ë ì´ìì 1 - Korea IT Times

April 2008 / Vol. 46 

www.ittimes.co.kr 

3rd~6th Floor, Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation B/D, 540, Cheonggyecheono, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, Korea (133-050) Government registration No. Seoul-Ra-10914 Tel: (82-2)3459-0664~0665 Fax.:(82-2)515-2719 

U.S. $9.00 / KOR.₩8,500 

04 

ISSN 1739-2950 

Korea’s No.1 Information Technology Journal 

Semiconductors 

at 

Digital Society 

Real People in IT 

Songdo u-Life 

A City of the Future 

Focus 

Information Security and Software 

Academia 

KAIST University put the culture into technology 

New Government 

Policy

Company profile 

Namuga - Cameras for the Future 

Seo Jung-hwa, CEO of 

Namuga 

Namuga(http://www.namuga.co.kr) 

has been developing hardware and 

software applications which can be 

applied to image processing for 

2008 CMOS cameras, compression 

and recognition techniques. 

Namuga have been doing so since 

2004, when it started developing 

camera lens. 

It has been developing and 

producing futuristic technology for 

cars, networks with fixed-lines and 

ATMs. Namuga has also been 

working on robotic cameras and is currently focusing on 

cameras that work inside and outside PCs - a huge market 

for CMOS cameras. 

We are doing our best to create digital techniques for the 

future, and to become a company that works together with 

other parts of society to create a better business culture. 

Business Areas 

- Embedded Camera Module 

This is a Notebook and Camera Module for a monitor. We 

are leading the high-end market with developed a 

functional and an in-depth level, our creative design and 

competitive price range are different from other low-priced 

Chinese or Taiwanese products. It is the line-up product of 

VGA, 1.3M, 1.3M Dual, 2M, 3M Auto focus and it is 

exclusively supplied to Samsung Electronics, LG 

Electronics and Intel. 

- Stand-alone USB Camera 

This is a USB camera for desktops and notebooks. We are 

the top vendor with Embedded Camera Module for the 

high-end of the market with perfect management product 

quality. We have abundant experience with design and the 

establishment of a self-test standard for resolution. In 

addition, we focus on the development of new products 

with our own software technology and a singular plan for 

the production of a USB Web Camera that is different from 

those offered by other Taiwanese and Chinese ODM/OEM 

companies. We also exclusively supply this product to 

Samsung, Intel, Hewlett-Packard Development Company, 

L.P. and Creative Technology Ltd. 

- [Application] Camera Module or Application Per 

Camera Module 

This is a product is based on the stable image processes 

and algorithms. It is optimally developed and supplied to 

customers for application. We promise the highest quality, 

and a resolution that can be adjusted for all of our clients. 

Camera for automobiles: This is applied for keeping cars 

in lane when Connected to a satellite navigation system, 

it behaves as a black-box for automobiles, and a 

synchronization acquisition camera for back-up. 

Camera for ATM M/C: This is for an image of security at 

ATMs and it supplies the best quality image in any 

environment. 

Robotic camera: It is applied in many industries as nextgeneration 

core technology. 

- High-definition Video Codec IP Camera 

It is combined with image and fixed-lined network 

technology and applied to the newest advanced image 

compression technology, such as H.264. So rapid image 

process and IP accessibility is increased with this product 

and we supply sensible image delivery. This is growing fast 

in such areas as image conversations, image meetings 

and an image education for worldwide IPTV services and 

new customers' services with an image system of 

education. 

- Flash Memory Card Reader 

It is the part that continuously being developed as 

introducing variety of Flash Memory as a desktop product. 

We are the 1st vendor to supply products to the big-sized 

company 

- Software 

Applicable software for Embedded Cameras is supplied. 

This works with all operating systems including Windows 

Vista, Win CE and Linux. We have developed applicable 

programs for the hardware. 

(Headquarters) Suite 709, Biz Center, SKn Technopark, 

190-1 Sangdeawon-dong, Jungwon-gu, Seongnam-si, 

Gyeonggi-do, Korea 

(Chinese Production Headquarters) 2/3 Floor, 7# Building, 

Lijincheng Industrial Park Gongyedong-road, Longhua 

area, BaoAn District, Shenzhen, China 

10 _ April 2008 KOREA IT TIMES

I-Components - Plastics for the Age of IT 

Kim Yang-kook, CEO of 

I-Components 

I-Components(http://www.icomponents.co.kr) 

is a leading 

players in the advanced IT era. We 

are maker of engineering plastic film 

which opens the informatization age. 

Based on management equipped with 

broad understanding of LCD 

materials and the related components 

industry, the company is making 

efforts to develop film and materials 

used to produce components for 

display films based on precision 

chemistry, polymers and material engineering. 

In an effort to establish a global network, our company has 

maintained a solid partnership with domestic and 

international companies, such as Basf in Germany, 

Marubeni in Japan and the Korea Development Bank. I- 

Components has achieved global standards earlier than 

other firms by establishing a firm cooperation in production 

and marketing. 

I-Components, in line with the growth of the display 

industry, has materialized optical features, including optical 

transmittance and double refraction, as well as surface 

features, like surface flatness and thickness uniformity, and 

has supplied highly-functional and applicative PC, PMMA 

and PES to various customers. 

Glastic PES, a key material with a flexible display which 

the company developed for the first time in Korea, is an 

optical film we are exclusively supplying to Basf through 

strategic cooperation. It is an advanced product which will 

lead the next-generation plastic market, because it is 

remarkably heat-resistant and has high transmittancy, 

surface flatness and 

optical isotopes. 

Glastic PES is being used 

for TFT-LCD, touch 

panels, E-Books, smart 

cards and substrates for 

flexible displays which 

requires high-temperature 

processes, such as 

organic EL OLED. 

In comparison with glass, glastic PC is an engineering 

plastic film with 250 times more impact resistance, a 

sophisticated appearance, printing property, formability, 

heat resistance and numerical stability. 

The company, for the first time in Korea, has developed 

and mass-produced thin films for LGF sheets used in the 

key pads of mobile telephones, and these have won high 

popularity on the market. 

In addition, this 

product has been 

used for printing in for 

as car dashboards, 

electronic name 

plates for various 

home appliances and 

switches, as well as in 

mobile telephones. 

They are excellent in 

terms of their printing 

property and effectiveness. 

In connection with molding areas, there are plamodels for 

toys, mobile phone inmolds and helmets. 

As a flame retardant, it is being used for the insulation of 

electronic goods, electronic heaters and IC chip trays. 

For coating, there are the screens of portable handsets, ski 

goggles, protection windows for compact displays and 

caps that block ultraviolet rays. 

It also is used for the decoration of office and home 

furniture to upgrade exteriors, providing an elegant finish to 

such products. 

Glastic optical PMMA has excellent surface strength, 

weather resistance and avirulence ,and it is receiving 

favorable responses in the market by realizing high optical 

transmittancy and surface strength. 

Glastic optical PMMA is being applied to windows, such as 

protection windows of mobile telephones and PDA screens 

and frames for PDP TVs. 

In displays, it is widely used for refrigerators, airconditioners, 

audio systems, DVDs, notebook computers, 

MP3-players and LCD protection windows. 

For exteriors and windows on home appliances, it is being 

used for refrigerators, office electronic instruments and the 

panels of automatic vending machines. 

Unlike existing goods, glastic optical PMMA and glastic PC 

have a remarkable purity, transparency and processing 

ability, therefore they are becoming essential products in 

the IT industry which is leading the core industries of 

Korea. 

I-Components is vigorously advancing to become a 

worldwide leading company in the field of IT materials, 

Korea's number one industry in the 21st century. We are 

doing this through continuous investment in research. We 

continue to innovate and run our business based on our 

broad manufacturing experience and knowledge of the 

entire display film industry. 

I-components, a global top leader in plastic film. 

Advance together with I-Components and change your 

future. 

KOREA IT TIMES April 2008 _ 11

Contents 

22 Policy 31 Interview Highlights 32 u-life 

10 Company profile 

10 Namuga - Cameras for the Future 

11 I-Components - Plastics for the Age of IT 

14 Editorial 

15 Analysis 

The "Grand Canal" and IT 

16 Cover Story 

The Semiconductor Industry at War 

22 Policy 

22 Lee Myung-bak's difficult first month 

24 Ministerial briefings 

29 Digital Society 

A former software programmer talks about he new 

career path 

31 Interview Highlights 

Nam Jong-soo is confirmed as CEO of KT 

32 u-life 

Songdo's city of the future 

34 Academia 

KAIST University put the culture into technology 

36 Display 2008 

Experts say Korea needs more display investment 

38 Finance 

A credit service for Gyeonggi-do's smaller businesses 

40 Vision 2008 

40 Focus on the IT security industry in Korea 

42 E&I Club strikes new partnership deal 

43 Solar power 

44 Software 

44 Software struggling in the shadows 

45 Korea's software industry needs to mature 

46 Spotlight 

Alsaba - A Taste of South Asia 

48 Interview 

48 Korea Venture Business Association 

49 Buyer's Guide 

54 Company Focus 

Hyundai Mobis 

56 Green IT 

Is it time the Korean IT business became a little more 

eco-friendly? 

58 IPTV 

Spotlight on the latest developments in the world of 

Internet television 


April 2008 / Vol. 46 

38 Finance 

60 Event 

Venture business group change their name 

61 Podcast 

Your guide to our new, free service 

62 Feature 

62 Is UCC really here to stay? 

64 Can we build bridges with IT? 

65 The true value of good workmanship 

66 In-depth report series 

How is IT transforming Korea? 

68 Focus 

The Incheon Free Economic Zone 

70 Hot Issue 

70 You Tube in Korea 

72 Telecoms merger on the cards? 

73 LCD production to step up 

74 News in Brief 

74 World 

75 Korea 

76 How to... 

Find a good job in IT 

80 Briefing 

44 Software 

Chairman & Publisher 

Executive Advisor 

President-Publisher 

Advisor 

Vice President 

Editor-in-Chief 

Editor 

Supplement Director 

Managing Editor 

Editorial Director 

Industry Editors 

Staff Reporters 

Freelance Reporters 

Photographer 

Advertising Manager 

Art Director 

Designers 

Internet Manager 

Business Manager 

Circulation Manager 

Administration Manager 

Sales & Marketing Manager 

Publication Team Manager 

Financial Auditor 

Financial Secretory 

Correspondents 

N.America 

Europe 

Southeast Asia 

Far East 

China 

Oceania 

SW Asia 

M.East 

Graphic Design _ Lee Do-won 

TA 

CGE 

LKH 

LCM 

JKS 

KWH 

KHS 

KEJ 

YCW 

LKM 

Kim Tae -sub 

Han Kon- ju 

Chung Youn-soo 

Chang Hong-yul 

Huh Pyung-youn 

Kim Byung-woo 

Monica Chung / monica 

Tim Alper/tim 

Kim Joo-hyung 

Chun Go-eun/toclair 

Lee Kyong-hwan 

Lee Chung-moo 

Jeon Kyung-sook 

Koo Won-hum 

Ki Hee-sung/hskih 

Kim Eun-jeong/aceellie 

Yeon Choul-woong 

Lee Kyung-min 

Ko Ki-wan 

Cho Eun-jung 

David Jones 

Dondu Sarisiik 

Matthew Weigand 

Shin Sung-won 

Jude Kim 

Lee Do-won 

Cho Hee-sang 

Bok Dong-kyu 

Kim Chang-ho 

Park Mi-jung 

Kim Si-hwan 

Yoon Jong-jin 

Ko Yeon-sang 

Choi Eun-kyung 

Cho Hye-kyung 

e-mail: ~@ittimes.co.kr 

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Kim Moon-soo 

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Choi Duk-hee 

Chung Jung-ja 

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Editorial 

Let's show some love to our lab rats 

It is hardly the kind of news that fills headline writers with 

joy - according to the UN patent agency, Korea, along 

with China, is the country that showed the biggest 

growth in registering patents in 2007. 

Registering patents brings to mind very few exciting 

images. Perhaps those images are little more than officials 

in stuffy offices and lab rat-like engineers with complexions 

like they have never seen the sun. 

But little things like patents can create things much 

greater and of much more importance. From the smallest 

acorns do the greatest 

oaks grow. WiBro, IPTV 

and DMB are Korean 

inventions that are bringing 

forth global acceptance. 

They, too, were once 

nothing but numbers in a 

patent office.The incredible 

speed of modern 

technological progress 

means that registering a 

high amount of patents is 

a must if you want - as 

Korea does - to make a 

primary industry out of IT. 

A strategic shift is 

needed by anyone who 

wants to get involved in 

the modern IT rat race. 

Whereas in the past, 

Korea was happy to undercut the Japanese and Americans 

with cheaper labor prices, this country long ago lost that 

high ground to the Chinese and Taiwanese. 

In fact, even though the Chinese have been fast to register 

a huge amount of patents themselves, this should be of 

little concern to people here. 

The Chinese are not the nation Koreans have to compete 

with in IT any more. That war has already been fought 

and lost. But the Chinese are at a disadvantage in IT - their 

specialty will always be mass-production, rather than developing 

niche technology that later turns out to be widespread. 

In fact, the latter is a game the Japanese have been 

playing and playing well for some time. But Korea, in 

investing heavily in Research and Development, is showing 

an interest in remaining an IT leader. 

The Americans, too, have been at the forefront in IT 

development, and their unparalleled ability to think outside 

the box has often given them the edge. Who else but them 

could have given us the likes of Google or the iPod? 

Unique technology is an absolute must now Korea has 

found its place in the IT world as not a bulk producer but a 

specialized niche developer. 

Niche technology might sound like it is a step backwards 

from working on the big products that everyone wants, but 

actually through 

developing products 

for a minority of 

users, we are bound 

stumble across the 

next big thing at 

some point. In order 

to globalize, sometimes 

it is more 

important to look in 

more detail at smaller 

markets. 

It has been said 

before in this magazine, 

but it is worth 

saying again - the 

real battlefield for 

Korean IT is not the 

high-profile squabbling 

and one-upmanship 

of major companies 

like Samsung and Sony, Hynix and Mitsubishi. The 

real fight is between the small fry of Korean IT and the 

small fry of Japan and the US. 

If our little niche companies can be encouraged to strike 

gold on the world market though government subsidies and 

a better support network, that is what we must give them. 

The future lies in the hands of those pale lab rat engineers 

- it is the year of the rat, after all, and what better 

time to realize that we need to give them all the help we 

can muster? 

TA 


Analysis 

Technology 

can put the 

“Grand” 

into Lee's 

Canal Scheme 

Everyone I speak to about the "Grand Canal" seems 

to think it will never be built. They smile and dismiss 

it as wishful thinking or some crazed Lee Myung-bak 

project that will never actually be carried out, just discussed 

into oblivion. 

Personally, being from the UK, my picture of canals is 

the now-disused British waterways that were constructed 

during the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s. They are 

now full of nothing but shopping trolleys and rats for the 

most part. In a world where railways, roads and airports 

exist, I cannot think of any possible need for a Busan- 

Seoul-Pyongyang canal or anything of its ilk. 

But from what I have gathered about President Lee, he 

was elected on the basis of being a person who is able to 

get things done. Construction is his forte; he built his reputation 

from the period when he headed up Hyundai's 

Construction and Engineering division. 

Seoul is littered with his work - Seoul Forest, the 

restored Chungyecheon stream and the City Hall square 

were all built under Lee's mayorship of Seoul. This is a 

man who likes two things: building things and getting things 

done. 

And Mr Lee does not seem to be the kind of person who 

will go back on his word after picking up just shy of 50% of 

the popular vote last November. 

The Grand Canal will be built, ladies and gentlemen, like 

it or not. 

So probably the best course of action here is not the dismissive 

"ah, it'll never actually happen" approach, or harboring 

a sense of outrage. We had just better learn to live 

with the idea of a Grand Canal, and think about how it can 

best be done. 

Last issue, we ran a nice article by Park Ki-shik, the 

Vice President of the IT Services Research Division at the 

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. 

Mr Park wrote of his vision of a high-tech canal that uses 

RFID chips on the boats which use the canal, building a 

WiBro network along the waterway, and so on. 

Mr Park's piece might have got a lot of people thinking. 

Suddenly the image of the canal has gone from some 

muddy, polluted stream full of mosquitoes and bike parts to 

a futuristic waterway that sounds like something out of a 

sci-fi novel. What if we all just stopped hating the idea of a 

Grand Canal and thought of ways to help it become something 

we can all be a part of? 

A canal is an idea that seems, on the surface, to be 

straight out of the history books, but if we can find a way to 

integrate the both the construction and the operation of the 

canal with IT, it suddenly becomes a whole new proposition. 

In fact, construction and IT are arguably two of Korea's 

three primary industries - with automobiles the third. This 

country is bristling with young, hungry technologically-gifted 

experts who have good ideas by the bucketload. 

What we need is a forum, a chance for these people to 

suggest and debate possible ways for IT projects to help 

the canal be a success. 

We need RFID tags on ships and on cargo, so customers 

can trace where there product is. We need digital 

video links and Wireless Internet functions so that the crew 

of the boats and staff at stations along the waterway can 

be in constant contact with ports and harbors. 

Or maybe we do not need anything of the sort. But the 

government needs to do the decent thing and let the IT 

community in on the canal plans before any further action 

is taken. 

IT must play its part in this and every aspect of Korean 

life, for the sake of the economy and the future. If the 

Grand Canal is going to live up to its name, it needs to look 

like it belongs in the next century, not in the last one. 

TA 


Cover Story 

Semiconductors and the Automobile Industry 

The Way Forward? 

Automobiles are not just the 

combination of their metal 

parts. In the contemporary 

auto industry, they are more than 

what they look like. They are the creatures 

that come from the electronic 

logics lagoon. 

Without electronic functions and 

chips, automobiles are no longer 

automobiles. The things we drive 

around in every day are totally different 

from what Henry Ford originally 

intended them to be. 

Modern automobiles are required 

to be more comfortable, more reliable 

and safer for the convenience of drivers. 

To this end, they need to use a 

lot of electronic chips and sophisticated 

parts, all of which are smaller, 

lighter and increasingly complex. If 

automobile manufacturers fail to meet 

diversifying customer needs, they will 

go bankrupt immediately. 

Electronic Control Unit, the ECU, 

Engine Fuel Injection (EFI), Anti-lock 

Brake System (ABS) are modern 

devices that consumers take granted 

as part of the modern driving experience. 

Navigation and mobile television, 

like DMB, are also regarded as 

important commodities for drivers. 

Lee Yoon-jong, Director of Dongbu 

HighTek, explains, "Most people don't 

think about how it is possible for drivers 

to have so many functions at their 

disposal? None of this is possible 

without semiconductors. In calculating 

speed, igniting engine, and injecting 

gas supply, automobiles need state of 

the art semiconductors. Light Emitting 

Diodes cannot do without them." 

He says, "Sensors installed in 

every car are the highlights of semiconductors. 

Sensors that keep you a 

distance from cars driving ahead of 

you, sensors that identify dangers out- 

Is convergence technology between car-makers and 

the semiconductor sector a way to make Korea more 

competitive in both industries? We take a closer look. 

side on the road at night, 

sensors that measure the 

air in the tires. They are all 

territory that semiconductors 

can conquer." 

Lee asks up to imagine 

that Micro Controller Unit is 

like a device that has 100 

small computers inside. 

According to him, it is like a 

brain that controls all the 

sensors, and such systems 

as DMB and navigation. 

Ultra-high frequency chips for 

satellite communication and chips for 

multi-media are becoming a necessity 

for automobiles. The ratio of electronic 

function in automobile system will 

reach 40%, a huge increase of 20% 

from 2005. Semiconductors will take 

care of more than 80% out of that. 

Semiconductors for cars are different 

from those used in cellular 

phones, display, and other electronic 

appliances. Semiconductors for auto 

are the things that enhance the convergence 

of cars and semiconductors, 

thus creating new markets while semiconductors 

for other products are the 

decisive things that make products 

what they are. In this sense, we can 

say we have two kinds of semiconductors. 

For the past 25 years, semiconductor 

makers have concentrated their 

efforts on the markets of memory 

fields, even though two thirds of the 

world market comes from system IC, 

where Korea has a relatively low level 

of competition. 

In order to catch up with the rest of 

the global market, government and 

business circles alike have worked 

hard, but in vain. In this context, semiconductors 

for cars can be a springboard 

for makers to build the industry 

up to right level. 

There are a few makers that can 

produce semiconductors for cars in 

the global markets. If Korea could be 

one of them, Korea could be more 

competitive in terms of both quality 

and technology. Even though Korea is 

one of the major auto exporters, this 

country still remains behind in this 

area. Experts point out that making 

semiconductors is more profitable 

than worrying about where they end 

up. 

