focused engines moving into multi-media, provider focused information circulation to user centred circulation, then to more user specific search engines. The business that takes advantage of future trends and secures its competitive edge will lead the market. Looking at it from that angle, Empass and Konan have the suitable competitive edge that KTCommunications is looking for.
Q. When will these new services be available, and will the cooperated business model you mention be the leader in the market?
A. With the core members in three businesses, we will make a TF team. we will carefully examine the competition, and prepare a new service, within 3~6 months. We will secure ourselves as market leaders not only within Korea but internationally. We'll create engines that satisfy users and create added value. As the internet develops rapidly we might find ourselves market leader sooner than we expected.
Q. What will the next generation search service be like? Are there any problems related to liquidation of human resources for Empass?
A. Fundamentally, all three companies will be operating in a co-operative manner, Empass has powerful know how and specialization in search engine services. Empass and Konan will be the centre of the project. We have not come to a conclusion yet, but Konan takes charge for the search engine development, and other basic services will be the domain of Empass. Personnel management will be given to each company. There will be personal exchange between companies to improve performance. We're not planning to combine all personnel, people will mostly remain within there designated area. We have secured the building site in Pankyo by 2010 all companies will work within the same building.
References
Jung, J. O. 2006, "President Yoo Hyun Oh, "I'll compete with Naver.com!", IT News, viewed on 13 May 2007, <http://www.inews24.com/php/news_view.php?g_menu=020100&g_serial=229685>
[edit] Future of Cyber Korea
The future appears to favour South Korea as it plans to take advantage of its current position as a major contender and innovator in the hi-tech digital environment. By developing and trailing new products and technologies in Korea for the local market and then marketing them overseas many South Korean companies are well placed to take advantage of developments in future markets. Also many foreign companies now look to South Korea to test and trail new products and services before releasing them in their own local markets.
The South Korean government has a dream, which it calls the "ubiquitous dream" of a networked world. This is a dream it shares with the private sector, openly sharing the costs of many developmental projects. At the South Korean Ministry of Information there is the ‘Ubiquitous Dream Home’, “Go through the door with a wristwatch PC carrying your personal information and the home springs into action. The lights come on, video messages from your neighbours appear on the TV, the fridge tells you it is out of eggs, and your wardrobe mirror gives you advice on what clothes would suit you today.” (Unknown,2006) [7] Also part of the "ubiquitous dream" is the ambitious aim for every South Korean household to have an internet-connected robot by 2010. While this may sound science fiction from a Western Market point of view it is not the case in South Korea. Where robotic vacuum cleaners are becoming more common and in late 2006 the South Korean Military unveiled a prototype "Intelligent Surveillance and Guard Robot" that will assist the military guarding the border South Korea shares with North Korea. A project that was funded jointly by the government and the private sector with four companies contributing to the project, (Samsung Techwin Co., Sejin System Co., MediaZen and Sysfo Lab Co.) They hope to begin marketing the robot in late 2007 with hopes of sales above $200 million in its the first year.(Cho, 2006) [8]
While robotics will play a major role in South Korea’s future, so will its Video Game industry. NCsoft Korea’s largest gaming company, already a player in the western gaming markets with well known titles such as City of Heroes, City of Villians, and Guild War Factions. Have reported 2006 revenues of $362 million, $87 million from North America and Europe. NCsoft spokesman Kim Joo Young has been quoted saying “Korea represented almost two thirds of our revenues last year, but we expect some 70% of our sales to be generated from overseas markets by 2010. (Ihlwan, 2007) [9]
It is not only gaming companies that have their sights on global expansion. Cyworld is set to expand into Europe within months, after already launching in China in 2005 and Japan, Taiwan and America in 2006. Hyun-oh Yoo, president and chief executive of South Korean telecommunications company SK Communications, owners of Cyworld, was quoted while giving a keynote address at MIPTV[16] on ‘Convergence and Lifestyle Media’ as echoing the South Korean governments "ubiquitous dream" saying the “Ultimate vision (is) to connect everyone to one network”. (Stein, 2007)
During the same keynote presentation Yoo also said "I strongly believe that the vision of lifestyle media can only be fulfilled when everyone's knowledge and information is not only accessed from the PC but from all devices connected to the Internet." Other future plans include raising Cyworld’s profile in the US by adding Warner Bros. movies to its downloadable movie selection in late 2007. (Stein, 2007) [10]
This shared vision between the government and private sector is close to taking one step closer to reality with the impending roll out of Wibro, which stands for wireless broadband. Some 3,000 test subscribers are putting it through its paces currently, and in June 2007 it will be launched commercially with a Wibro zone covering Seoul and then other major cities. Which in short means wireless net access in many places is going from being a series of small ‘hotspots’ to a whole new network. The Wibro network is being built by KT. With senior managers at KT, boasting that soon subscribers to the new service will be able to “Watch TV on the move, while e-mailing and downloading large files at the same time." (Unknown, 2006)
Where to next? In a recent survey carried out by the South Korean Government in early 2007, 3,500 technology experts in South Korea where interviewed and asked for their long-range hi-tech predictions. The consensus was that by 2015, the internet will be used to deliver data about smells to a fragrance cartridge sitting next to a computer or other device accessing the net. And among other predictions that by 2018 robots will be routinely carrying out surgery. (Unknown, 2007) [11]
References
Unknown, 2006, “S Korea speeds up wi-fi on the go”, BBC News, viewed on May 16 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4964860.stm
Cho, J. 2006, “Robo-Soldier to Patrol South Korean Border” ABC news, viewed on May 14 2007 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2504508&page=1
Ihlwan, M. 2007, “South Korea: Video Games' Crazed Capital” BusinessWeek.com, viewed on May 14, http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2007/gb20070326_937184.htm
Stein, J. 2007 “Cyworld eyes global connection”, hollywoodreporter.com, viewed on May 14, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/international/news/e3i24b21916578451e5eca1e18c396a2c96
Unknown, 2007, “Fragrant future beckons for web” BBC News, viewed May 12 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6404067.stm
[edit] Conclusion
From the above research it can be seen that South Korea has made some very insightful decisions about its technological infrastructure over the last thirty years and have acted on them in ways other governments wish they had: from Cyber Korea 21 to its more sophisticated extension e-korea Vision 2006 and full privatization of KT corp, it is obvious the governments will to pursue its "ubiquitous dream" of a networked world. South Korea continues to impress: from a tech savvy population, to sites like Cyworld, Naver, Daum, and OhmyNews, a billion-dollar gaming industry, and current investments into the emerging robotics industry, it is clear South Korea’s position, as a formidable global player in digital technologies will continue to strengthen over time.
[edit] Authors
Lydia Teh (s3146554)
Brigitta Adela (s3095299)
Jenny Lee (s3094194)
Ryan Sabourin (s3112758)
Ryan Hamlet (s3083492)