As cellular phone and display solutions 

have become cash cows for 

Korea, the ability to make cars can 

help semiconductor makers compete 

in the world market. If Korea can converge 

them, it will find its way to victory 

in a high value industry. 

CGE 


How many people still use diary 

to jot down phone numbers 

today? How many people try 

to memorize song lyrics when they 

can read the lyrics on a screen and 

sing along? It all comes from the neverending 

development of the semiconductor. 

People today are all too 

reliant on the semiconductor - its elephantine 

memory and analyzing skill 

are second to none. 

A semiconductor, in general, is the 

major component that makes up the 

rectangular shaped chips that are 

used in almost every electronic device 

we use today. Semiconductors, which 

variably conduct electricity though the 

use of materials like silicon, diamonds 

and aluminium are essential parts of a 

whole host of modern electrical 

devices. 

Without them, computers, cellular 

phones, digital audio players and the 

rest simply would not exist. 

Semiconductors are divided generally 

into two categories: memory 

semiconductors and non memory 

semiconductors. 

Memory semiconductors are those 

that are used for saving information. 

Non-memory semiconductors, on the 

other hand, are for the more complex 

task of information processing. 

Dynamic Random Access Memory 

chips (DRAM), Static RAM (SRAM), 

and Video RAM (VRAM) are classified 

as memory semiconductors. NAND, 

or Flash, chips - used in USB memory 

devices and the like. 

Computer Cental Processing Units 

(CPUs), multimedia semiconductors, 

cell phone chips, Merged Dram Logic 

chips, power semiconductors, discrete 

devices, and micro processor are 

classified as non-memory semiconductors. 

Memory semiconductors have 

enabled electronic devices to remember 

and record information so that it 

can be used at anytime if needed. 

Samsung have written a brand new 

chapter in the world semiconductor 

history books since the Millennium by 

Everything You Always Wanted 

to Know About 

Semiconductors - But Were 

Afraid to Ask 

What are semiconductors? 

And why are they so 

important to Korea? 

We answer all the 

questions you might 

have about computer chips. 

investing a lot of money over a short 

period of time to make a new version 

of the memory chip. 

At present, memory chips are normally 

produced in gigantic quantity, to 

be sold on a large scale around the 

world. 

Non-memory chips, meanwhile, are 

like little analysts, who are in charge 

of information processing. Intel 

Pentium's CPU is a good example. 

Non-memory semiconductors require 

high technology in circuit design. 

This kind of semiconductor is mainly 

used in mobile phones, DSP chips 

(used in radio, sonar and multimedia 

devices), and micro controllers, which 

are widely applied in various areas 

like personal computers, communication 

devices, electronics, and automobiles. 

Korea is highly competitive in the 

memory semiconductor market, yet 

75% of non-memory semiconductors 

are imported from foreign countries. 

When it comes to the production of 

memory semiconductors, a lot of 

investment makes it possible to pro- 

duce a vast quantity of these, as they 

are always in high demand. 

Meanwhile, non-memory semiconductors 

are produced in smaller quantity 

with the use of high-value technology. 

With a little investment, a huge 

sum of profit can be expected. This is 

why Japan has been giving its all to 

non-memory semiconductor production. 

The new trend in global markets 

towards multimedia functions in electronics 

and computers means that 

non-memory semiconductors are suddenly 

in high-demand. 

DRAM and NAND Flash memory 

are still by far the most popular memory 

semiconductors on the market, yet 

their price are sinking without few 

signs of recovery. 

According to a Taiwanese surveying 

company, DRAM Exchange, the 

price of a DRAM DDR2 512Mb 667ß÷ 

chip in September, 2007 was $2. In 

December, the price dropped drastically 

to $0.88, though there is hope, 

as the price battled it way back up to 

$0.94 in February 2008. 

CGE 


Cover Story 

Briefing - The Korean 

Semiconductor Industry 

Samsung - Memory Leaders 

Samsung is well-known around 

the world to just about everyone. 

However, whenever non- 

Koreans come to this country for the 

first time, they are blown away by the 

whole Samsung experience. 

Samsung make not only phones and 

computers, it seems, but microwaves, 

fridges, cars and even forklift trucks. 

Little can compare to the success 

of Samsung's semiconductor business, 

though. Very few companies, if 

any, have made as much money 

when it comes to semiconductors as 

them. 

The history of Samsung goes back 

to before the Second World War, but 

the most profitable arm of the company, 

Samsung Electronics, was not 

founded until the end of the 1960s. 

Since they started making memory 

semiconductors, Samsung have pretty 

much remained at the front of the 

market, though they lag behind 

American giants Intel when it comes 

to the industry as a whole, as nonmemory 

semiconductors, the kind 

usually used in computer processors 

and the like, are often far more profitable. 

In 2005, the company was hit with 

a scandal when they, along with rivals 

Hynix were convicted of taking part in 

a DRAM price-fixing scam at the end 

of the 1990s. A court handed them a 

gigantic $300 million fine. 

Controversy has not left them 

alone, though, as a further memory 

scandal dogged them in 2006, with 

two of their senior memory chip 

employees hauled into court in the US 

on further charges of price fixing. 

Regardless of this, they have 

stayed on top, and hope to maintain 

their high industry ranking in the 

future. 

Samsung's big strategy to shake 

the semiconductor world now is its 

Charge Trap Flash (CTF) NAND technology, 

the world's first 40 Nano, 32 

Gigabyte NAND flash memory chip. 

This semiconductor is revolutionary 

in its size. It is 1/3000th the thinkness 

of a piece of human hair. In other 

words, a 32 Gb memory capacity in a 

size of a thumb nail that holds 328 

memory elements with no errors. 

When these 16 NAND Flash components 

are put together as a 64 gigabyte 

memory card, 400 years worth of 

the contents of this monthly magazine 

can be saved, which is the equivalent 

to 36,000 pictures, 40 movies, and all 

the geographical and cartographic 

information in the world. 

Ten cards like this can save every 

single page from the 2,200,000 books 

in the National Assembly Library in 

America, and literally make the 

phrase, "a library in your hand" come 

true. 

Samsung predicts a huge success 

in the NAND flash market over the 

next five years after making its debut 

in 2008. 

Samsung Electronics also developed 

a 512 Mb Phase-changeing 

RAM (PRAM) and a System on Chip 

for hybrid drives. 

A Samsung spokesman said, 

"Korea is no longer weak in the nonmemory 

semiconductor market. As of 

March 2008, 20,000 different kinds of 

non-memory semiconductors are 

going to be displayedon global market 

and will take up 70% of that market.". 

However, taking up a large space 

in the market still does not automatically 

mean more money. Korea is a 

country that has to sell low-priced 

semiconductors to buy oil, something 

that is becoming more an more 

expensive by the year. 

In short, if Korea were be able to 

by a barrel of oil by selling 50 semiconductors 

in the past, now this country 

has to sell in excess of100 to buy a 

barrel. Although the demand of memory-semiconductors 

is high, only a 

small amount of profit is expected in 

spite of large sum of investment and 

time. Intel and Toshiba's NAND Flash 

prices are decreasing every month. 

And the question we all want 

answered is this - Will Samsung's 

faith bring about miracles for the 

Korean market once again, or is there 

no hope this time? 

CGE 


Hynix - Back to Non - Memory the Way 

Forward ? 

Take a trip to Icheon, in the suburbs 

of Seoul, and you will find 

a town dominated by a single 

company. Just as Suwon is Samsung 

City, Icheon is Hynix Town. 

Founded in the early 1980s, Hynix 

came into the market at exactly the 

right time to make an impact on global 

markets. PCs were starting to become 

commercially successful, and the 

mobile phone, as we know it, was 

about to be born. The Japanese semiconductor 

industry, which had been 

the major player on the global market, 

was in terminal demise, and Korean 

labour prices were still relatively 

cheap. 

By the mid 1980s, they were producing 

256 Kilobyte Dynamic Random 

Access Memory (DRAM) chips, and 

selling them at very competitive 

prices. The company continued to 

grow and expand their operations, 

developing their DRAM operations. 

In the 1990s, they enjoyed further 

success as mobile phones, laptop 

computers and digital cameras started 

to become more than just gadgets, 

but everyday household appliances. 

They went into the new millennium 

on a high, after successfully merging 

with LG Semiconductor, and in the 

early part of this decade, they made it 

up to the rank of World's number two 

memory chip producer. 

This decade, too, has seen Hynix 

involved in a bitter war of words with 

other Asian companies after a sudden 

loss in trade saw the World Trade 

Organisation swoop in to bail the 

company out as huge debts threatened 

to drive the company into bankruptcy. 

In 2004, increased competition and 

more debts saw the company sell off 

its non-memory business, for a total of 

$822 million, to the American 

Citigroup corporation, and renamed 

MagnaChip. 

At the end of last year they 

announced a 24% decrease increase 

in revenue from the previous quarter's 

2.44 trillion won, and a 29% decrease 

from the 2.61 trillion won in the same 

period last year. However, according 

to iSemi, global semiconductor 

research company, Hynix still ranks 

as the World's 6th biggest semiconductor 

firm on the planet. 

But with memory chips starting to 

plummet late last year, Hyunix's new 

CEO, Kim Jung-kap announced last 

October that Hynix was going to go 

back into the non-memory industry. 

He was quoted as saying, "We will restart 

our non-memory operations. We 

will do it through water-tight preparations 

and strategy." 

The Rest - 

Minnows Also 

Have their Part 

to Play 

Frans Van Houten, Chief Exectuve 

of NXP Semicondutors, has said he 

believes the world semiconductor 

industry is worth around $213 billion a 

year, so there is plenty more money 

to be made in the semiconductor market, 

though it is well-renowned as cutthroat 

industry - full of intense rivalry 

and dramatic cycles of huge market 

growth and sudden falls. 

But even in the brutal sink-or-swim 

environment of the industry, there are 

other Korean companies doing well in 

the semiconductor world. 

Other success stories include 

Dongbu Electronics, who built their 

reputation on supplying semiconductors 

to American electronics manufacturers 

Texas Instruments. Dongjin 

Semichem have been around since 

the sixties and have operations running 

all around Asia, including Tiapei 

and mainland China. And Fine 

Semitech are a company that has 

also been active on the LCD front. 

According to the Korea 

Seimiconductor Industry Association 

(KSIA), there are 223 member companies 

in their organization. The 

majority of these companies are 

involved in the equipments business, 

while materials and design are other 

major fields for Korean semiconductor-related 

companies. 

TA 


Cover Story 

Asia 

at 

Semiconductor 

War 

Korea is stuck in the 

midst of a pitch battle 

that has the whole of 

the world in crisis - 

over computer chips 

The annals of history are littered 

with some very strange wars 

indeed. In the middle ages, the 

Hundred Years War between England 

and France lasted more than a hundred 

years. This while the 1896 

Anglo-Zanzibar War was a mere 38 

minutes long. 1969 saw El Salvador 

fight out the Football War - which 

started with a riot at a sports match. In 

the 1970s, there were the Cod Wars - 

a row between the UK and Iceland 

over fish. 

And now, after all these bizarre 

wars in Europe and Latin America, 

Asia is having a go with a strangelymonikered 

conflict of its own - the 

Semiconductor War. 

A semiconductor is possibly the 

most boring-looking piece of machinery 

mankind has yet come up with. 

Yet the biggest companies in Asia are 

entrenched in a vicious guerilla war 

over these computer chips. And if 

something is not done about it, things 

are going to get a lot worse. 

After much speculation and worry, 

it seems the worst has happened, as 

feared, with DRAM memory chips 

starting to tumble in price. Samsung 

and Hynix are feeling the burn as 

NAND flash players start to lose their 

value not only for them, but for international 

companies like Intel. 

Yet in the wake of tumbling prices, 

the blame game is still raging, with 

Asian countries all queuing up to point 

the finger at each other, accusing 

each other of being at fault for the crisis 

in prices. 

Well they might, though - computer 

hardware spells pretty much primary 

industry for Korea, Taiwan and Japan. 

However, for those not of us blessed 

with insider knowledge, it is hard to 

understand just what these warring 

countries hope to achieve by taking 

sly digs at one another. 

March saw Korea appeal to the 

World Trade Organisation (WTO) with 

complaints about excessive Japanese 

import duties. 

But this particular bitter battlefield 

is not a new one. War has pretty 

much been raging on this stage since 

the World Trade Organisation (WTO) 

bailed out Hynix, a Korean semiconductor 

company and the third biggest 

semiconductor manufacturer in the 

World - back in 2002. 

The Japanese were outraged then, 

accusing the WTO of subsiding 

Korean semiconductor makers, and 

have since then hoiked their import 

taxes up to a prohibitive 27% for all 

Korean memory chips, thus effectively 

cutting Korean companies out of their 

own domestic market. 

Given the fact that Japan is a massive 

electronics exporter, this has 

been a huge obstacle for Korean firms 

- just about everything electrical 

nowadays needs a semiconductor. 

Taiwan have also waded into the 

battle. Last year, Fank Huang, chairman 

of Taiwanese chip manufacturer 

Powerchip Semiconductor 

Corporation, accused Korean company 

Hynix of attempting to flood the 

market by increasing their annual bit 

growth by 120 percent. This was 

against an average of 70 to 80 percent 

among Taiwanese manufactures. 

But China, relative newcomers to 

the semiconductor business, but a 

powerful new player in the industry, 

are not content, either. They want to 

get involved in the semiconductor 

scrap as well, and have themselves 

been accused by Taiwanese companies 

of cases of industrial espionage. 

However, that is not all - the Asiawide 

semiconductor war has spilt out 

across the oceans to a whole new 

continent. It seems the USA want to 

play, too. Over in the America, Intel, 

the company that created the semiconductor, 

have been locked in a bitter 

scrap of their own, trying to outdo 

their nearest country rivals. 

A second American Civil War has 

broken out with On Semiconductors 

buying up rivals AMI and slashing 200 

jobs at the firm to streamline operations. 

Advanced Micro Devices have 

just released a quad-core processor 

chip, only to be hit with the news that 

rivals Intel are on the verge of releasing 

a six-core chip. Goodness knows 


what happens when octa-cores start to 

hit the market. 

As a result, a new trend has 

emerged in the conflict - joining forces 

with companies from your own country 

in order to better perform on an international 

scale. In Japan, Toshiba and 

Sony have agreed to form a new joint 

venture for the production of high-performance 

semiconductors. These 

flashy new semiconductors will be 

used in PlayStation games consoles. 

If this were not enough, Europe - 

traditionally the poor relative in all 

things semiconductor related - has 

also been keen to drag itself into the 

war, with talk of a potential merger 

between the continent's three biggest 

Semiconductor companies, Holland's 

NXP, Germany's Infineon and French- 

Italian outfit ST. 

Where will the mad one-upmanship 

and inter-continental sniping end? 

According to experts, there may be 

more gloomy news for this war-ridden 

industry. 

In March, Gartner, IT Researchers, 

said there was a "glut" in the inventories 

of semiconductor producers 

worldwide. And a "glut" in inventories 

is not good news, either. It means that 

these companies' warehouses are filling 

up with cancelled orders or unsold 

stock. There are too many chips being 

produced in today's semiconductor 

world. 

The President of the Semiconductor 

Industry Association, George Scalise, 

said in a statement. "Even with healthy 

demand from important end markets, 

a very competitive environment resulted 

in price pressures for these products 

which in turn led to continued erosion 

in average selling prices." 

A Samsung Semiconductor 

researcher, who, due to the sensitivity 

of the subject, asked to be only identified 

as K., says that he thinks price 

wars are inevitable in the modern 

semiconductor environment. 

He explains, "As a rule - the semiconductor 

industry works like this: a 

company develops a new technology 

in semiconductors and makes a profit 

by selling it. But then other companies 

come along and copy the chip and put 

their version on the market. In that 

kind of environment, it is hard to avoid 

dumping - with companies trying to put 

a huge amount of stock onto the market 

before their rivals arrive and undercut 

them." 

Samsung has led the way in semiconductors 

since the DRAM boom in 

the 1980s, and K. explains that this is 

due to the fact that their technological 

research and development has been 

second to none thus far. 

According to a principle called 

Moore's Law, developed by Intel 

employee George Moore in the 

1960's, the capacity of computer chips 

doubles every two years. However, 

Moore's Law, as the man himself has 

said, is not an infinite projection. 

Moore says that physical limits will 

start to restrain the process in around 

2010. 

And K. agrees. He says, "As semiconductors 

respond to market needs 

and get smaller and smaller in size, 

this makes it harder and harder to 

make advances in technology." 

"As the need to develop new technology 

increases, smaller companies 

have ganged up together to produce a 

high quantity of chips. At the same 

time, bigger companies like Samsung 

have not cut their production, and this 

vast amount of available produce has 

flooded the market and caused a price 

war," says K. 

It has done so as companies 

reduce prices on stock that will be out 

of demand should it sit in their warehouses 

too long. 

Is there an end in sight for the 

Semiconductor War? No chance, 

according to K. 

Indeed, new breakthroughs in semiconductor 

etching machines are set to 

bring rich rewards for companies that 

have invested in them. Says K., 

"Toshiba is spending an enormous 

amount of money on expanding a new 

product line so it can recapture the 

number one spot in the semiconductor 

standings." 

Semiconductors are just little bits of 

plastic and metal, but as they are integral 

parts of a whole host of electrical 

devices, they become of utmost importance 

not only to the individual companies 

who produce the chips, but also 

the countries, like Korea, whose entire 

economies rest on the exporting of 

electrical goods. 

The war might seem petty, or even 

ridiculous to outsiders, but for those 

involved, it is sink or swim time. There 

have already been casualties, and 

there will be more to come in the very 

near future. 

TA 


Policy 

First Month No Bed of 

Roses for Lee 

After a month in office, 

President Lee Myung-bak said 

that four weeks had gone by 

like six months. What he meant to say 

was that his work as President was 

much tougher than he had thought. 

Lee, the former CEO of Hyundai 

Construction who was once nicknamed 

"the bulldozer," was very confident 

that he could boost the economy 

from its slowdown during the 

tenureship of former President Roh 

Moo-hyun. But things were not that 

simple. 

Since he became President, the 

economy, at home and abroad, has 

worsened with uncertainty snowballing. 

Overseas, skyrocketing oil price 

and the endless credit crunch have 

left few options for Lee, who appointed 

can-do spirited economists as key 

ministers in his cabinet. Oil prices 

soaring to $100 a barrel seemed to 

deliver a fatal blow to his original plan 

to increase the economic growth rate 

to 7% within his first year of office. 

He, a man who knows what $100 a 

barrel oil means to the economy, 

could not help changing the plan, lowering 

it to 5%. But experts strongly 

recommend that he should reduce it 

yet further -to just 4%. 

The Credit crisis from U.S.A.managed 

to cast a very thick, dark over 

the head of President Lee. Even 

before Bear Stearns collapsed, US 

investors in Seoul had started to sell 

off their assets including stocks, 

meaning the KOSPI, the Korean stock 

market index, had a Black Monday 

experience all of its own. 

Market analysts say that stronger 

shocks are yet to come before the 

likes of Hank Paulson, the US 

Treasury secretary, can afford any 

time to relax. 

Can the "bulldozer" defeat his 

enemies? Experts are starting 

to express their doubts. They 

answer that Mr. Bulldozer will 

come to the sudden realisation 

that there exist some things he 

cannot do in business. 

To make matters worse, the former 

CEO faces a huge drop in popularity 

within Korea. In Korean political 

culture, popularity sometimes is 

more important than economy 

and if a leader has a 

good public 

image, he can do 

everything with 

the full support 

of the 

people. 

All in all, things are looking less 

rosy by the day for Lee. 

Fortunately, however, it seems that 

he believes he has the answers to all 

these problems. The first plan he has 

produced to solve theses puzzles was 

to start creating a business-friendly 

atmosphere in Korea. 

Here. businesspeople have felt the 

effects of working under a leftist 

regime for the past five years. His visits 

to business associations right after 

his inauguration were characterized 

as signs that he would be different 

from former President Roh, who was 

branded as a left-wing social planner 

by conservatives. 

Next, he ordered his cabinet members 

to pull out all the "electric poles," 

the name his regime has fiven to antibusiness 

regulations. The term "electric 

poles" came out in a 

meeting presided over 

by Lee when he 

unveiled a complaint 

about electric 

poles. 

In that meeting, 

he told a 

story about 

companies in an 

industrial complex 

in a southern city 

who had asked civil 

servants several 

times to to 

Harsh financial conditions 

mean that Lee Myung-bak, 

Korea's new President, has 

had a tough first month in charge 

of the country. 


emove the poles that prevented 

trucks with heavy and bulky cargo 

loaded from making u-turns because 

they stood in the way along the side 

of the road. 

Lee reprimanded them for neither 

listening to the complaints nor removing 

the poles. After his remarks in the 

meeting, the poles were quickly 

removed, and the power lines were 

buried under the ground. Since this 

story, local journalists have used the 

term "electric poles" when they write 

stories about reducing inefficiency 

and deregulation. 

Deregulation is the backbone of his 

business-friendly policy. He thinks 

that all the provisions that have 

blocked businesses from moving forward 

and backward freely should be 

gone. No regulation should be 

imposed on the mutual capital investment 

between mother companies and 

offspring companies. 

In order to help domestic companies 

defend themselves from being 

attacked by foreign capital ventures 

that are hungry to make profits 

through mergers and acquisitions, he 

will permit owners and leading shareholders 

to take measures like poisonpills 

and golden shares, both of which 

in action in advanced capitalist countries. 

The Ministry of Justice and the 

Ministry of Finance are working 

together on the matter. 

Revision of tax-related laws is likely 

to get under way sooner or later, for 

the sake of business circles. 

Speculation has it that the government 

will lower the corporation tax 

rate and cut personal income tax. If 

the government can save 10% of its 

budget, tax cuts can be made. Lee 

seems to think that there is a lot of 

room for budget saving, something he 

made an artform of when he was a 

mayor Seoul. 

To find some mokgeri or food for 

tomorrow, as the Korean idiom goes, 

is Lee's main duty. Even though 

Korea has been doing very well in 

such world markets as shipbuilding, 

semiconductors, and automobiles, if 

we fail to find new sources of mokgeri, 

the future will be gloomy. 

One source of mokgeri could the 

Information Technology sector. As a 

matter of fact, for the past few years, 

Korea has enjoyed a relative superiority 

in IT. In Korea, wired and wireless 

broadband services provide people 

with a new horizon of communication. 

Cellular phone makers have set a 

record for production, with Korean 

firms among the seven biggest retailers 

of handsets. 

New services, such as WiBro and 

DMB are the successors to the throne 

of the handset. WiBro is a new trend 

of wireless broadband that enables 

broadband users to use the Internet 

while in cars, trains subways, anywhere 

when they are on the move. 

The seamless WiBro is now being 

applied in commercial services in 

Korea, while other countries are also 

testing their own services. DMB is 

also a new trend in television. As is 

well-known in Korea, Digital 

Mutimedia Broadcasting is a service 

that works in conjuction with cellular 

phones. 

You can watch TV programs on it 

when you are not using its phone 

functions. With DMB, you do not have 

to rush to home or stay in an office or 

pub to watch the Super Bowl. 

Samsung and LG Electronics are 

competing in a competitive world market 

with brands like Nokia, Motorola 

and Sony-Erickson. 

The question remains unanswered 

as to how President Lee can keep the 

IT flag flying in a market where uncertainty 

rules. Experts point out that 

everything is not favorable for Lee. 

They say that Lee will need time to do 

something for IT expansion because 

he has shut down the MIC (the 

Ministry of Information and 

Communication) that played a key 

role in encouraging the IT industry 

and made it blossom in the rugged 

country of IT. 

The new Committee of 

Broadcasting and Communication, 

which will replace the MIC is still in 

the chaotic midst of a political controversy 

over the appointment of chairman. 

President Lee is writing a grand 

novel. The title will be "The Great 

Canal of Korean Peninsula." If his 

party wins the parliamentary election 

on April 9th, he sure will put that fanciful 

scenario into action, overcome any 

lingering doubts about the feasibility 

of the project from both inside the 

government and outside it. 

If he obtains a majority in the election, 

his speed of action will be fast, 

even though the anti-canal voices are 

getting stronger and stronger by the 

day. As the former CEO of Hyundai 

Construction is really good at construction. 

He has often referred to the success 

of Dubai, where people have 

succeeded in building a new city in a 

desert, one free of regulations. It is 

one that has attracted more than ten 

thousands of foreign companies in 

less than twenty-five years. 

But Dubai can could turn out to be 

little more than a mirage in the desert. 

Soaring oil prices and the credit 

crunch will not permit Captain Lee to 

sail a peaceful way. If he fails to get a 

majority in the April election, he might 

not even be able to raise the anchor 

on some of his proposed reforms. It 

all means that the second month of 

his presidency could turn out to be an 

even longer one than the first. 

CGE 


Policy 

6% Economic Growth - Spring Arrives 

For the Korean Economy? 

new jobs and the 

maintenance of consumer 

"350,000 

prices below a 3.3% rise in 

and 6% economic growth in Korea." 

After a long hard winter, this sounds 

like the first swallow of spring to 

Koreans who have been suffering 

from a harsh economic slowdown. 

On March 10th, the Ministry of 

Strategy and Finance (MOSF) reported 

about the new administration's 

plans and goals to President Lee 

Myung-bak. 

The Minister of the MOSF, Kang 

Man-soo, said that he planed to cut 

corporation tax by 3 to 5% this year, 

to 11-22% next year and to 10-20% 

by 2013, The current rate is 13-25% 

percent, depending on the size of a 

business. 

Minister Kang also showed his 

strong willingness to act by mentioning 

that they would do their best to 

transform the old economy into a 

more capable one with 7% growth 

ability in the new government era. 

Furthermore, the new government 

decided to expand the long-term 

growth foundation by increasing 

investment in research and development 

(R&D) to 5% by 2012, from a 

current rate of 3%. 

The new administration's other 

efforts were made known on March 

3rd. Not only will they decrease oil 

prices by 10%, but they will also use 

4.8 trillion Korean Won, the international 

surplus fund of the central government, 

to support tax cuts and the 

revitalization of economic projects. 

To succeed in this goal, the government 

is trying to increase corporate 

investment and Korean consumers 

The government 

reveals new financial 

plans for the goal 

of achieving 

a 7% total national 

growth rate 

Kang Man-soo, Minister of the MOSF 

domestic activities, through deregulation 

and tax cuts. 

Needs of the Korean government 

in times of global recession 

There are difficulties in promoting 

these new plans, while there are more 

silver linings in the plans. Korean economic 

power has been weaker of late, 

and people have a hard time of it in 

worsening external and internal conditions. 

In particular, the US economy is 

experiencing a slowdown that negatively 

affects the entire global economy. 

It is currently causing worsening 

trade terms and higher oil prices. It 

can also raise the price of raw materials, 

consumer goods and services as 

well as creating a bottleneck in 

domestic spending and job generation. 

Due to the global recession, MOSF 

has set a goal of 6% economic growth 

from the 7% total rises in President 

Lee's period. In addition, the new government 

has planed three "must-do" 

details which are the recovery of 

Korean economy, continuous growth 

and long-term growth. This means 

taking step-by-step action in detailed 

project-by-project analysis, with specified 

action-dates. 

The new government has also tried 

to encourage active business trades 

with four principles made in order to 

conquer the current economic barriers. 

The principles are minimizing regulations, 

minimizing tax rates, globally 

standardizing finance and constituting 

the relations between labor and capital. 

The government hopes these new 

economic plans reflect Koreans' wishes 

wto see the depressed current 

Korean economy expetience a new 

revival. Koreans have a thirst for the 

"booming economy" which President 

Lee' has promised will materialize in 

his tenure as head of state. 

KEJ 

Korea IT Times 

Real-time News 

in Your Browser 

www.ittimes.co.kr 


Government to 

Focus on 

Investment Growth 

Ministry plans to 

boost the parts, 

materials and service 

industries. 

(called Innovate Korea) from June this 

year. 

In line with the fundamental 

changes in the national industry 

framework, the fostering strategy for 

SMEs also has to be changed. The 

MKE believes that SMEs should be 

able to support the progress of large 

companies and that the solid partnership 

between small companies and 

large companies is not only critical for 

a healthy national economy, but also 

very important for the enhancement of 

Korea's industrial competitiveness. 

Recently, Minister Lee has been a 

series of field visits emphasizing the 

importance of helping SMEs stand on 

their own two feet. Through the 

"Innovate Korea" initiative, the MKE is 

going to spread this movement all 

around industrial fields starting from 

June. 

The productivity of domestic SMEs 

now stands at 35%, compared with 

that of large companies. In case of 

developed foreign countries, their 

SME's productivity reaches to about 

60% of their large companies. The 

MKE plans to raise the productivity 

level of domestic SMEs to that of 

advanced countries within 5 years 

through this campaign. 

LeeYoun-ho, Minister of the MKE 

In its business plan report to the 

President Lee Myung-bak on 

March 17, the Ministry of 

Knowledge Economy (MKE) focused 

on investment stimulation and securing 

future growth engines. 

In particular, important industrial 

policies such as "combination of IT 

with other mainstream industries," 

"fostering parts and materials industry," 

and "strengthening service industry" 

are leading to securing future 

growth engines. 

The MKE has made a plan to 

spend about $10 billion on the development 

of IT-based convergence 

technology until 2012. That entails 

combining IT with five mainstream 

industries - shipbuilding, automobile, 

medical, national defense, and construction 

- consequently creating high 

value added continuously. 

Minister Lee Youn-ho said, "The 

important task we are now facing is to 

realize the creation of high value 

added on a sustainable basis through 

IT-based convergence technology 

development and intensive fostering 

of parts and materials industry." 

Innovate Korea 

In an effort to enhance the competitiveness 

of SMEs (Small and Medium 

sized Enterprises), the MKE is going 

to start an innovation campaign 

Creating a better investment environment 

Investment attraction plays a key 

role in stimulating the real economy. 

Smooth money flow and active investment 

is material to revitalise the difficult 

current situation of our real economy. 

According to a report from the 

World Bank, the business environment 

index of Korea ranks thirtieth. 

In comparison with its trade volume 

ranking of 10th or 11th, this is a very 

big discrepancy. In particular, in the 

case of business foundation, it ranks 

far lower because of its overly complex 

procedures. 

Minister Lee said, "Until 2012, we 

will raise Korea's investment attraction 

to the make at least the top ten. 


Although investment-related laws and 

regulations are mutually connected to 

many ministries and government 

organizations, the MTE will take the 

lead in finding out about any hindering 

factors in attracting and stimulating 

investment, while checking how the 

alternatives are being implemented in 

the field." 

Before long, a "Business Support 

Center" will be established and enter 

into operation to deal with all kinds of 

problems related to investment, business 

environment, and regulations in 

a single place. 

Bridging the gap in parts and 

materials 

cal development through cooperation 

between SMEs and large companies. 

Soon after the MKE's report, 

President Lee visited Asahi Glass, of 

Japan, located in Gumi Industrial 

Park, thus giving a hint that the 

expansion of foreign investment and 

transfer of world-class technology is 

vital to the revitalization of the Korean 

economy. 

Meanwhile, during the report concerning 

the energy-saving policy, 

President Lee made the following 

comments on the bus lanes in the 

downtown Seoul, reflecting on his 

days of served as Seoul mayor: "In 

the case of a serious policy, government 

officials have to do their best to 

persuade people with a positive attitude, 

although it will bring more or 

less inconvenience on the people in 

the short term." 

He continued, "The bus lane has 

caused inconvenience to some citizens, 

but from the aspect of public 

interest, it has made a great contribution 

to energy saving." 

Transfer of government jobs to the 

private sector 

Many government jobs related to 

technologies are to be transferred to 

the market or to the private sector. 

This job transfer is based on marketcentered 

and field-oriented management 

philosophy. 

To begin with, the MTE plans to 

transfer certificate jobs related to LS 

(Logistics Standard) and ES 

(Excellent Software) - both jobs now 

belong to the KATS (Korean Agency 

for Technology and Standards) - to 

the private sector respectively in 

September and in November this 

year. 

Also, jobs related to recycled products 

and new products are to be 

transferred to the private sector. The 

major functions of KTTC (Korea 

Technology Transfer Center) are to 

undergo sweeping changes; the technology 

related jobs such as technolo- 

In the MKE's business plan report, 

President Lee has stressed the importance 

of parts and materials industry 

and revealed his intention to foster the 

industry. 

Prior to the report he said, 

"Although the parts and materials 

industry plays a important role in the 

development of our economy, the 

problem of the technology gap 

between Korea and Japan still 

remains unchanged. Therefore, we 

should push ahead with competitiveness 

improvement of parts and materials 

industry." 

Before this, President Lee had 

already given an instruction that we 

should seek the way to solve the 

trade deficit problem between Korea 

and Japan by means of fostering the 

parts and materials industry. On 20th 

April, he is scheduled to visit Japan. 

For this reason, his remarks on this 

problem before his visit to Japan 

attracts our attention. It is also reported 

that among the attending members 

to his visit to Japan are many businessmen 

engaged in the parts and 

materials industry. 

In order to foster the parts and 

materials industry, President Lee has 

pointed out the following two strategies: 

securing technology through foreign 

investment, and joint technologigy 

transfer, technology evaluation, 

and M&A brokerage are to be transferred 

to the private sector until the 

end of this year. 

As a result, the KTTC is scheduled 

to deal with technology infrastructure, 

including technology evaluation, specialist 

fostering and management of 

unused patents. Accordingly, its name 

will also be changed. 

Sharing facilities and the equipment 

of universities and research 

institutes will be made available on a 

no-fee basis or on a common use 

basis. 

These facilities and equipment, 

supported by a government budget, 

will be used by SMEs. In fact, there 

are a lot of idle facilities, idle equipment, 

and idle devices in government 

organizations, universities, and 

research institute, which cost much 

money for both storage and maintenance. 

Fund-raising initiatives 

In order to invest money in the 

promising industry, the MTE plans to 

raise funds so that it can be used for 

the future growth engine industry. 

50% of the fundraising comes from 

government, and the other 50% from 

the private sector. So it can be called 

a semi-official fund. To deal with 

fundraising for the future growth 

engine industry, the MTE has decided 

to set up a new organization named 

"growth engine bureau" under its 

umbrella. 

This fund will begin with a budget 

of $40 million, and will increase by 

US$ 20 million each year until 2012, 

eventually reaching US$ 100 million. 

Venture capital will also be raised and 

mezzanine financing will be expanded 

to promising SMEs. 

KWH 


Policy 

Convergence Master Plan 

Set to Boost Growth 

In a business plan report to the 

President Lee Myung-bak, the 

Ministry of Education, Science and 

Technology (MEST) has put its priority 

on the private sector-driven strategic 

distribution of R&D resources and 

research capacity strengthening of 

domestic universities and research 

institutes. 

The MEST has decided to make a 

"convergence technology based 

growth engine master plan" by August 

this year through the National Science 

and Technology Council (NSTC). This 

master plan will include diverse convergence 

technology based R&D 

tasks of many related government 

organizations. 

For example, the following are 

expected to be included: convergence 

technology stimulation, new industry 

creation (u-health and robot), and 

industry intensification (next generation 

automobile and u-city). In order to 

facilitate the participation and investment 

from the private sector, tax 

reduction measures are also to be 

made until December this year. 

For an effective distribution of R&D 

resources and efficient investment, 

MEST is to review the whole process 

of national R&D projects: planning, 

resources distribution, project management, 

evaluation, and utilization of 

results. 

And from the overall point of view, 

inefficiencies will be removed. Until 

August this year, the Korea Research 

Foundation and the Korea Science 

Foundation will be merged. 

By revising existing rules and regulations, 

the different project management 

methods of each government 

organizations are to be integrated and 

simplified. The integration of R&D 

evaluation systems is also expected 

to follow. Industry-university linkage 

programs are to be introduced. 

In order to expand the research 

capacity of universities, the government 

plans to extend its financial support 

from a current 15% up to 23% by 

this October, and at the same time it 

will support the establishment of three 

or four industry-university technology 

holding companies in order to commercialize 

the technologies that many 

colleges and institutes hold. 

A task force team will be set up for 

R&D and manpower fostering in an 

effort to strengthen the research 

capacity of domestic universities and 

research institutes. 

Council to become control tower 

for R&D 

The National Science and 

Technology Council (NCTC) has 

become a top national decision-making 

body for science and technology 

policies. Because of this, the status of 

NCTC risen, for the position of deputy 

prime minister for science and technology, 

who was responsible for planning 

and coordinating of major policies 

for promoting science and technology, 

has disappeared from the new 

governmental organization. 

The existing organization of the 

NCTC is rather complex: it was composed 

of one Steering Committee, 

one Council, and two Special 

Committees. The steering committee 

and special committees have also two 

or three sub committees. At this point 

in time, however, the MEST has simplified 

the existing complex system as 

Kim Do-yeon, Minister of the MEST 

follows: one Steering Committee and 

five Specialized Committees, all under 

its control. 

It also attracts people's attention 

that the NCTC has entered under the 

direct control of the President. Up until 

now, the existing NCTC has been 

composed of senior high-ranking officials, 

but had been a nominal body 

without real power. 

Now under the new government 

organization, the NCTC has become 

a real control tower for R&D, planning 

and controlling mid- and long-term 

R&D development. 

The First Secretary of education, 

science, and culture in the presidential 

office is in charge of the Steering 

Committee, thus playing a linking role 

between Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential 

office), MEST, and government-owned 

research institutes. 

This means that the presidential 

office will directly participate in the 

mid and long term major policies for 

science and technology. The five specialized 

committees under the 

Steering Committee are mainly composed 

of experts coming from the private 

sector, in an effort to better 

reflect customer opinion. 

KWH 


Policy 

Land, Transport and Sea Ministry 

Urges Drastic Deregulation 

Increased competition and futuristic control centres pave 

the way for a new transport infrastructure. 

Chung Jong-hwan, the Minister 

of Land, Transportation and 

Maritime Affairs, has emphasized 

that his department will give top 

priority to lifting the regulations that 

hinder and restrict day-to-day business 

activities in order to revitalize the 

economy. 

Also, in an effort to foster construction 

and traffic as new growth engine 

industries, the Ministry of Land, 

Transportation and Maritime Affairs 

(MLTMA) has made a plan to step up 

an IT-based ubiquitous city (u-city) 

project and to set up Intelligent 

Transport Systems (ITS) as soon as 

possible. 

The ministry's seven major tasks 

are as follows: (a) drastic removal of 

regulations that hinder business activities, 

(b) expansion of future growth 

engine industry, (c) building global 

traffic and logistics network, (d) stabilization 

of real estate market and realization 

of housing welfare, (e) reduction 

of traffic congestion, (f) sustainable 

land management, (g) reasonable 

management of public construction 

project costs and budget saving. 

On the occasion of enacting a law 

for u-city construction support, the 

MLTMA is prepared to push ahead 

with the building of several u-cities on 

a full-scale basis, investing about US$ 

100 million in R&D until 2012 in order 

to improve competitiveness. 

Following Dongtan City last year, it 

will build a u-city respectively in 

Yongin this year, Paju and Pangyo in 

2009, Suwon in 2010, Sejong in 2012, 

and Songdo in 2013, consequently 

Chung Jong-hwan, Minister of the MLTMA 

providing about 2.3 million people with 

all the amenities of u-city by 2015. 

Also, in an effort to reduce architecture 

and construction-related regulations, 

it will extend the e- 

Architecture Information System (e- 

AIS) nationwide until June this year, 

shortening the current required time of 

60 days for permit and license of 

architecture to 15 days, eventually 

saving social costs of about US$1.5 

billion a year. 

Meanwhile, in order to encourage 

LBS (Location Based Service) and 

stimulate the traffic and logistics 

industries, intelligent traffic systems 

are to be established as soon as possible. 

At the same time, it will contribute 

to fostering new growth engine 

industry, in areas such as traffic information 

services and intelligent automobiles. 

As of last year, 27% of all national 

highways have been equipped with 

ITS, but it will increase to 45% in 

2012, and the current 800,000 subscribers 

of traffic information services 

is expected to increase to 5 million in 

2012. 

By setting up an integrated information 

systems to cover land, sea, 

and air, the MLTMA plans to enhance 

the quality of logistics service and to 

foster logistics specialists. To this 

end, it will soon start to develop and 

complete an RFID based logistics hub 

information system in 2012, which will 

link all airports, harbors, and inland 

logistics bases. 

It is also set to introduce a Bus 

Information System (BIS) to provide 

transport news for local areas. This 

year, the system will be set up in 

Daegu, Ulsan, and Jeju, and next 

year the BIS will be extended to 

seoul. 

Meanwhile, in the report, President 

Lee made this comment, "The new 

government is pushing ahead with 

two major economic policies. Those 

are - strengthening competitiveness 

and drastic deregulation. Their success 

or failure hangs on the MLTMA's 

efforts, as about 50% of related regulations 

are MLTMA rules." 

He added, "From now on, taking 

into consideration the problems of pollution 

and environment, more effort is 

needed to make more use of railroad 

and sea transportation instead of land 

transport. Also, as far as logistics are 

concerned, Korea has to be the logistics 

hub for the Northeast Asia." 

KWH 


Digital Society 

Breaking the Code 

Having advanced IT skills does not mean you have to spend your life 

chained to a computer. Mok Ha-young gave up a career as a computer 

programmer to look for a different way to use her skills. 

She tells us her story. 

Who are you? 

Mok Ha-young is a 33 year-old Web Consulting Manager for 

joinsM, a company that provides marketing solutions for hospitals 

and medical clinics. But things were not always this way for 

her - once upon a time she was a successful software programmer 

for Choyang Shipping, one of the largest companies in the 

land at that time. 

She was working at the frontline for one of Korea's biggest 

industries, but when Choyang went bankrupt, she decided to go 

down a different career path. 

After almost four years at Choyang, Mok decided to call it a 

day on her software programming career, and instead to delve 

into the world of marketing. She says that she has never looked 

back since. 

Mok Ha-young - My Story 

Software Programming 

Korean programmers, maybe all programmers, even, tend to 

think of the programmes they make as their babies. We are 

immensely proud of them, and we feel they are very precious for 

us. It was the same for me when I was working as a programmer. 

I had to spend a few nights working straight through until 

the morning, but I was always satisfied with the results. 

My biggest happiness as a software programmer was seeing 

other people use my work in their daily lives. 

Marketing 

Marketing is more based on statistics than I thought. I often 

had to deal with accounting and statistics information as part of 

my job in computer programming. I had an idea, about how to 

improve some aspect of my company's marketing strategy. This 

idea was taken up, and it gave me a lot of confidence in myself. 

From then on, I became interested in marketing. 

Most of the people I used to work with are working as planners 

or consultants - it seems to have become the rule rather 


than the exception in the Korean programming industry of 

late. 

As part of my new job, I spend a lot of time with people. 

I am out and about, and spend time meeting new and 

diverse people - that is something that was not the case 

when I was working as a programmer. 

An edge in a new industry 

Online marketing is actually a fairly logical industry for a 

programmer to get into. We have a better understanding of 

the inner workings of the Internet than most people, we 

have the skills that a lot of companies need. 

Simple advertising and marketing looks ugly and modern 

Korean "netizens" see straight through it. We have the 

knowledge to make sophisticated marketing to attract 

Korean tech-savvy "netizens." 

A few years ago, people had to put in a lot of time and 

labour into marketing in order to get the desired result, but 

with programming skills, we can get the job done in much 

less time, with a lot less effort. This is my strong point in 

this field, and for anyone else who is in a position like mine. 

We can make, compile and understand data much 

faster than most other marketing people. We know and 

understand the trends of the Internet better than anyone 

else, we can spot what peoples' interests are and see what 

they want to spend their money on. 

Dreams 

I did not always want to be involved in marketing. Even 

before I studied computer science and became a programmer, 

I had other hopes for my future. 

When I was at high school, I dreamed of being a 

teacher. I especially liked geography, and my geography 

teacher, and I wanted to teach geography, too. But I failed 

the university test. It was the end of that dream, but it 

turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me. 

People say that everyone has three chances to "make 

it" in their lives. I think that teaching was my first one. 

On Korea and IT 

A lot of Koreans think that Korea is some kind of IT powerhouse, 

but I don't really agree. Someone I know who 

went to KAIST, Korea's top technology university, but IT 

salaries were leaving him in financial difficulties, so he 

ended up taking a medicine conversion course at another 

institute just to get by. 

Just studying pure science in this country will make it 

difficult for you to find a good job after you graduate. These 

kind of people often find it difficult to find work that is well 

paid. The government needs to support exactly this kind of 

person so that we can concentrate harder on development. 

Inspiration 

I have paid a lot of attention to what Steve Jobs, the 

founder of Apple, has had to say for himself. He was born 

into an unconventional family environment, and dropped 

out of university. 

What is most amazing for me is that he designed the 

Apple Mac computer in a converted garage. I think he 

shows us that the most important things in life are confidence 

and spirit. 

Importance of IT 

We live and breathe technology in the modern world. 

Can most people imagine even a single day without a computer 

on their office table at work? Most office workers 

would have to just go home if there was no terminal for 

them to use. We can communicate with the entire world at 

the touch of a button via email, and if that is not enough, 

we can use video calls to speak to people as though they 

were in the same room as us. 

We do not need bulky counting machines, calculators or 

long division on pieces of paper to do complex monthly 

account settlements - we just press a few buttons on our 

keyboards and the calculations are there instantaneously. 

Mok Ha-young was talking to Tim Alper 

Why are there so many 

different computer 

languages? 

There are thousands of programming languages, 

with new ones being created every 

year. But why have computer engineers created 

so many languages? If there were only 

one programming code - would our lives not 

be easier? 

Not according to C# Project Manager Eric 

Gunnerson. He explains, "Why are there so 

many kinds of programming languages in the 

world? You might as well ask why there are 

so many kinds of saw. There are different 

tools to do different jobs." 

So just as you might use a metal saw to cut 

through iron and a chainsaw to cut though 

wood, C++ might not be the right tool for fixing 

one problem, but it might be perfect for solving 

another. 


Interview Highlights 

Nam Wins Second KT Term 

Nam Joong-soo celebrates his second term as KT 

President 

tomers and, who have contributed to 

the continuing progress of KT. 

Q: You have spoken of your belief 

that high ranking officers at the company 

should spend more time out in 

the field, instead of staying in the 

office. Can you tell us a little more 

about it? 

A: There is a saying - there are three 

kinds of generals, the brave, the intellectual 

and the generous. But I want 

add one more kind to that list - the 

field general. The concept of field 

general means a general who prefers 

working in markets and workplaces to 

staying in their office. If you go out to 

see customers, for example, you can 

see what you cannot see in the office. 

You can hear complaints from customers 

more directly than you can 

behind your desk. 

Q: What is the media-entertainment 

business? 

A: We are living in an era of convergence. 

No single service in the IT sector 

can exist on its own. Look at the 

markets at home and abroad. TV is 

not what it used to be any more. The 

traditional fixed TV in your living room 

is now getting up and walking aroung 

with its owners. DMB is an example of 

this. 

Modern TVs can play multimedia contents, 

providing TV plus Internet serv- 

Nam Joong-soo, the chief executive 

officer of KT, started his 

second term on March 3 by 

holding a tea-time brainstorming session 

at the Media Headquarters of KT 

for half an hour. 

It was a unique oppertunity for KT 

staff to be able to have discussions on 

management issues. KT aired the 

talks with the CEO through its internal 

networks of MegaTV, WiBro, Satellite, 

and Internet so that 38,000 KT 

employees across the country could 

watch. 

He mentioned in the discussion 

that he believes KT should become a 

media-entertainment company by providing 

various content for customers 

through such media as TV, PC, wired 

and wireless Internet and mobile 

phones 

We spoke exclusively to Nam last 

month on the occasion of the confirmation 

of his second term. 

Q: Congratulations on your second 

term as KT CEO. Do you have any 

thoughts to share with us? 

A: It is a great privilege for me to 

serve KT again. I would like to say 

that my second term would not have 

been made possible without the devotion 

of all KT's staff. I owe a great deal 

to them. And I would also like to 

express my gratitude to our cusices. 

Internet TV is the child of this convergence. 

The media-entertainment 

business is a new area that combines 

information and communication services 

with the entertainment service. In 

order to survive in fast-growing future 

markets, we have no choice but to educate 

the KT family and invest in assets. 

Q: SK Telecom bought Hanaro 

Telecom, second largest broadband 

provider. Will it be a threat to KT, as 

number one broadband provider? 

A: In the short term, that could be a risk 

to KT because the turnover might mean 

that we will face some harsh competition 

in the market would happen. But in 

long term, KT can take advantage of 

the competition to make KT stronger. 

Q: Analysts recommend that KT should 

merge with KTF, KTs offshoot mobile 

phone company to compete with the 

SKT-Hanaro group. What is your opinion? 

A: I am taking it into consideration. But 

the important thing is that a merger 

should be done in a way that help to 

cement competitiveness and giving 

added-values to customers. The merger 

should focused on the values of 

shareholders, customers and KT. 

Q: You played guitar six years ago for 

your staff when you were the CEO of 

KTF. What is the inspiration you were 

trying to give to your workers? 

A: A CEO playing guitar in front of 

workers was pretty much unthinkable in 

Korean business culture. CEOs were 

too often depicted as a person who has 

no charisma and does not smile in public. 

But things have changed. In order to 

change the culture, directors need to 

change their image. Younger people 

prefer a fun CEO to a boss who is 

stuck in their ways. A CEO can change 

the way his or her staff think, so that 

original and creative ideas can come 

out more freely. In this convergence 

era, a spirit of challenging and creativity 

is essential. And CEOs should spearhead 

that campaign. 

CGE 


U-life 

The City of the Future arrives - 

in Incheon 

Songdo's International Business District promises more than just investment - its residents 

will inhabit a sustainable, highly-connected and intelligent City of the Future. 

A projected image of Songdo International City 

panies as a test bed for cutting-edge 

technologies. Songdo uLife was created 

by a joint venture of Gale 

International, POSCO E&C and LG 

CNS. Songdo residents will enjoy 

myriad digital technologies supported 

by uLife's state-of-the-art city-wide IT 

eco-system running on a Broadband 

Converged Network (BCN). 

This BCN is a unique, world-class 

integration of wireless, wired and 

WiBro networks meshed together citywide, 

meaning you can always stay 

connected throughout the entire city 

without ever having to find a hotspot. 

The BCN is being designed to offer 

virtually unlimited potential for all 

kinds of data, voice, text, photos, 

online DVD-quality movies, etc. sharing 

the entire network seamlessly and 

without crashes, slowdowns nor interruptions. 

Though Seoul is still on top of the 

TheAge.com's published list as the #1 

Tech Capital of the World, Songdo is 

already on the list and hasn't even 

opened for business yet. "Upon completion, 

Songdo will likely be the ultimate 

digital city. Even as a work in 

progress, it makes the list." 

Not only is Songdo IBD's the 

largest private project in history with a 

best-of-class IT infrastructure, it is 

also a frontrunner in leading sustainable 

(re: green) city development, creating 

an unprecedented, lasting heritage 

from scratch. The Songdo project 

is being developed by New Yorkergistic 

manner and is the largest private 

real estate venture in the world. 

The city's plan includes fifty million 

square feet of office space - including 

a landmark 65-story Tower and 

Convention Center, thirty million 

square feet of residential space, ten 

million square feet of retail, five million 

square feet of hotel space and ten 

million square feet of green space. 

Because of its central location within 

the Yellow Sea Economic Basin - 

which comprises an economically 

active population of more than 200 

million with a GDP of USD 1.3 trillion - 

Songdo will act as the business hub 

for multinational companies in 

Northeast Asia. 

Dr. Young Maing, the CEO and 

Chairman of uLife (Songdo IBD's 

ubiquitous computing division), notes 

that Incheon's new City of the Future 

offers the opportunity to other IT com- 

Across the water from Incheon 

International Airport, you can 

see four brand new high-rise 

60+ story residential towers located in 

the City of the Future being built 

today. That city is called Songdo 

International Business District, located 

in the heart of Incheon's Free 

Economic Zone. Songdo IBD officially 

opens in September 2009 as the first 

new city in the world designed and 

planned as an international business 

district. 

Songdo IBD is the closest city to 

the number one airport in the world - 

Incheon International Airport will be 

only 15 minutes away via the new 7.4 

mile superhighway bridge. This 

US$30 billion plus, 100-million square 

foot, master-planned Aerotropolis 

brings together urban, regional and 

business site planning along with 

international airport proximity in a syn- 


munication network for monitoring 

similar systems within multiple facilities. 

Building owners can reduce costs 

of running their buildings due to IFM's 

economy of scale as fewer engineers 

can monitor multiple spaces at the 

same time on the same, affordable 

web-based infrastructure as well as 

automating/controlling city-wide energy 

use through load sharing and 

power use and centralized security 

monitoring. 

Maing Young, Chairmain of Songdo uLife 

International education is also part 

of the City of the Future's DNA in 

Songdo. Currently, Gale International 

and Microsoft Learning are collaborating 

on the "Educational Excellence in 

Technology Initiative" to link students, 

parents, educators, academic institutions, 

local industry, and government 

partners in a shared vision of how students 

and workers can reach their 

potential through technology skills 

training in a global context. 

Specifically, the agreement outlines 

the integration of the Microsoft Digital 

Literacy curriculum and Microsoft IT 

Academy into the Songdo 

International School, Asia's newest 

and most modern private preparatory 

school, where it will be available both 

in the school curriculum and in after- 

based Gale International on 1500 

acres of reclaimed land along 

Incheon's waterfront. 

Gale International has committed 

to making Songdo IBD a hub of commercial 

activity while ensuring the 

highest environmental standards. In 

order to attract the best multinational 

companies, the developers of Songdo 

IBD are taking unprecedented initiatives 

to make it one of the "greenest" 

places in Asia. Indeed, Songdo IBD 

was recently named a "green urbanism" 

pilot project by the U.S. Green 

Building Council. 

In addition to maintaining an 

impressive 40% green space within 

the Songdo IBD, Gale has made it a 

priority that all significant buildings in 

the project meet at least Leadership in 

Energy and Environmental 

Development (LEED) Silver ND certification 

standard for neighborhood 

development. 

LEED certification means that a 

comprehensive list of standards are 

designed into the project including 

significant reduction in carbon footprint, 

efficient use of wastewater, use 

of local and sustainable materials, 

improvements in overall energy efficiency 

including heating and cooling 

systems and effective management of 

transportation and waste streams. 

The uLife BCN also supports sustainable 

opportunities for interesting 

city-wide projects. uLife is also using 

the BCN as the web-based data 

pipeline to manage individual buildings 

with installed Intelligent Building 

Systems. IBS enables buildings to run 

more efficiently and safely in four 

areas: energy efficiency, life-safety 

systems, telecommunications systems 

and workplace automation. 

With the fast, ubiquitous and robust 

backbone city-wide, in a legacy-free 

infrastructure, uLife's BCN also elegantly 

enables an integrated 

approach to facilities management. 

Integrated Facilities Management 

(IFM) creates a cross-building comhours 

adult education for local citizens. 

Microsoft joins an already extensive 

list of best-in-class multinational corporations 

selected by Gale International 

to act as strategic partners for Songdo 

IBD including Morgan Stanley, United 

Technologies, ISS, and Taubman 

Centers, among others. 

Chairman Stanley Gale said, "The 

objective of the initiative is to provide 

students of all ages with the relevant 

knowledge and skills to expand life 

experience, enhance employment 

opportunities, and enable social innovations 

as citizens of a global economy. 

This effort will serve as a paradigm 

for other institutions around the 

world." 

John B. Hynes, III, Chief Executive 

Officer and Managing Partner of Gale 

International, said, "We believe this 

partnership with Microsoft Learning is 

further evidence of how Songdo IBD 

can contribute to the economic competitiveness 

of Korea." 

Gale International aims to build a 

high quality international city where 

both Koreans and foreigners will want 

to live and work. Songdo will be one of 

the most environmentally sustainable 

and technologically advanced cities in 

the world. 

Gale is building a true community 

where residents and visitors are connected 

to one another through fully 

integrated, synergistic mixed-use habitats, 

state of the art and environmentally 

responsible architecture and systems, 

and cultural and educational 

institutions. 

A brand new development, the 

Songdo International Business District 

will have an impact beyond the bricks 

and mortar of the city. It aims to lead 

the world through visionary design, 

engineering, and green living. 

Responding to the needs of a changing 

planet, Gale International is committed 

to working with its residents and 

partners to create the ideal city of the 

21st Century. 


Academia 

KAIST Fusing Culture and Technology 

"If you are going to hire someone to 

cook for you, you need to know how 

to cook yourself." This is a common 

business proverb in Korea. Industry 

bosses regularly quote it at each 

other. 

The same idea applies in the army, 

too. A commanding officer in the army 

does not ask soldiers to do something 

that he would never do himself. If 

those sayings are right, then how is it 

possible to know and do everything in 

every field? 

The modern world requires a leader 

who is an expert in one area, and also 

a jack of all trades. Becoming a master 

of one is feasible in Korea; if you 

posses 19 hours a day dedication 

throughout your school and university 

years. The theory is that you will get a 

survival kit required for the real world. 

But how do you go about becoming a 

jack of all trades too? The Graduate 

School of Culture Technology (GSCT) 

in the Korea Advanced Institute of 

Science and Technology (KAIST) 

think they have the answer for person 

asking themselves that question. 

The Dean of the Graduate School of 

Culture Technology, Wohn Kwangyun 

Ph.D., is the founder of the term 

Cultural Technology (CT) in Korea. 

He established a graduate school in 

2006 with a vision to carve students 

into multi-talented individuals who can 

become IT leaders in the real world. 

Wohn says, "KAIST has consistently 

been one of the best engineering 

schools in Asia. We excel at training 

students to become leaders in a fastgrowing 

information technology industry. 

But new inventions in IT create 

new culture in the society, and all 

industries tend to relate to culture 

both directly and indirectly." 

He also said that this increases the 

value of the culture industry. It was 

necessary to develop a field of education 

that could rise alongside the field 

of engineering. This field could be 

derived from sociology, management, 

or cognitive science, but the overlap is 

small, while the technology-based culture 

industry is large, according to 

Wohn. 

Engineering and science have a lot to 

contribute to culture and the two meet 

in highly pragmatic circumstances. 

The new department was established 

to serve as a bridge between engineering 

and culture. 

Wohn explains, "The development of 

science or research can create a 

deeper understanding of culture. As 

an example, natural science researches 

nature while humanity studies the 

nature of human existence. Just as 

many things, including the sky and 

human hardware, can be investigated 

by science, so too can the cultural 

phenomena be approached by the 

same means." 

With these academic, pragmatic, and 

inner-motivated purposes, the 

Graduate School of Culture 

Technology was launched with the full 

cooperation and financial support 

from the Korean Ministry of Culture 

and Tourism. 

The Graduate School of Culture and 

Technology offers two core educational 

programs: an M.Sc and a Ph.D. 

course. Students trained at the School 

are expected to take an active role in 

culture technology and explore the 

emerging convergence between the 

arts, humanities, and technology. 

The School's major study areas are 

Media Science and Engineering, 

Contents Creation and Planning, and 

Management and Policy for the 

Content Industry. Some of the nine 

course clusters include Compulsory, 

Music, Sound, and Performance, 

Wohn Kwang-yun, Dean of Graduate School of 

Culture Technology 

Human-Computer Interaction and 

Games, Economics, Business and 

Policy, and Visuals, Design, and 

Architecture. 

"No other schools in Korea teach the 

subjects of culture and technology as 

systematically as we do. Some 

schools are strong in computer music 

while others are known for their 

graphic design courses, but our 

school is more inclusive, because we 

deliver an all-in-one program with toprate 

teaching professionals," says 

Wohn. 

GSCT even runs a Center for Culture 

Technology (CCT) to encourage creativity 

from students who face challenges 

while researching original topics. 

Seven different research labs are 

open to the full-time research staff 

and artists alongside the GSCT's faculty 

and students. 

These labs include: a Visual Media 

Lab, an Experience Lab, a Music, 

Sound, and Technology Lab, a 

Digitalmedia and Contents Lab, a 

Digital Storytelling and Cognition Lab, 

a Culture Management and Policy 


Lab, and a Physical Interaction Lab. 

The wide variety of courses and labs 

suggests that GSCT is a place where 

interdisciplinary education and 

research can operate independently. 

"One of the few things I emphasize at 

orientation every year is that research 

is an extreme sport. A high degree of 

spiritual strength is required in 

extreme sports to achieve speed, 

height, and a high level of physical 

exertion. The same is required from 

students for researching as they challenge 

their intellectual and physical 

limits," Wohn explains. 

Dr. Wohn talks proudly of KAIST's 

"venture history in IT." As the word 

venture itself was still catching on in 

Korea, the first few generations of 

graduates from KAIST started some 

successful venture companies like 

Qnis, Nexon, and Cyworld, and 

carved out a path for IT ventures in 


However, only a few of the KAISTtrained 

engineers have become IT 

leaders - because they understood 

engineering but not the culture behind 

it. 

One of GSCT's visions is to invent 

prototypes of cultural artifacts by considering 

cutting-edge issues in culture 

technology. After all, says Wohn, universities 

are places to learn new 

things." 

He explains, "We can't teach things 

that Wikipedia can already offer people. 

Realistically, we can't expect to 

create Renaissance Men like 

Leonardo Da Vinci. The real world 

requires team work to make a project. 

In order to make a productive computer 

game - a programmer, an artist, 

and a businessperson must put their 

heads together. By studying at GSCT, 

students can increase their communication 

ability for real world situations." 

Assistant Professor Noh Jun-yong 

practices this idea by assigning students 

to work on projects in groups. 

Professor Noh has worked in an 

American firm and realized that most 

of what he learned in school was irrelevant 

once he started to work in the 

real IT world. After two years of training 

or internship, most workers finally 

find a comfort zone at work. 

Noh says, "My teaching philosophy is 

that what our students learn in our 

classrooms should be practical in the 

real world. It's in our best interest to 

educate students to become unique 

leaders in the global market." 

According to Noh, students in top universities 

in America are recognized 

for their work during school years by 

firms and get scouted before they 

graduate. In Korea, at least six 

months training is expected for students 

who already gave their all while 

training for real life jobs while at 

school. 

"The video contents created by our 

students are quite amazing. It is my 

personal ambition to see Korea using 

its own competitive software to create 

high quality image contents in the 

near future," says Noh.. 

Simply being an expert in one field of 

IT is a limiting thing to do to your 

career. And forward-thinking professors 

like these are doing their best to 

guide these young student sailors to a 

successful exploration into a new 

vision of an IT future. 

CGE 

Hats off to the Students of the GSCT 

The Graduate School of Culture 

Technology is full of explorers who 

are challenging themselves to 

cooperate with other visionaries to 

create new business models in both 

the IT and cultural industry. Cellist 

Kim Tae-woo joined the GSCT with 

a specific goal after he majored in 

music at Yonsei University. 

As a performer, he still struggles 

with the question, how do you make 

money with culture? Kim wants to 

learn how to persuade companies 

to invest more money in culture at 

the GSCT. 

In real life, when a performance is 

not a huge success in public, it is 

not supported by firms or organizations. 

Thus, potential does not 

always translate into professional 

success. Kim has worked with several 

groups to gain a better world 

picture. 

One of his partners, Lee Jong-eun, 

is a student at DMC Lab. He 

majored in Media at Soongsil 

University. He sought to find a way 

to connect media and digital contents 

at GSCT. 

Park Eugene, from the department 

of management at Yonsei 

University, worked at Samsung 

SDS for three years after graduation, 

yet found his work piled up 

with an enormous amount of paperwork. 

In order to take a look at the 

big picture, Park joined the Cultural 

Management and Policy Lab. 

These three students won the 

Future Handset Idea contest that 

was presented by KAIST 

Convergence Research Center. 

Without an engineering background, 

the students brainstormed 

ideas together and took an emotional 

approach in their idea. 

In the end, their silver phones, 

which allow users to access and 

transfer information easily using 

computing power technology, were 

credited for their creativity and 

uniqueness. 

Through communication, we can 

challenge the limits of art and computers. 

There is a limit to what technology 

can do, but not there are no 

limits to the imagination - and that is 

our strongest weapon. 


Display 2008 

Korea Needs to Show More 

Display Initiative 

Experts say the Korean display 

industry must not rest on its laurels 

as China and Taiwan look to overtake 

in the international LCD race. 

You step out of the house in the 

morning and get your newspaper. 

A normal day. Except the 

paper is not some clumsy myriad of 

newsprint and oversized pages - it is 

a single electronic page, one that 

changes in front of your eyes as new 

stories break. 

As you walk down the street, liquid 

crystal billboards change before your 

eyes. The bus timetable gives you 

realtime information on where the bus 

you are waiting for is, before displaying 

the latest road safety information. 

In the shops you walk past, price tags 

change and flash up messages for 

shoppers and shop staff. 

No, this is not Blade Runner, you 

are not in some sci-fi fantasy set two 

hundred years in the future - this is 

happening right now, in 2008. Last 

year, Sony launched a reading device 

that is 0.3 millimetres thick, and the 

likes of LG and the rest are hot on 

their heels. 

And these are not devices that 

strain the eyes like reading a e-book 

on a PDA, either. As closely as possible, 

these devices are trying to mimic 

the experience of looking at real 

paper. Rather than being backlit, they 

use flexible display technology. 

But this is all the tip of the iceberg. 

Organisers talk shop at the IMID Display Conference in 2007 

When John Logie Baird, the Scottish 

inventor of the television set, started 

making televisions, they used a cathode 

ray diode to display pictures on a 

curved screen. But in modern times, 

the Plasma screen and now the LCD 

panel have meant that a whole new, 

more sophisticated process can give 

TV viewers and compute users a better 

picture and a flatter, less bulky 

device. 

According to experts, the display 

industry is not just growing, it is ballooning. 

In the next five years, analysts 

are predicting the industry will 

continue to expand at rate of 20% a 

year. Yes, that is 20%. So in five 

years' time, the industry will be twice 

its current size. 

When it comes to LCD display 

manufacture, the whole industry is a 

very Asian affair. In fact, the whole 

business is more or less run by four 

East Asian countries. The Japanese 

invented the technology, but Korea 

were quick to move and have since 

taken over as the leading force in 

manufacture. 

However, as is so often the case in 

Asian industry, the Taiwanese and 

Chinese want in, and their cheap land 

prices and labour costs make them 

more competitive than any of the 

other display suitors. 

According to Professor Kim Hyunjae 

of Yonsei University and 

Executive Commitee Secretary of the 

IMID, Korea might rule the digital 

empire for the moment, but this country 

needs to watch its back. "The 

Taiwanese are very good at catching 

up, and China is definitely a powerful 

emerging force in this market," he 

says. 

The reason for all of this is the 

"Clean Room" - an assembly area 

that is totally (as the name suggests) 

clean. 

For the uninitiated it sounds very 

nice, if a little uncomplicated. But the 

reality is that Clean Room environments 

are exceptionally difficult to 


create. LCD panels are so sensitive to even the tiniest particle of dust 

that they would be ruined should they come into contact with foreign 

matter of any sort. That sort of technology will set you back a cool $2 

billion per assembly line - and that is why not many companies are prepared 

to make the investment. 

So why are countries like Korea and Taiwan so happy to make this 

kind of pricey, complex "Clean Room" environment and bigger 

economies like the United States and Europe, are not? 

The answer is, surprisingly, semiconductors. It turns out that LCD 

manufacture is not the only industry that needs a Clean Room - computer 

chips do, too. And, if there is one thing that Japan, Korea, Taiwan 

and China all do well, it is semiconductors. Clean Rooms are the norm 

in all four countries, so this goes a long way to explaining why they lead 

the market by such a huge margin. 

Right now, major Korean companies like Samsung and LG have the 

LCD panel industry cornered, but Kim says this may change. He 

explains, "It is possible that Korea will be caught up, especially if 

Taiwanese companies start to cooperate with mainland China on this, 

as they have such favourable conditions there for industry and manufacturing." 

Kim suggests that Korean companies needs to be more inventive 

and forward-thinking if Korea wants to remain number one in the LCD 

manufacturing business. 

"There are obviously a lot of parallels 

to be drawn with the semiconductor 

business, but there are also major differences. 

Semiconductors don't need a 

lot of components, but LCD do, and we 

are importing most of these at present. 

We need to start developing our own 

unique components so we don't need to 

rely so heavily on foreign sources for 

this," he says. 

Indeed, Kim firmly believes that 

being unique is something Korea must 

strive to do when it comes to display. 

He says, "Intellectual property issues 

are becoming major sticking points for 

companies in the display world. Korea 

Kim Hyun-jae, Professor at Yonsei 

University and Executive Commitee 

Secretary of the IMID, 2008 

has been manufacturing LCD panels for ten years. But the components 

required in assembly are so diverse. There are so many parts that it is 

like building a car. We need to be involved with making some of these 

components ourselves." 

In spite of this, it seems hard to believe that Korea will be able to stay 

ahead of the Chinese for long. There is no competition when it comes to 

industry in most other areas, why should LCD be any different. 

Kim agrees, and adds, "That is why it is so important to be inventive. 

Korea will never be able to compete when it comes to consumer goods 

that are produced on massive scales, like laptop monitors and the like, 

which use LCD. We need to focus on developing new products, and 

developing new products for the top end of the market - it is the only 

way we will stay ahead." 

TA 

The International 

Meeting on 

Information Display, 

October 2008 

A new, improved version 

of the display exhibition, 

to be held in Seoul this year, 

aims to be the best of its kind. 

The IMID has a seven year history, 

but organisers of this year's conference 

say that IMID 2008, to be held from the 

13th to 17th October, will be the biggest 

and best yet. 

Although the US organises the SID, 

currently the biggest display conference 

in the world, America itself does not produce 

LCD panels, so it makes more 

sense for Asia to showcase the technology, 

seeing as the Orient is the place 

where LCD companies operate, say 

IMID organisers. 

This year's event will be moved from 

Daegu to Seoul, to make it easier for foreign 

visitors to make the journey to the 

event, and on show will not only be display 

goods, but semiconductor devices 

and consumer electronics. 

However, the only drawback for the 

IMID is that it has seen relatively few 

visitors come in from abroad - organisers 

say that around 70% of the people 

who have come to the exhibition have 

been Koreans. 

That said, the new format and diverse 

nature of this year's event promises to 

change all that. Putting the event on in 

Seoul should attract more people, as 

should the consumer electronics and 

semiconductors on display. 

Says Professor Kim, one of the organisers 

of IMID, "It is going to be different 

from most stuffy conferences, because it 

is also a display exhibition. That means 

there will be tons of things to see and 

do. Anyone thinking of coming along can 

expect to have a lot of fun." 


Finance 

Visiting Credit Guarantee Service Promises 

to Build an Oasis for Small Businesses 

Gyeonggi-do is no ordinaryprovince 

in Korea - as the 

area surrounding Seoul, its 

population is huge, and it is home to 

the headquarters of dozens of multinational 

coorperations, including the 

Samsung Group. 

The Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee 

Foundation provides vital credit guarantee 

services for smaller businesses 

within the region. 

The foundation has offered aggressive, 

customer-oriented, guaranteeing 

and customized services to various 

different companies and groups. As a 

result, the GCGF provided 15,155 

guarantees, amounting to about 763 

billion won in 2007. 

It has also greatly helped smaller 

businesses and economic leaders in 

the province. This has been a boost 

for all who are suffering from the sluggish 

economy. 

The GCGF, which is in charge of 

providing financial assistance to 

smaller businesses and economic 

leaders in the province has spearheaded 

the efforts to create a business-friendly 

province. It has done so 

by establishing a smooth capital 

assistance system and by trying to 

achieve management stability for 

Korea's smaller companies. 

In September 2007, GCGF 

became the only institution to receive 

the highest grade in a management 

evaluation of 20 public agencies in 

Gyeonggi-do. 

The GCGF is not going to sit on its 

laurels and be satisfied with the result 

of the evaluation, though. It is expected 

to become a local general credit 

guarantee institution which speaks up 

for small companies and economic 

leaders in the region and leads them 

by continuously providing customized 

guarantee services. 

However, the dropping Won - US 

Dollar exchange rates, high oil prices 

and various regulations which are 

becoming obstacles to companies in 

the metropolitan areas, have worsened 

the business environment for 

business people in the province. All of 

these make up the backbone of the 

national economy. 

Park Hae-chin, Chairman of GCGF 

In this regard, the province has 

always sought measures to provide 

assistance for its small- and middlesized 

firms and small economic leaders. 

The GCGF has performed guarantee 

assistance connected with 

industries and policies aimed at cultivating 

smaller businesses in the 

province. 

It has played the role of effectively 

creating economic policies by more 

swiftly providing credit guarantees 

and simplifying credit evaluation and 

office procedure. 

Park Hae-chin, Chairman of the 

GCGF, has broken the age-old supply-oriented 

custom. Park believes in 

the management philosophy of ``visiting 

credit guarantee service.'' 

He has led the efforts to relieve 

corporate financial difficulties by posi- 

tively expanding credit guarantee supply 

through business-oriented methods 

of supply and efforts to construct 

a business-friendly province. 

Gyeonggi to Provide One-Stop 

Service to Cultivate Smaller 

Businesses 

The GCGF started to provide 

assistance to cultivate small firms in 

the province in August 2007, the time 

taken for the entire procedure has 

been reduced to seven days from an 

initial fifteen days. 

Accordingly, the province has 

reduced the steps involved in the procedure 

from four to two by improving 

the management system of the funds 

for cultivating small companies. As a 

result, the GCGF can provide onestop 

service involving capital assistance 

and credit guarantees. 

GCGF Spearheads Overseas Efforts 

The GCGF and Gyeonggido Small 

& Medium Business Association have 

concentrated their energy on helping 

related companies expand their business 

to overseas markets and established 

a bridgehead for those firms. 

As a part of such efforts, officials 

from the two agencies visited 

Washington in the US, in July last 

year and provided support for OKTA, 

a sister agency of the GCGF, to sign 

an agreement for trade exchange 

cooperation. 

In this way, the GCGF has focused 

on assisting companies in the 

province to develop in domestic and 

foreign markets so that businesspeople, 

who have faced unlimited competition 

due to the Korea-US Free Trade 

Agreement (FTA), can actively cope 

with the situation and occupy the markets 

faster than their rivals. 

KWH 


Interview with Park Hae-chin, Chairman of Gyeonggi 

Credit Guarantee Foundation 

Q. What are plans of the GCGF for the year 2008? 

A. The government and major financial research institutes 

predict Korea will achieve 5% economic growth due to the 

gradual consumption recovery, but the nation is expected 

to suffer from an economic slowdown because of a number 

of negative factors, including the sub prime mortgage crisis 

in the US, insecure financial markets and high oil prices. 

Considering such situations, the roles to be taken by the 

GCGF will become more important. The GCGF will exert 

utmost efforts to complete the construction of a businessfriendly 

province by providing practical and comprehensive 

credit guarantees for small- and medium-sized companies 

and local economic leaders this year. 

For this purpose, the GCGF plans to raise its share of the 

credit guarantee market to about 13% by supplying credit 

guarantees amounting to 700 billion Won to about 15,000 

firms in the province in 2008. In addition, the GCGF is 

going to provide top-quality customer service and to carry 

out its innovative new campaigns. 

Q. Do you think regulations on companies in the 

Metropolitan areas will affect the economic slowdown? 

A. As I said, the financial troubles which smaller companies 

and business leaders in the province have been experiencing 

due to the poor domestic consumption are expected to 

continue for the long term. 

However, as the new government has said it will reform 

regulations and invigorate the national economy, there is 

hope for this year. 

The economy of Gyeonggi-do has played the role of a driving 

force for national growth. Therefore, the provincial 

economy should recover for the sake of the national economy. 

In other words, one of the biggest tasks of the economic 

policies of the current government is to make businesspeople 

comfortable with the idea of expanding their investment. 

Korea will be able to achieve economic growth only when 

there is more active investment by businessmen. The government 

should review various regulations, such as restrictive 

policies in metropolitan areas, which have hindered 

activities of businessmen in the province in the past. 

The province has taken the role of a driving force in the 

national economy and represents up to a third of Korea's 

entire small and medium companies. To create a businessfriendly 

environment, it is important to abolish restrictive 

regulations on companies and it is key to national development 

that we activate corporate investment. 

Q. What is the 5S movement - your new management 

goal for this year - and what are the management 

policies you are pursuing? 

A. All executives and workers of the GCGF, above all, are 

making smaller companies and local businesspeople in the 

province work together in unison. We are making the 

utmost efforts to provide business-oriented services so that 

smaller firms - the driving force behind Korea's economic 

development - display business activities to show that they 

are powerful figures in the national economy. 

In addition, the GCGF has improved services mind by 

strengthening the ethical awareness of our employees. 

This is done by carrying out educational programs for them. 

We are trying to reform through education and training 

them to carry out services for customers. We want them to 

have knowledge about their jobs. We will make efforts to 

offer the best customer service through conducting unlimited 

voluntary activities for smaller businesses and leading 

businessmen in the province. In particular, the GCGF is 

going to conduct an enterprise-wide 5S movement in 2008. 

The 5S policy stands for service, speed, satisfaction, stabilization 

and success management. 

The GCGF will prepare services to satisfy customers, 

establish a swift credit guarantee support system through 

simplifying related procedures and cutting through red tape. 

We hope to build a substantial and sound organizational 

culture by strengthening innovative capacity and preparing 

an independent management basis to create a leading 

agency of management innovation. 

The GCGF plans to establish itself as the top regional 

assistance agency and spearhead assistance for the interests 

of smaller businesses in Gyeonggi-do. 


Vision 2008 

What is the Future for the 

Korean Information Security 

Industry? 

Experts hope 2008 is a year for improvement 

and creating foundations abroad 

Over ten years have passed 

since the nation's information 

security industry was created. 

The industry has settled as one of 

Korea's major industries with the 

improvement of the environment for 

investment in information security. It is 

time for Korea to expand business 

abroad based on competitive technological 

power which has been accumulated 

until now. 

Leading IT companies, such as 

IBM and Microsoft, have recently 

taken a keen interest in the security 

business, heightening concern in 

security on the global level. The security 

business has been getting more 

important by the day. In comparison, 

Korea's security industry is in a relatively 

poor state. 

Korea's information security industry 

has created demand in relation to 

the security market based on national 

technological strength over the past 

few years. However, it is true that 

Korea should admit that it has downplayed 

security as a special area of IT 

or as part of the software business. 

As the Ministry of Information and 

Communication in charge of jobs 

related to information security has 

recently been disbanded, the related 

jobs have been spread out among the 

Broadcasting and Communications 

Commission, the Ministry of 

Knowledge Economy and the Ministry 

of Public Administration & Security. 

Because of this, it is difficult to 

understand the policy direction of the 

new government on information security. 

Almost 70% of Korea's information 

security firms are relatively small 

businesses. Such a situation has 

become an obstacle for the industry. 

In an effort to resolve the problem, 

the government should expand the 

size of matching fund, improve investment 

environment through creating 

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) funds, 

offer tax incentives to companies pro- 

tecting information, establish strategies 

to promote the information security 

industry and support companies 

trying to expand abroad, and encourage 

small- and middle-sized firms in 

their efforts. 

The information security market is 

expected to grow by about 30% this 

year. However, there is a growing 

concern that the rich will continue to 

get richer and the poor will get poorer. 

It is urgent that we create an 

atmosphere for M&A to be activated 

to enlarge the security market and to 

help companies make smooth 

advancement into overseas markets. 

For this purpose, companies should 

request the new administration's continuous 

assistance. Domestic companies 

should stop excessively fierce 

competition and establish win-win 

strategies. 

KWH 


In an interview with Korea IT Times, 

Park Dong-hoon, Chairman of the 

Korea Information Security Industry 

Association (KISIA), also the CEO of 

Nics Tech, says Korea should provide 

a turning point for the 10-year-old 

information security industry in 2008. 

He also stressed that the imminent 

task is to reorganise the information 

security industry's values. Park said 

he would do his best to improve status 

of Korean information security and 

to create a basis for the industry to 

expand abroad. 

Park Dong-hoon, Chairman of KISIA 

Q: The Ministry of Information and 

Communication has now gone and 

many of its responsibilities have 

been absorbed by the 

Broadcasting and Communications 

Commission (BCC). Because of 

this, a lot of people think the the 

information security industry will 

be curtailed. What is the opinion of 

the BCC regarding the government 

reorganization? What should be 

done legally and systematically for 

the development of the industry? 

A: The dissolution of the ministry can 

hinder the development of the IT 

industry but on the other hand, there 

will be advantages as well, because 

the functions of the ministry will be 

divided into various agencies. 

As the Korean Information Security 

Agency is absorbed into the BCC, the 

market is expected to grow quickly. 

Korea should establish institutions to 

activate information security companies 

to expand their business into 

overseas markets, prepare related 

laws, such as a law on protecting individual 

information. We also need to 

legislate on the improvement of maintenance 

costs, and provide support 

for M&As. 

Q: NexG was listed on Kosdaq last 

year and a number of information 

security firms are expected to be 

listed on the market this year. What 

do you think is necessary for such 

companies to have the ability to 

stand on their own? 

A: They should stop exhausting disputes 

regarding patents or prices. 

Instead, they need to invest in 

Research & Development (R&D) to 

improve their technological competitiveness 

and cultivate labour 

resources. 

Q: The information security business 

is in a period of "consolidation" 

at the moment. In addition to 

the active consolidation of goods, 

there has also been consolidation 

of business. What do you think 

about this? 

A: Like all software, security is also 

are expected to be consolidated. The 

consolidation efforts will consider the 

users' convenience and costs and be 

aimed at total security service solutions, 

in my opinion. 

Q: The common task of domestic 

security companies is to succeed 

in overseas markets. Why do you 

think domestic companies are not 

successful in overseas markets 

and what strategies should they 

establish? 

A: First of all, companies should 

select items for which they can have 

competitive power over rival firms and 

then establish strategies where they 

can concentrate on these items. 

Domestic firms should also have technological 

power regarding the product 

and improve the quality of goods. In 

this respect, domestic firms are making 

efforts to improve the reference of 

major customers and recognition - to 

secure local channels and establish 

localization and marketing strategies 

in order to expand business to overseas 

markets. 

Q: As KISIA chairman, what is your 

vision in terms of leading the 

KISIA? 

A: There has been a lot of confusion 

due to changes in related institutions 

and advancement of large companies 

into the security market. Amid the 

confusion, however, KISIA will promote 

the unity of member companies 

so that they can spearhead efforts to 

develop the domestic information 

security market as early as possible. 

Q: What is your prospect for the 

information security market this 

year? Please explain KISIA's directions 

and plans. 

A: KISIA will concentrate on preventing 

individual information from being 

leaked and on products such as Web 

Application Firewall, security USB and 

NAC. In connection with companies, 

large firms are anticipated to join the 

market and global security firms are 

expected to actively join the domestic 

market. 

Companies are also going to enter the 

economies of scale stage through 

M&As. The market, as a whole, will 

likely aim for total security service, 

instead of a united market. KISIA 

plans to collect opinions of member 

companies in accordance with the 

new paradigm and then promote 

views through an organic discussion 

with related institutions, and reestablish 

the standing of the organization. 

KWH 


Vision 2008 

IT Clubs Agree to Work Together 

An ocean might separate the Electronics & Information Club of Seoul, 

and the BayArea K Group of the United States, but they say that doesn't 

mean they can't work together. 

Ra Jung-woong, President of Electronics & 

Information Club 

On a fine wonderful afternoon in 

mid-March, Korea IT Times 

had the opportunity to interview 

with Ra Jung-woong, President 

of Electronics & Information Club (E&I 

Club), a non-profit organization, located 

in the exclusive Gangnam area of 

Seoul. Wearing a gentle smile, he has 

received me with a warm welcome. 

The office rooms of the E&I Club 

are neither large nor luxurious, but its 

membership is composed of many 

well known veterans who have served 

for a long time and have many great 

contributions to electronics and information, 

industries in the beginning 

stage of the industrialization in Korea. 

Nearly a decade ago, this club was 

set up by some major players. In the 

beginning, the founding members 

mainly came from Gold Star (now LG 

Electronics), Samsung and Motorola 

but also from small companies, 

Korean government, and universities. 

Professor Ra, returned Korea in 

1971 to become the first chartered 

professor of electrical engineering at 

KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of 

Science and Technology), Korea's top 

technology university. He is well 

known by his development of underground 

rader to detect the deep 

underground tunnel that North Korean 

dug in the Korean DMZ (border area 

between the North and South Korea). 

He served as the President of the 

Gwangju Institute of Science and 

Technology (GIST), another top ranking 

technology university, and an 

Administrative Committee member of 

the Microwave Theory and 

Techniques (MTT) Society, IEEE in 

the US. 

Along with such big names as 

Minister Kim Kee-hyong, President 

Oh Myung and Minister Seo Junguck, 

he started up this club in an effort 

to contribute to the electronics and 

information industry, while sharing 

information and friendship among 

members. 

The E&I Club is holds seminars 

once a month, dealing with important 

issues directly or indirectly related to 

practical management. Through this 

seminar, members exchange ideas, 

thoughts, and experiences, and at the 

same time communicate diverse fruitful 

information to the incumbent junior 

managers. Ra said that the club will 

be activated further by recruiting junior 

managers and presidents as club 

members to meet the early high 

expectations its founders initially had. 

E&I - "We plan to recruit 

more high-level staff as 

club members" 

In an effort to add a new impetus to 

the workings of the E&I Club, it has 

recently signed a sisterhood agreement 

with the BayArea K Group in 

Silicon Valley of California, America. 

The BayArea K Group (the K 

stands for Korean) is an Americabased 

group of Korean IT professionals 

from diverse fields - including 

robotics, mobiles and semiconductors. 

It is another non-profit organization, 

like E&I, and was founded a year ago. 

It now has over 500 members, mainly 

composed of incumbent managers in 

the related fields. 

It has many similarities with the E&I 

Club from the aspect of human 

resources. Most of its members come 

from business circles and the academic 

world. 

As they shared so much in common, 

the two organizations thought it 

logical to work together and so the 

sisterhood agreement was signed. 

On the occasion of this event, E&I 

Club and the K Group said they have 

plans to link their respective websites, 

step up information exchange, and 

play an active matchmaking role for 

potential group members. 

KEJ 


Korean Company Sees 

Bright Future in Solar Energy 

The Solar power industry is 

still in an embryonic state, 

but one Korean company 

say they are making rapid 

progress. We take a closer 

look at the operations of 

Millinet Solar. 

Millinet Solar are a visionary 

solar cell manufacturers, with 

their headquarters in 

Seongseo Industrial Park in Daegu. 

The company are now stepping up 

the mass production of solar cells. 

At present, Millinet's technology of 

power conversion efficiency is operating 

at a level of 15-16%, but they say 

they are making every effort to raise 

their conversion rate to a world-class 

level of 20% by 2010. 

Millinet Solar have the ambitious 

plan to produce a high-quality solar 

cell for power conversion through 

applied technology in the near future. 

With the help of worldwide solar energy 

equipment manufacturer Shumid of 

Germany, the company's manufacturing 

system has been completely 

equipped with the latest in modern 

solar energy equipment. 

According to Millinet, this newly 

completed production line is superior 

to most existing semiconductor production 

lines, not only from the aspect 

of cost saving, but also in terms of 

productivity and technology efficiency. 

For this reason they have high 

expectations that before long, they will 

be able to bridge the technology gap 

with competitors from countries such 

as Japan and Germany. 

Also, through joint cooperation 

between industry-academia-government, 

Millinet plans to establish a 

solar energy research institute, developing 

various kinds of solar cell related 

applied technologies by means of 

convergence technology, so that it will 

become a world-class solar energy 

specialist. 

The product of this company is a 

multi-crystalline solar cell. Its external 

dimensions are 156mm x 156mm, 

and its cell thickness is 240 +/- 30 

microns. The average energy conversion 

rate ranges from 15 to 16%. 

Treading an unbeaten path 

Although the solar energy industry 

is still in an infant stage, Lee Sangchul, 

president and CEO of Millinet 

Solar, has spoken of his ambitious 

vision to venture into the unknown in 

the solar energy business, and succeeded 

in constructing a huge solar 

cell factory in the Seongseo Industrial 

Park, in Daegu, Korea. 

Instead of seeking first profit and 

growth, Lee has put emphasis on the 

development of highly-efficient solar 

cell technology. Because of his 

efforts, the company has succeeded 

in localizing solar cells with its own 

independent technology, creating new 

jobs, and consequently contributing to 

the development of new growth 

engine. 

As a pioneer in this field, there are 

still many things to be done. First of 

all, specialized workers and 

researchers have to be recruited and 

trained, and, also, a wide range of 

technical alliances has to be made. 

By making efforts to raise the technology 

efficiency of conversion rate to a 

level of more than 20%, it will be able 

to bridge the gap with Japan and 

Germany, who lead the industry. 

Hopes for the future 

Following Millinet Solar, Hyundai 

Heavy Industries and Shinsung ENG 

have recently started operations in 

this field. In fact, the solar cell industry 

has such a high entry level that it 

requires a long period of time for 

preparation, and a lot of investment. 

Millinet Solar have taken a total of 

three years to go from market surveys 

to factory construction and production. 

In addition to these efforts, more 

investment has to be made for the 

development of specialized manpower 

and technology, while trying to 

build a solid relationship with business 

partners overseas. 

As of now, the production line 

capacity is 30 MWp and is scheduled 

to be expanded to 100 MWp in 2009, 

to 200 MWp in 2010, and to 300 MWp 

in 2012. 

Due to partnerships with solar 

energy specialists overseas, Millinet 

Solar has successfully secured the 

raw materials they need at a low price 

for the past 5 years. 

Because of this preparation, in the 

near future the company say they will 

not need to produce wafers, ingots, 

and modules, but in the mid- and 

long-term, they plan to establish an 

assembly production line, saying that 

they are aiming to produce to the 

same level as Q-Cell, the German 

company who currently lead the way 

in the solar power industry. 


Software 

Software 

- Tech's Poor Relation 

In every family, no matter how 

proud and harmonious-looking on 

the outside, there is a relative that 

nobody really likes to talk about. 

Perhaps he is an embarrassing uncle 

who always tells uncomfortably dirty 

jokes, a female cousin who dresses a 

little too provocatively for her age or a 

tearaway nephew who is well-known 

to the local police. 

The Korean IT industrial family 

holds itself in quite a lofty esteem, and 

perhaps rightly so. However, although 

the hardware industry and Internetbased 

firms do very well for themselves 

on both the domestic and international 

markets, the technology clan 

has a relative it is not fond of mentioning 

at home - software. 

While semiconductor companies, 

laptop producers, IPTV and wireless 

companies keep on hitting the jackpot, 

a permanent raincloud hangs 

over the head of software producers 

and engineers in Korea. 

But this lonely Korean technological 

child is not alone in his misery. 

Software seems to have a bad name 

almost wherever you go. There is a lot 

of instability when it comes to smaller 

companies, who are in such a competitive 

business that they can easily 

go out of business. 

This makes consumers loathe to 

trust them - if your software goes out 

of date or there is a bug to fix, who 

can you turn to if the manufacturers 

have gone bust? 

But what is the alternative - to use 

software solutions designed by bigger 

companies? The problem with this 

kind of programme is that they are 

often too general and "all-encompassing" 

to solve the specific problems of 

individual companies. The bigger 

companies who offer more customised 

software development can 

charge exceptionally high rates, a further 

problem. 

Investment in software development 

and software engineering is distinctly 

uncool in the modern environment. 

People, companies and governments 

are much more easily taken in 

by the idea of setting up Internet ventures 

or working on flashy, welldesigned 

new hardware than setting 

up schools full of geeky programmers 

who will spend their time keying indecipherable 

code into banks of PCs. 

However, it is exactly this kind of 

attitude that gets the IT industry into 

trouble. Software is pretty much integral 

to whatever you do, regardless of 

how little you think it has to do with 

software. The basic computer operating 

system has its limitations, and 

even if you run a bank, a school or a 

medical clinic, the chances are you 

will need some custom-made or specialized 

software at some point, if you 

want your business to work properly 

or expand. 

Another problem is that the software 

industry has such a terrible reputation 

even for people within the 

industry. In Korea, horror stories are 

regularly told about the painfully long 

hours software engineers have to put 

in at the big software employers. Too 

much time spend stuck behind a computer 

terminal will cause burnout, 

even in this nation of workaholics. 

Even the money is not enough of a 

motivating factor for many. I can count 

in double figures the amount of former 

software engineers I know both in 

Korea and elsewhere, but I cannot 

hold my hands up and say that I personally 

know a single working programmer. 

In Korea, the software business is 

something that it is acceptable to be 

in for a few years to get a bit of experience 

and capital behind you, and a 

nice chaebol name on your resume. 

But once you have served your 

apprenticeship, you get out and find 

something else to do. 

This seems to reflect the world 

trend - except for places like the former 

Soviet Union, most of the world 

regards computer programming as 

some kind of an embarrassing relative, 

too, and has far too little time for 

it. 

There are some signs that people 

here, and elsewhere in the world are 

waking up to the fact that this unappreciated 

relative needs to be incorporated 

as an important member of 

the IT family. However, for the 

moment, it looks like software will go 

on failing to be sexy enough to make 

most people's technology agendas. 

TA 


Korean Software Industry 

Needs to Grow Up 

Lee Dan-hyung, president of KOSTA 

Requirements Engineering, 

Object-oriented programming, 

Cache ObjectScript, Java. 

These pieces of software terminology 

might have stopped many readers 

dead in their tracks. Unsurprisingly, 

really - they hardly set the pulse racing. 

Software suffers from bad press, 

bad vibes and a very poor public 

image, but without it, our computers 

are just whirring fans, bleeps and circuit 

boards. Try sending a text message 

on your mobile phone or checking 

the football results online with no 

software. In the modern world, we 

need software like we need oxygen. 

Yet it lies in a state of abject neglect. 

People in the IT industry are far 

too interested in developing the next 

iPhone to worry about trivial issues 

like spending money on software 

engineering. 

Lee Dan-hyung, President of the 

Korean Software Technology 

Association (KOSTA), is a man who 

wants to change all that. While he 

admits that software skills and deep 

knowledge of the frightening list of 

terms above is not necessary for most 

everyday people, users need to 

respect the industry more as their 

most people's software needs are 

diverse. 

Most people think 

software engineering is 

the domain of boring 

geeks - but that is causing 

big problems for the 

industry as a whole, says 

a software insider. 

Lee says that especially now, the 

popular demand for software is about 

to become intense. He explains, 

"Software is the only way to make 

products and services 'Intelligent', 

because software can work with complex 

logic. It is the most efficient and 

effective way to differentiate your 

products and service through 

improved functionality and quality." 

KOSTA, are a lot of things - an 

umbrella association for some 440 

member companies all related with 

the Korean software industry, a training 

and placement centre for wouldbe 

software engineers, and a group 

that aims to promote the needs and 

value of a healthy software industry in 

modern-day Korea. 

According to Lee, the industry is 

anything but healthy in Korea, or anywhere 

else for that matter, but there is 

something that needs to be fixed 

soon. He says, "The mark environment 

must be changed. What is more, 

engineering and pure science are no 

longer popular subjects for university 

students, who prefer subjects like law 

and medicine." 

But all this must change, says Lee. 

He points to the fact that by 2015, it is 

forecast that in the OCED, 50% of 

Research and Development will be 

carried out in the field of software, and 

80% of all functionality of products in 

major manufacturing industries such 

as aerospace, automobile. telecommunication 

and medical equipment will 

be of the optimal importance in terms 

of global economics. 

The problem, according to the 

KOSTA chief, is that there is a lack of 

basic information about software engineering 

and its importance. In schools, 

students often receive some form of IT 

instruction, but this all too often focuses 

on computer science, rather than 

aspects of software engineering. 

He says, "There are a lot of problems 

with the education system when 

it comes to software - not just here, 

but all over the world. Although the 

Americans and the Japanese are 

starting to show signs of waking up to 

the fact that they need to improve their 

capacity through education, they still 

have a long way to go." 

He adds that a lack of global vision 

also hurts the software industry. 

"Korean companies tend to focus too 

much on the domestic market - they 

rarely see the global picture, and that 

leads them to ignore software engineering. 

But to increase our competitiveness, 

we need more training in this 

field," says Lee. 

And Lee says that he envisages a 

future where global collaboration is the 

norm in the software industry and 

looks forward to a future where a new 

age of software entrepreneurship rules 

in the global technology markets. 

For the time being, though, Lee 

admits his immediate goals are more 

modest. He says, "Our target is to produce 

100,000 high level software engineers 

- it's a small number for the time 

being, but once we've done that, we 

can look further down the horizon." 

TA 


Spotlight 

Alsaba - 

A Taste of South Asia 

Munir Rama, Owner of Alsaba 

Walk through Itaewon, the 

"foreigner's district" in Seoul, 

and you will come across a 

lot of life's characters - people with 

tales to tell. But none, perhaps, with 

tales as fascinating to tell as Munir 

Rana, the owner of Alsaba, a 

Pakistani restaurant in Itaewon. 

Although he looks like a man in his 

late thirties, Rana is 45, and has seen 

and experienced much in his life. He 

was born in strictly Muslim Pakistan, 

was educated in Catholic Philippines, 

and married into a Buddhist country in 


Rana is a tall, impressive individual 

- talkative and friendly, and armed 

with an opinion on just about everything. 

In his life, he has been a model 

for toothpaste and jeans, a carpet 

trader and now the owner of one of 

the most unique restaurants in the 

country. 

Rana traveled much in Asia before 

deciding to settle down in Korea. But 

now he has firmly laid down his roots 

here. He is a naturalized Korean citizen 

and has two sons through his 

Korean wife, both of whom go to 

Korean schools. 

Why Korea, one might ask? "It's 

closer to the family-orientated lifestyle 

that I am used to," he says. "I have 

been to Japan, too, but coming to 

Korea was the best decision I have 

ever made. The system of senior-junior 

respect, the sense of unity in this 

country and the peaceful lifestyle is 

very hard to resist." 

Alsaba is perhaps like nothing you 

have seen before in Itaewon, or even 

in Korea. 

When most people think of 

Pakistani food in a foreigners district, 

the image they might get is that of a 

typical Indian-style establishment, 

with pictures of the Taj Mahal on the 

wall, full of non-Koreans speaking 

loudly in English. But nothing could be 

further from the truth. According to 

Rana, at least 70% of his clients are 

Koreans. 

He says, "I think that Koreans really 

like Pakistani food. It's very meatbased, 

as opposed to Indian food, 

which contains more vegetables, and 

Koreans who like beef are surprised 

at how much they like what we serve." 

Rana says that to understand and 

appreciate South Asian food, we need 

to understand the culture of the area a 

little better. Much of India is Hindu, 

and vegetarian, which means that 

they have centuries of experience in 

making excellent vegetarian food. 

He explains, "Pakistani food has 

never been bound by religion in such 

a way as Hindu Indian food has been. 

Where they make much better vegetable 

dishes than we, they are no 

experts at making meat dishes. As a 

Muslim country, Pakistan excels at 

making food from beef and lamb." 

Indeed, lamb, not part of the 

Korean diet, is a specialty of Pakistani 

cuisine, and of Alsaba's too. Rana 

says, "Most Koreans have never tried 

lamb, and have a preconception that it 

is greasy and tastes bad. But once 

they have tried it in our style, they 

quickly change their minds about 

that." 

And Rana feels that IT, one of 

Korea's major industries, plays a big 

part not only in the lives of his clients 

and his business, but in the life of 

modern society. 

He says, "Technology is an important 

part of our business. I think it is 

one of the best innovations people 

have ever created. With the Internet, 

people can make online reservations 

and also Muslims who are looking for 

Muslim food while they are in Seoul 

can find us through Internet searches." 


Alsaba was opened just after the 

9/11 terror attacks on the US, and 

Rana says that culture and politics 

were the main reasons why he decided 

to open the restaurant. 

"I opened Alsaba as a direct result 

of the attacks, in 2001," he explains, "I 

wanted to show people here who 

Muslims really were, what they look 

like, and what they eat - so they didn't 

go around thinking that all Muslims 

are terrorists." 

Authenticity is a key part of the 

Alsaba experience. While other South 

Asian restaurants often tend to 

"Koreanise" their food, to give it a 

flavour more similar to local food, 

Rana says he will not allow the 

Alsaba taste to be compromised. 

Materialism changes food a lot, and I 

think that I might make more money 

by commercializing our food more, but 

that goes against the original ideas I 

had when I built Alsaba." 

Rana says it is not just he who 

thinks so. "A lot of Koreans who have 

been to Pakistan and enjoyed the 

food and the experience have 

enthused about the dishes they have 

eaten in Alsaba. Whereas other similar 

restaurants tend to change their 

food in subtle ways to make it more 

commercially acceptable, people who 

know Pakistani food say they can find 

the exact same taste in our restaurant," 

he explains. 

How about spreading the success 

of Alsaba to other locations in Korea, 

outside Itaewon? Rana responds that 

he is against the idea, on principle. 

"I have eaten in chains of South 

Asian restaurants where the food in 

one branch tastes different to the 

same dish in another branch in the 

same city. It compromises the authenticity 

in this way," he says. 

And authenticity, it seems, is the 

very driving force behind Rana's 

restaurant. "I don't like the idea of a 

chain of Alsaba restaurants. I am 

planning to open a new bar and cafe, 

but it will be totally different to Alsaba. 

I don't want to try to reproduce the 

Alsaba experience anywhere else." 

The name "Alsaba" draws a lot of 

interest from customers, many of 

whom think it may be associated with 

an influential, wealthy Pakistani family 

of the same name, but Rana explains 

that the name has a much more personal 

meaning than this. His wife, a 

Korean who has converted to Islam, is 

now called "Saba" in Arabic, so the 

restaurant is named after her. 

There is a real family atmosphere 

in Alsaba - month-old babies sit on 

their mothers' knees while at another 

table sits a table of old-age pensioners 

celebrating one of therir group's 

ninetieth birthday. 

They have all come for the unique 

Pakistani taste of this restaurant. It 

seems fitting that one of Itaewon's 

most colourful characters should run a 

place as diverse and singular as 

Alsaba. 

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Interview 

IT Companies Making Beeline for 

South America Market 

KOVA - the Korea 

Venture Business 

Association - say new 

markets are being 

found for Korean 

technology in Latin 

America 

In a board of directors meeting with 

a INKE, a global venture network of 

Korean people overseas, held in 

Mexico City at the end of February, 

Jun Dae-yeol, the Vice Chairman of 

KOVA, signed an agreement for 

mutual cooperation between Canieti, 

the Mexico IT industry association 

and KOVA. 

On the occasion of this agreement, 

Canieti expressed high hopes and 

expectations that Mexico would be 

able to learn a lot about information 

technology from Korean venture companies, 

and, in turn become a strong 

IT country in its own right. 

Jun Dae-yeol, Vice Chairman of KOVA 

Jun said, "Mexico is one of Korea's 

largest trade partners. We hope this 

event will become a wonderful starting 

point for better understanding and 

mutual cooperation between the two 

countries." 

He has emphasized the role of 

KOVA for trade expansion in the IT 

industry. Eleven Korean IT companies 

took part in the event, making business 

consultations with Mexican buyers, 

and two companies have already 

received export orders. 

In the meantime, in January this 

year, in the Buenos Aires branch of 

INKE, KOVA signed a deal with 

IECyT (an Argentinean science and 

technology venture research center). 

Until now, Korean companies have 

had few opportunities to trade with 

Latin American countries, the likes of 

Argentina, but this agreement will provide 

a new opportunity to start a new 

period of trade for Korean companies 

dealing in IT exports. 

KOVA - "No end to our support 

efforts" 

Thanks to the business accomplishments 

of Korea venture companies 

supported by KOVA, in 2007, 

domestic venture companies' exports 

have increased to $200 million, a 

100% increase on the previous year 

of $100 million. 

It also has supported six companies 

who wanted their companies listed 

on the stock markets of the countries 

they are trading in, as well as 

creating investment inducement 

schemes. In addition, it has supported 

the establishment of three overseas 

subsidiaries and three cases of local 

company acquisition. 

Korea venture "galleries" set up 

overseas 

KOVA is currently running two 

Korea venture "galleries", one in 

Moscow, Russia, the other in Jeddah, 

Saudi Arabia, which are overseas 

marketing offices established on a 

permanent basis. 

Last year, the business achievements 

made by both Korea venture 

galleries reached a total of $40 million 

- $30 million from Moscow and $ 10 

million from Jeddah. 

KOVA is also running a venture 

gallery in Fukuoka, Japan, and also 

this year it is making preparations for 

the establishment of a new venture 

gallery in Brazil. 

Meanwhile, explaining about 

diverse business activities and the 

recent accomplishments of KOVA, 

Jun said that all these outstanding 

achievements were possible with the 

help of Korea venture businessmen 

overseas having a solid local network 

as well as the accumulated experiences 

of domestic venture businessmen. 

Said Jun, "A solid and practical 

connection between venture businessmen 

at home and abroad has 

really made a great contribution to 

these remarkable accomplishments." 


Buyer's Guide 

ACROHEM CO., LTD. 

Products or Technology 

Since the multifuncionality of mobile phone, discharging period 

of battery has been reduced. So this product would provide 

emergency access to your mobile when battery of the mobile 

phone is out. This also provide talking time and stand-by time 

as a supplementary accessory which can also charge the 

mobile phone using secondary battery. Another purpose is to 

provide compact-sized charger which can always be carried 

with the phone 

Business Field / Turnover (USD) 

Manufacturing: 

Emergency battery charger for mobile phone and other 

mobile phone devices, VoIP Mouse Phone 

1MillionUSD 

Telephone : 85-2-6190-0920 

Homepage : www.acrohem.com 

E- mail : hyejinhk@gmail.com 

Major Partner / Customer 

Mobile Phone Reseller, Stationary Distributors, Corporate Gift 

Item, General Trader, Gift Item, On-line Distributor, etc.: 

Anyone who is selling and using mobile phones and mobile 

devices. 

Type of partners or companies we want to meet 

Telecommunication Company 

Telecommunication Devices & Accessory Distributor or 

Reseller 

Corporate Marketing / Advertising Manager 

Corecess Inc. 


VDSL2, ADSL2+ (xDSL), L2/3 Ethernet Switch 

GEPON, WDM-PON (FTTx) 


Softbank BB, Song Networks(Tele Denmark), Versatel, Korea 

Telecom, Hanaro Telecom, Trans-Teco(Ecuado 


Telecommunication equipment 

(xDSL, Ethernet Switch, FTTH) 

Telephone : +1-510-683-0188 ext.101 

Homepage : www.corecess.com 

E- mail : jasmine@corecessglobal.com 


Telco, SI, ISP, VAR/Reseller, CATV Service Provider, Utility 

Provider, HSLA for Hotel, MTU/MDU, Metro Service Provider. 


Buyer's Guide 

C-TECH 


Products : SAW filter 

Saw is the telecommunication-equipment as a filter. The principle 

is to convert Electromagnetic Waves into the Acoustic 

Wave. And then, Saw filters out the frequency we want. Saw 

passes the specified frequency. The advantage of Saw 

filter is to remove needless frequency well. The application is 

Wireless telecommunication such as Repeater, Satellite communication, 

Pager, CATV, PCS,GPS and so on. 


SK telesys, C&S microwave, Nextlink, RF window, Shyam 

telecom, Mtron PTI, Cellvine, et 


Manufacturer, Agency, Distributor, Company(Wireless 

Communication, Repeaters, Telecom) 


Wireless communication system Employees 55 

US$7,000,000 

Telephone : 82-31-703-2086 

Homepage : www.ctech.co.kr 

E- mail : han083@ctech.co.kr 

DM Technology Co.,Ltd 


LCD TV with built in DVD/DviX player 

(Available size : 17’’,19’’,20’’,22’’,26’’,32’’,37’’,42’’) 

Internet Radio, Digital Photo Frame 


PALACIO, DIXONS, COMET,MYIRO, JOHN LEWIS, HAR- 

RODS 


Retailer, Distributo etc. 


LCD TV with built in DVD/DviX player, Internet Radio, Digital 

Photo Frame 

$110,000,000 

Telephone : 52-55-5281-7134 (Ext. 103) 

Homepage : www.dmtechnology.co.kr 

E- mail : kimjh@dmtechnology.co.kr 


Nextlink Co., Ltd 


ICS(Interference Cancellation System) Repeater which is one 

of our main products eliminates direct feedback and multipath 

feedback signal caused by and between antennas and various 

obstacles such as moving vehicles, buildings, mountains and 

so on. By using patented interference cancellation technology(Digital 

Signal Processing) ICS repeater simply clears the 

problems which RF repeaters and other in-building solutions 

have and provides high quality service and easy coverage 

expansion. ICS repeater removes feedback signal up to 

99.9% and makes it possible for service operators to provide 

subscribers with stable and quality service. The high-performance 

ICS repeater operates in a site where isolation level 

between the service antenna and link antenna is low. Also, it 

is not affected by moving vehicles, buildings and other objects 

at all. It means ICS repeater can be installed in any place if 

there is a small space for installation. The ICS repeater gives 

many benefits such as high service quality and easy coverage 

expansion at lower cost to service operators. 


Mobile telecommunication companies, Repeater wholesalers 

or distributor 

Business Field / Turnover 

ICS Repeater, Fiber Optic Repeater, RF Repeater 

USD 47.4million 

Telephone : 82-31-737-6060(ext.200 

Homepage : www.nextlink.co.kr 

E- mail : arex@nextlink.co.kr 


Major mobile telecommunication companies in Korea and 

worldwide 

Ncomputing Co.,Ltd 


NComputing L series(L130/230), X series(X300) 

Up to 30 users on 1 PC ! 

NComputing products enable you to cut your computing costs 

up to tenfold by sharing the untapped power of your existing 

PCs. Typically, only one to five percent of a PC processor's 

power is used at any one time. NComputing software, extension 

technology and access terminals efficiently harness this 

excess capacity to let up to 30 users share a single PC! 


Education, Government, Hospital, Hotel, Public Access market 


C-level executives of corporate, IT department Government 

officer, Education market procurement related, Computer distributor, 

reselle 

Business Field / Turnover 

Network Computing Terminal 

USD 15,667(thousand) 

Telephone : +1-650-594-580 

Homepage : www.ncomputing.com 

E- mail : mgarcia@ncomputing.com 


Buyer's Guide 

RF Window Co., Ltd 


RF Window is a fast growing, dynamic company which offers 

various wireless last mile solutions for mobile networks. RF 

WindowOs patented ICS technology has changed the way of 

RF frequency can be transmitted. Unlike common RF 

repeaters, RF WindowOs ICS(Interference Cancellation 

System) Repeater: 

Cancels all feed-back signals by using DSP (Digital Signal 

Processing) technology 

Provides coverage extension for open areas (urban, rural, 

highways etc.) as well as closed areas (in buildings, subways, 

underground) 

Improves the service quality in urban Cell-Shrinking and 

Pilot-Pollution areas 

Increases transmission speeds for the EV-DO and WCDMA 

networks RF WindowOs ICS System is the last solution for 

network companies which want to reduce both CAPEX and 

OPEX at the same time. 


Mobile telecommunication companies, Repeater wholesalers 

or distributor 


ICS Repeater, Fiber Optic Repeater, RF Repeater 

USD 47.4million 

Telephone : 82-31-737-6060(ext.200 

Homepage : www.nextlink.co.kr 

E- mail : arex@nextlink.co.kr 


Major mobile telecommunication companies in Korea and 

worldwide 

Sbntech Co., Ltd 


SBN Tech are Korean next-generation video phone makers 

for easy communication with workmates, family and freinds. 

SBN exhibited its WiFi videophone at CES 2008. USB ports 

mean that it can be used as a picture displayer when it is not 

in use. It also has a translation function based on ASL 

(American Sign Language) for people who are hard of hearing. 


1. Calling parent, Friend, Relatives and lovers anywhere in the 

world. 

2. The doctor can easily check this patints health condition 

without attending on sight 

3. Provide effective way to inter/infra conference in corporate 

4. Using high internet connection, communicate naturally and 

easy of sing language. 


Provider Video Relay Service for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. 

Associate of Deaf and Hard of Hearing. 


IP CAPTION VIDEO PHONE 

1,600,000 

Telephone : 82-2-2026-2191 

Homepage : www.sbn-tech.com 

E- mail : jplee@sbn-tech.com 


SELOCO, Inc 


Smart Standard DVR 

1. Based on the ASIC technology and Linux OS 

2. Pentaplex (Live / Recording / Playback / Networking / 

Backup) 

3. High frame rate support (240fps live / 240fps record) 

4. Triplex mode support (live monitoring & playback simultaneously) 

5. Huge Storage support (Max 1.5TB, internal 3 HDD) 

6. High Performance Network (Dynamic/Static IP, PSTN) 

7. Flexible backup (Built-in CD-RW or DVD-RW / USB HDD / 

Remote Backup) 

8. High Compression rate: 1 ~ 2.5 KB (Enhanced MPEG-4) 

9. Remote S/W (Live/Search/Web Viewer, SMS) 

10. Graphic User Interface (GUI): USB Mouse, Remote 

Control, Keypad 


Many parking & building management companies, 

Many users with a private surveillance system, Etc 


Surveillance company, Security Solution company, A selling 

agent relating to DVR 


DVR, EDA S/W, ASI 

1,600,00 

Telephone : 82-2-3433-0010 

Homepage : www.seloco.com 

E- mail : shkim@seloco.com 

Shehwa P&C 


Technology : A Personal information protection screen that 

can be attached to the LCD monitor, It uses an angle-control 

method to work as a fine blind. Therefore, when the user looks 

at it directly, the screen can be 

seen more clearly; while if others 

attempt to look at it from an 

angle greater than 30degrees, 

they will see a black or blank 

screen, making it great to protect 

private information. 


Mecican Distributor, Wholesaler and Manufacturer who is in 

IT, mobile phone and computer accessory industr 


Privacy filter, PE form 

13 million 

Telephone : 82-31-335-6635, 82-10-8201-0008 

Homepage : www.shehwa.co.kr 

E- mail : export@shehwa.co.kr 


Distibutor, Wholesaler and 

Manufacturer who is in IT, 

mobile phone and computer 

accessory industry. 


Company Focus 

Ice On The Roads 

The conditions could hardly be tougher for cars at 

Hyundai Mobis' Swedish winter test centre 

The knee-deep snow and hanging 

icicles make the scene look 

like something out of a fairy 

tale. The beauty of the countryside 

make people's heart flutter but the 

freezing temperatures mean the landscape 

is all but uninhabited, but for a 

cluster of undaunted souls. This is the 

winter test track for of Hyundai Mobis 

located in Arjeplog, about 500Km to 

the north of Stockholm, the capital of 

Sweden. 

A little way behind, there is a small 

building behind a signboard with the 

word ``Mobis'' written on it. This place 

is not only the command centre for 

the winter test tracks, but also the 

headquarters for the development 

planning of the Mobis control system 

and its design. 

"Temperatures here go down as 

low as -30°, we can get ice over 50cm 

thick in winter. That makes it exactly 

the right kind of place for winter test 

tracks. As a result, the more than thirty 

companies from across the world, 

like Mobis, and also Mercedes-Benz 

and BMW, use this region for their 

winter test tracks," says Lee Seungho, 

a researcher at Mobis' technological 

research institute. 

Winter test tracks are made up of a 

series of land track and lake tracks., 

which means that the cars drive both 

on road surfaces that have frozen up, 

and also on solid ice. 

The Mobis land tracks in Arreplog 

are set out just in front of the office 

building. There are three kinds of 

track.10°, 15° and 20° slopes test 

traction control system (TCS). Split 

roads test split electronic stability control 

(ESC) and anti-lock brake system 

(ABS). And urban tracks check the 

combined functions of travel and control 

after setting up obstacles like 

those that might be found on urban 

streets. 

TCS , which is tested on hill roads, 

prevents wheels from running idle 

when starting up the engine or speeding 

up. If a driver presses down on the 

accelerator when the car is at a standstill 

on icy or snowy roads, wheels 

tend to skid. The TCS, however, can 

maximize the accelerating force of the 

vehicle by properly adjusting power to 

the driving wheel. 

ESC is an advanced technology 

enabling safe steering by automatically 

controlling wheel skidding and the 

turning angle of the car through sensors 

installed in the four wheels. It 

works by computing and comparing 

the driver's actions and actual movements 

of cars when in sudden dangerous 

situations, such as coming 

across an unexpected bend in the 

road, or an obstacle. 

The ice track is located on a local 

lake, which is about 3-minute distant 

by car from the office building. Due to 

the extreme cold weather, the water in 

the lake can freeze to 15 metre-thick 

sheet of solid ice. 

Here, it is possible to conduct onestop 

test controls, driving, traveling 

and safety performance to test automobile 

safety for ABS on straight 

roads, widely used ESC test roads, 

handling course tracks. 

Cars also have to go around circular 

tracks, which are used for turning 

tests and slippery roads. Every kind of 

surface is thrown at a vehicle - icy and 

snowy roads, curves and slopes. 

Each track is systematically managed 

to make the toughest of tests. 

The icy tracks used in this place are 

made of polished ice. Unlike the 

rough surface of natural ice, polished 

ice is as smooth as the ice used for a 

skating rink. Rigorous tests are executed 

under the worst possible conditions 

to ensure the cars can handle 

whatever can be thrown at them. 

Hyundai Mobis has developed a 

sash-integrated control system, incorporating 

technologies used for MDPS, 

which is now being mass-produced. In 

addition, air suspension and 

advanced airbags have been supplied 

for the Genesis model since 2006. 

The unforgiving tracks established 

in Arreplog and excellent Mobis technicians 

will play an important role in 

the development of systems and help 

get a better product out to customers 

in a shorter time. 


Mobis Accelerates Development of 

Integrated Control System 

Korea's first ABS system for commercial vehicles set 

to start production by mid-2008 

Hyundai Mobis, which 

announced it would become a 

global car part maker this year 

after achieving sales of 1.5 trillion 

Won through changes and innovation, 

will get one step closer to the development 

of vehicle incorporated control 

system by developing a new, luxurious 

model. 

Hyundai Mobis said in March that 

the company has completed the 

development of ABS for commercial 

vehicles as well as state-of-the-art 

control devices - the ABS and a higher 

model for ESC. It is now testing 

with a view to mass-production. 

Regarding this control system, 

named Mobis Electronic Brake (MEB), 

Mobis has finished the establishment 

of mass-production system for ABS 

which is over 30 percent smaller than 

the existing some models and will 

launch its production. The ABS for 

commercial vehicles will be applied 

for models such as Mighty County of 

Hyundai Motors from the middle of 

this year and a test of its performance 

has already been completed. 

ABS for commercial vehicles, 

which has been developed in Korea 

for the first time, is better at control 

compared with those produced by 

other leading companies, and is also 

cheaper. As a result, products by 

Hyundai Mobis will likely be competitive 

in both domestic and foreign markets. 

They also hope to create an 

import-replacement effect amounting 

to about 100 billion Won over five 

years. 

Hyundai Mobis is focusing on the 

development of electronic control system 

because the related technology 

will advance the development of vehicle 

incorporated control system. 

This system is a concept of combination 

of two pieces of technology. 

The first is the "active safety system'', 

aimed at preventing crashes between 

vehicles in advance, such as adaptive 

cruise control (ACC) - which controls 

collisions by maintaining consistent 

distance from a car ahead. The second 

is the "sash incorporated control 

system,'' which promotes travel stability 

by combining and controlling individual 

systems. 

In this way, a vehicle-incorporated 

control system, which controls various 

electronic systems using an ECU, is a 

unique system, one which can protect 

the safety of passengers under any 

traveling situations and reduce costs 

by using various sensors and controlling 

devices. 

If this system is commercialized, 

passengers' safety will be strengthened 

through a reduction in traffic 

accidents, and Korea's spending on 

traffic accidents - which amounts to 

1.5 trillion Won per year, will be 

reduced by about 20%, according to 

industry figures. 

Hyundai Mobis has secured core 

technology for a vehicle incorporated 

control system after developing a 

high-quality electronic control device 

and will be able to speed up the 

development of a vehicle incorporated 

control system by linking MDPS which 

is being mass-produced by Mobis - 

and also advanced airbag technology, 

for air suspension , which is being 

provided for Genesis. 

In the meantime, at a recent presentation, 

Hyundai Mobis unveiled a 

plan to increase the annual production 

of ABS and ESC to 2.87 million units 

by 2009, - from the current 2 million, 

and increase the annual production of 

their EPS system to 1.6 million units 

by 2010 - from the current 800,000 

units. 


Green IT 

Green the way to go for IT 

Looking at the successful story of 

General Electric (GE) would 

suggest that the answer to that 

question is feasible if the flow is created 

and linked to the companies' revenue. 

When GE's profit growth rate 

dropped to single digits, the company's 

President Immelt took out the 

"Ecomagination Card" as a new business 

plan. That long word is an emalgamation 

of ecology and imagination. 

Experts were cynical and bitter 

about the idea - after all was GE not a 

company that was heavily criticized 

for creating all kinds of pollution. But 

GE's unstinted investments and 

scrupulous preparation not only 

helped them to gain credit from environmentalist, 

but also helped the company 

to gain the title of the global 

leader in the eco-friendly industry. 

The Biodegradable Bamboo Phone, designed by 

Gert-Jan van Breugel 

GE's most recent sales and net 

profits have increased by 18% and 

15% with the help of the 

Ecomagination Strategy and its ecofriendly 

products. As Immelt said, 

"Green is green." 

GE is seeking to increase the sales 

of eco-friendly products to 20 billion 

dollars by 2010. Preserving nature 

Green is the new buzzword for the 

Information Technology industry 

worldwide. But is going along with the 

flow of the world's trend helping the 

growth of Korean companies? 

signifies more than natural habitats or 

organisms; it is a money and growth 

engine for entrepreneurs. 

What does it mean by creating a 

flow? How do you connect this flow to 

the business? Mobile phones that are 

made of bamboo shoots and cotton 

are just one of the many examples of 

this. 

Close to a billion mobile phone 

handsets are globally produced every 

year, yet only 10% of them are recycled. 

Cell phones may be a humans' 

new best friend, but they are a a real 

enemy of nature. 

Gert-Jan van Breugel, a designer 

from the Netherlands, has designed 

the bamboo phone and suggested a 

solution to the problem of recycling. 

The bamboo phone is made from elements 

extracted from bamboo trees 

and the entire phone is biodegradable, 

except for its antenna and battery. 

This environmentally-friendly 

phone has another surprise; it comes 

with bamboo seeds embedded in the 

casing. When the battery, antenna 

and print board are removed, the case 

will begin to disintegrate in a few 

weeks. The bamboo seeds within the 

cast will then start to germinate and 

grow. 

This phone is designed to be used 

without charger as well. Instead it is 

equipped with a manually-operated 

crank charger; a 3-minute cranking 

session gives the phone enough 

power to make one call. This means 

the bamboo phone never needs to 

leave you stranded with no battery. 

The phone is also equipped with a 

monochrome display to ensure maximum 

energy efficiency. 

From the same urge to save the 

environment came designer Qian 

Jiang's cotton-based Softphone. It 

uses electronic cellulose structures in 

the form of a series of discs and fine, 

optically clear electronic fibers 

stretched in between that allow 

enough light to pass through and display 

simple contextual menus. 

The phone's antenna, battery, camera 

and microelectronic components 

are contained inside a tiny chip which, 

itself, is made of soft squeezable silica. 

But the best part of this easy, 

squeezy technology is that when want 

to hang up, you simply have to give 

your handset a squeeze. 

Green IT is the latest trend, but to 

make a business out of it requires 

more than just technology. Originality 

is the key to the success. 

Korea is working on environmentally 

friendly products as well. To begin 

with Kolon Sports' designer Jung 

Hang-ah has introduced textiles that 

are made from soy, bamboo, and 

charcoal. 

Five backpacks and one T-shirt 

that are made from plastic bottles 

were shown off in the company's 

recent Spring collection, and environmentally-friendly 

clothes are to be 

made more and new ranges are to be 

introduced throughout the year. 


Since 2004, more than $50 billion 

has been stumped up by the government 

to develop 13 core parts of 

hybrid cars. 1386 cars have been provided 

for test in public places. An 

extra 40 billion US dollars has been 

invested in working on the core technology 

of environmentally-friendly 

cars. 

The Green IT breeze is blowing 

everywhere. The Industrial computer 

market is seeking ecologically-friendly 

products as well. A Company called 

Advantech (www.advantech.co.kr) 

has recently released two types of 

industrial touch panel computers that 

satisfies the standards of Restriction 

on Use of Hazardous Substance in 

Electrical and Electronic Equipment 

(RoHS). 

Their computer parts are environmentally 

friendly and save energy. 

Low electric power CPU and fan-less 

hardware helps efficient usage of 

energy and reduces pollution. The 

President of Advantech, Choi Youngjoon 

said, "Every computer our company 

brings out this year will be ecofriendly. 

We aim to be the greenest 

computer makers in Korea." 

The ongloing slush fund scandal 

seems to have slowed the managing 

clock of the Samsung Group since 

October 2007, but it is hoped here 

that ecologically-friendly products can 

serve as new growth engines. 

ULTRASPARC T2 of SunMicroSystems - a chip 

that runs on low power 

The cycle of products in IT industry 

only lasts for around six months. 

Although Samsung is very strong in 

semiconductors and electronics, large 

investments and long period of time to 

develop products for six months of 

glory has not always brought triumph 

to the company's revenue. 

The Samsung Group is brainstorming 

ideas on solar light, nano-technology, 

and environmentally friendly 

strategies to get the clock ticking 

again. 

Samsung Data Systems, the consulancy 

and business management 

arm of the Samsung group, were the 

first to take the plunge into the Green 

IT market. They made their move with 

an Environmental IT Consulting business. 

The "Environmental IT consulting 

program" helps companies to offset 

pollution and operate within international 

environmental restrictions. 

SunMicroSystems, a company that 

is currently promoting Go Green, 

Save Green campaign. The company 

progresses every project under an 

environmentally-friendly base. The 

most recent processor, ULTRA- 

SPARC T2, runs on low power and 

meets eco-friendly standards. 

According to a survey conducted 

by ETNews Korea, 52.9% of 725 people 

said that they would be prepared 

The Softphone - a mobile made of cotton 

to buy Green IT products even if they 

cost 5% more. This means that Green 

IT is not just a simple concept, it suggests 

a product value that will open 

up consumers' wallets. 

An increasing number of companies 

are planning to establish a Green 

IT-promoting department sometimes 

this year, and are to start using ecofriendly 

parts in their products. 

Only 15% of the 142 companies 

surveyed have a Green IT 

Department, but 33% are planning to 

establish one this year. However, only 

a small number of companies are 

actively working on eco-friendly 

strategies. The companies who educated 

employees with Green IT training 

program also stopped at 11%. 

The ecology gap between global 

market and Korea is getting bigger 

every day and Korea must speed up 

to keep up with the pace. Every IT 

organization will soon to be required 

to conform to environmentally-friendly 

protocol. It is high time Korean companies 

became more aware when it 

comes to setting up workable strategies 

and become a leader in the 

Green IT movement, rather than a 

simple player. 

CGE 


IPTV 

Race is On for Companies 

Trying to Bag IPTV Subscribers 

The starting gun has gone off. 

Straight out of their blocks, the 

runners sprinting for the finish 

line are KT, Hanaro Telecom and LG 

Dacom. The prize at the end is IPTV 

commercialization, which will change 

people's shopping culture, the health 

care system, and even the way we 

watch television. 

KT, Hanaro Telecom, and LG 

Dacom are now promoting free IPTV 

trials and will be showering potential 

customers with free gifts for the first 

three to nine months. The competition 

is getting tougher every month, and 

now expensive mobile phones are out 

there to attract people who are considering 

registration. 

These three companies are also 

prepared to keep their original customers 

with convergence service 

package deals that add extra money 

to subscribers' pockets. The cancellation 

process and fees are set prohibitively 

high, to encourage more commitment. 

This means that subscribers had 

better study carefully before they 

choose a player to make commitments 

with. Choosing a carrier is now 

like marriage: a big financial commitment 

with hefty penalties for divorce. 

KT and LG Dacom are providing 

services only to those who are subscribed 

to high speed internet. Hana 

TV, however, is open for everyone 

who is interested in their IPTV service. 

Because of this, Hana TV's subscribers 

are increasing fast. In spite of 

the long battles in the IPTV billing 

process and the industry's uncertainty, 

Hanaro Telecom have launched 

Hana TV. Hanaro Telecom now has 

860,000 subscribers compared with 

KT's 360,000. 

The three competitors think that 

IPTV is their most impressive new 

Three Korean companies do battle for 

the new market in Internet Television, 

but do they all have the legs for the 

chase? 

product and are sure that it will create 

a fabulous new source of income for 

them. All three are set to be reborn as 

media entertainment companies, and 

are eager to shake off the mantle of 

being labeled as traditional telecommunication 

companies. 

"In order to survive in the next-generation 

broadcast and communication 

convergence market, we need to 

expand contents and multimedia services. 

If not, we will soon be put to the 

sword by the competition," a KT 

spokesman said. 

The communication trend is changing 

from a Personal Computer-based 

Internet network environment to a TVbased 

Internet network in IPTV. This 

can guarantee revenue from the 

telecommunication market. 

Starting from April, the competition 

is expected to get tougher with convergence 

service packs. High speed 

internet, IPTV, and Internet phone are 

parts of the the basic package that will 

be mostly offered to subscribers. 

The Kyung Hee University Medical 

Center recently equipped 150 rooms 

with IPTV, where their patients can 

lay down on their beds and be examined 

by the doctor on monitors they 

can also use to watch the latest 

movies, listen to music, and shop on 

IPTV with a remote control. By July, 

the hospital is planning to fully equip 

1000 patient rooms with u-bed IPTV 

sets. 

Another thing that makes IPTV so 

competitive in Korea is its e-learning 

contents. Three companies are building 

their own strategies and ensuring 

high-standard educational programs 

to attract subscribers. Four out of ten 

students are found to be studying 

online, and the numbers are expected 

to increase with the recently-passed 

IPTV Act. KT is providing contents in 

partnership with MegaStudy, the number 

one online education center in 


Another business model companies 

seek to push through with IPTV 

concern shopping contents. KT's 

280,000 Mega TV subscribers and 

Hanaro Telecom's 730,000 Hana TV 

subscribers are currently shopping 

through Video On Demand serices 

(VoD), but the payment transactions 

are still being made through the 

phone. 

A Hanaro Telecom spokesman 

said, "If the IPTV service goes full 

whack in the New Year, a simple payment 

system with a remote control will 

be provided for subscribers." 

Hana TV has recently announced 

that Hana TV's Open Market will soon 

open for retailers to create Seller- 

Created Contents (SCC) and provide 

contents through VoD. Reviews of the 

products can also be sent in User 

Created Contents (UCC) form. 

KT, Hanaro Telecom, and LG 

Dacom have been warming up long 

enough to prepare themselves to run 

on this course. But it looks like being a 

long distance race, rather than a 

sprint. They still have to run quite a bit 

to reach the finish line, but are showing 

no signs whatsoever of slowing 

the pace. 

CGE 


Yoo Kwang-hoon, CEO of Millinet 

Television 

Revolution 

Only 

Moments 

Away 

Experts say the Internet 

is about to change our 

best electronic friend, 

the television 

Where would we be without 

the television - our babysitter, 

our comfort? In Oldboy, 

the Korean hit film, Choi Min-sik's 

character is locked away in a room for 

twelve years with only a television set 

to keep him company. He ends up 

referring to it as his friend - and even 

his lover. 

When we feel lonely, bored or 

afraid, we reach for the remote, and 

the house is filled with images and 

sound to make even the darkest night 

a little brighter. That is why even the 

most delicate of changes to what is 

broadcast on our sets, on how they 

work and what they look like, is of 

utmost importance to the average person. 

That is why the Internet Protocol 

Television (IPTV) revolution is, or 

should be, of such interest to the 

average consumer. It promises many 

things. First, a new means of transporting 

television signals from producers 

to viewers - the Internet. And second 

, it promises to take the idea of 

realtime away from the broadcasting 

world. 

Not much of a revolution say the 

skeptical, but imagine it - your images 

no longer come from some monolithic 

radio mast atop some hill, they come 

streamed via the same cable that 

goes into the back of your computer. 

Gone are the days of fiddling with 

an easily breakable antenna. And so 

too will be the days of risking life and 

limb in a mad dash home in order to 

make it in time for the latest episode 

of Muhan Dojun or Prison Break. 

But despite all the uprooting effects 

of this impending revolution, television 

fans need not fret, according to the 

experts. The IPTV set-top box is a 

simple device that is easily installed 

and should be fairly easy to operate, 

they say. 

Millinet are a Networks company 

working with some of Korea's top telecom 

companies and Internet 

Providers, and hope to be waving the 

flag in the frontline of the IPTV revolutionary 

army. Their CEO, Yoo Kwanghoon, 

says there is not cause for concern. 

Says Yoo, "There is no need to 

throw your television set away just 

yet. A set-top box is an easy piece of 

equipment to use, and it is very 

enabling for the viewer. It will give 

viewers a new kind of freedom." 

Yoo believes such a change is 

inevitable. He explains, "It is a logical 

extension of the kind of services that 

already exist. Companies like Hanaro 

are already using the internet as a 

kind of DVD rental store. For a fee, a 

few clicks of a mouse or a remote 

control can have a blockbuster 

movies on your screen in seconds. 

IPTV will take this further, to the 

realms of everyday television programmes. 

You will be able to watch 

what you like, when you like." 

According to Yoo, it seems the climate 

is blowing favourable winds in 

the direction of IPTV. He believes the 

technological and political boundaries 

standing in the way of progress are all 

but gone. 

"There are few obstacles left in the 

way of IPTV's progress. It is only a 

matter of time until this becomes the 

accepted norm for the television experience," 

he says. 

The changes will not come for free, 

though. This will be a fee-based system, 

says Yoo, with customers forking 

out in the region of 25,000 Won per 

month for subscription fees. 

However, television has already 

become more than its early pioneers 

could ever dream that it would 

become, but now it is ready to take 

the next step. With so much high tech 

in our lives, hitting TV sets to get a 

picture or fiddling with antennas is all 

so twentieth century. Our friend, our 

babysitter, our lover - the television 

set - is about to grow up and join the 

rest of the electronic world in the 21st 

Century. 

TA 


Event 

Industry Association Changes Name - 

And Focus 

A revamped, renamed "KOIBA" aim 

to speak up for the interests 

of smaller IT companies through a 

new policy under a new 

government tenure. 

KOIBA announce their new moniker at a press conference 

What is in a name? A lot, if you are a business trying 

to change the scope of what you are doing. 

On March 31st, the 12th general meeting of Korea IT 

Small- and Medium-sized Businesses and Venture 

Business Association (KOIVA) was held with 135 

Information Technology businesspeople at the 

Renaissance Hotel in Seoul. In this meeting, the IT members 

with Seo Seung-mo, the chairman of KOIVA 

announced to that they were no longer KOIVA. Instead, 

they now want to be known as KOBIA - the Korea IT 

Business Association. 

Since KOIVA was found in 1996, it has been responsible 

of building up strength for the base of the IT industry 

and providing support for companies working in the IT 

industry. However, KOIVA's attempts to be developed 

themselves into the representative IT organization with a 

responsibility for the Korean IT industry has been diversified 

with the revised new government organizations. 

The newly-monikered KOBIA plans to speak up for 

small- and medium- sized IT venture companies' rights and 

interests as well as to maintaining sponsorship of a variety 

of companies in the near future. 

KOIBA say they will also focus on projects set to merge 

and expand the base of the overall IT industry in a better 

business environment. A spokesman also said, "We will 

continue to improve developed techniques, and build better 

cooperation between IT companies and also network with 

companies in other industries. We are looking to build an 

up obstacle-free atmosphere, and support services for 

companies trying to do business overseas." 

In addition, the spokesman said they plan to fortify 

KOBIA's status as a representative generalized IT association. 

However, KOBIA underlined that all of their grand 

plans depend very much on the policies of information and 

communication organizations and other associations in the 

IT industry that have a say over these matters. 

On the same day, Lee Chang-han, the director general 

of Director General for Electronics And IT Industries at 

Ministry of Knowledge Economy also gave a speech about 

the political direction of information and communication in 

2008 after the KOBIA announcement. 

In addition, Korea Trade Promotion Corporation 

(KOTRA) and Korea Development Bank (KDB) spoke at 

the meeting about the importance of creating an assistance 

system for smaller- and medium-sized companies in 2008. 

KEJ 

- 

"We will build up networks 

and interbusiness 

cooperation." 


Podcast 

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We welcome all comment and 

opinion. If you have anything 

you want to talk to us about, do 

not hesitate to get in touch. 


Feature 

UCC - More than a Flash in the Pot? 

Video sharing sites are all the rage, 

but will the excitement over the sites 

die down or is it here to stay? 

Cho Eun-jung investigates. 

Apot full of water boils over - for 

a moment there is nothing in 

the kitchen but lather and commotion. 

But when the steam clears 

and the mess has been cleared up, 

there is nothing left in the pot. 

This is Korea's favourite metaphor - 

nembi geonseong - literally "pot character." 

It means that like the pot, 

everyone in Korea gets themselves 

excited about something that appears 

to be the next big ting. But ask them 

again about it next year and they will 

not even be able to remember anything 

about it. 

Hines Ward was a classic example 

of this - a Korean-American sports 

star who was an unknown on the 

Korean peninsula until he was named 

American Football's MVP in 2006. 

Nobody had even heard of him 

until he scooped the prize, but afterwards, 

you could not escape Hines in 

Korea - he was everywhere, beaming 

down at you from advertising hoardings, 

staring at you from the cover of 

every magazine in sight. 

But if you mention his name now to 

the average Korean, they will sit in 

thought for a while before suddenly 

smiling and saying "Oh yes, Hines 

Ward! I remember him!" 

That is why Koreans are skeptical 

to the extreme about anything 

claiming to be "the next 

big thing," just in case it 

turns out to be a case of 

nembi geonseong, a Hines Ward in 

disguise. 

For a little while however, the world 

of technology has been quietly murmuring 

predictions that User Created 

Content (UCC) is not from the pot. It 

is no fad - it is here to stay, say the 

voices, and the more they keep saying 

it, the more true it sounds. 

It all started with a very simple concept 

- with video capabilities becoming 

cheaper and more accessible to 

the ordinary consumer, people needed 

the ability to upload what they had 

recorded on their digital cameras and 

mobile phones onto the web. They 

wanted to show off their holiday 

videos to their family and friends or 

even to all-comers from the rest of the 

World. 

Internet entrepreneurs like Bill 

Gates and the like must be wondering 

why they allowed the likes of plucky 

companies like YouTube and Pandora 

get involved in the whole scheme. 

Had they acted earlier, we might all 

be watching UCC videos on some 

kind of "Microsoft UCC Viewer" 

instead. 

Instead, YouTube was an overnight 

success story - set up by a group of 

American twentysomethings in a converted 

garage. The friends had inadvertently 

spotted a gigantic gap in the 

market. Suddenly people around the 

world were sitting on throusands of 


megabytes of contents, 

but they had no way of 

sharing it until YouTube 

and their ilk. 

But though most of the 

world thinks that YouTube was 

the first UCC video site to make it 

to the net, this is, actually, a myth. 

Pandora TV, Korea's biggest video 

portal, predates the American site by 

a whole six months. 

Pandora have a gigantic share of 

the Korean market. By 2004, they 

were already getting over one billion 

page views per month. In 2008, figures 

have it that they now have a million 

Korean visitors every day. 

However, though Pandora are the 

biggest fish in the Korean pond, they 

are not even making a splash on the 

global scene compared to YouTube. 

Chen and Hurley sold their company 

to Internet giants Google for a gigantic 

$880 million, in a deal that shook the 

IT world. Now, with the clout of 

Google behind them, YouTube are 

out to take over the world - and that 

includes Korea. 

However, with companies like Mnet 

cast, Gom TV, Mgoon, Daum, Afreeca 

and Pandora already offering Korean 

Internet users video options by the 

truckload, just how YouTube intend to 

find a way in to this already saturated 

market begs the question "how?". 

Korean companies are realizing, 

however, that though they might be 

the bosses of their own patches, they 

have very little global influence. 

Pandora has launched a global site, 

aiming at markets within Asia, and 

have announced plans for an English 

version of their site. 

Rumours have it, however, that 

they will be providing services in 

Chinese, Japanese and Spanish, too. 

April also sees them go live with a 

global version of their site, Global 

Pandora. Last year, an American IT 

venture firm called DCM reportedly 

invested $10 millions dollars in 

Pandora's operations. DCM clearly do 

not think UCC comes from the pot. 

The experts 

believe that as the Internet continues 

to expand, the user experience will 

develop. Some Internet experts have 

even called it a new age of the net, 

with Irish Internet Tim O'Reilly dubbing 

the new, richer, more dynamic, 

user-based Internet experience, "Web 

2.0." 

Daum are a Korean company with 

their finger in a variety of Internet pies 

- they are one of the biggest UCC 

video sites in Korea. Their Video 

Service Team Manger, Shin Jongseob 

believes UCC will be apart of the 

Internet's new age. 

Says Shin, "As the Web 2.0 age 

approaches, users find themselves 

using an Internet that is in a better 

condition for making and using UCC, 

so the output is increasing all the 

time. And as the value of UCC 

increases more and more, its value 

goes up by the day." 

Critics point at UCC and make 

derisory comments. What is on the 

likes YouTube, Daum and Pandora, 

they ask. Is there anything else than 

what many people would consider 

cyber trash - people falling off bicycles, 

schoolchildren lip-synching pop 

songs into hairbrushes, random rants 

about inane subjects. UCC looks like 

unbridled chaos from the outside. 

Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager is 

a short comedy show broadcast by 

American friends Matt Sloan and 

Aaron Yonda on YouTube, starting in 

2006. However, although it started as 

a very low-key production, the first 

episode of the Star Wars spoof has 

been viewed over 6.5 million times. 

The program has been featured on 

America's ABC network, has been 

translated into French, 

Spanish and Portuguese and 

has spawned a merchandising 

line of DVDs, t-shirts and other 

memorabilia. 

Chad Vader might be an bizarre 

aside in the annals of Internet history 

for the moment, but any video series 

that can pull in a global audience of 

that size is going to have advertising 

managers reaching for their cheque 

books as they look for sponsorship 

possibilities. 

Advertising incentives are going to 

propel the notions of business and 

profit into the UCC world, one which 

has, until now, been pretty much "just 

for fun." 

Daum's Shin says, "UCC sites are 

in a position where they can make a 

profit because they get so many visitors, 

who stay on their sites for a long 

time. Advertisers are looking for new 

ways to post their content and this is 

also starting to surface. Companies 

are looking to promote themselves 

through this new form of media. They 

want to blend UCC and business." 

In addition, Daum think that the 

craze for UCC is borne of a boredom 

with the conventional media - which 

they think has run its course. "People 

are getting bored with the way that the 

television presents them with information. 

Videos that are uploaded to sharing 

sites are rough, for the time 

being, but web users are hooked now. 

They find the whole experience 

empowering," Shin says. 

Nembi geonseong exists in Korea, 

but not in the world of UCC, if experts 

and web site hit counters are to be 

believed. In fact, as the Internet's contents 

get richer and richer, what people 

put up on UCC sites represents 

not just a new, interesting thing, but 

an intoxicating freedom, a new 

democracy and a freedom of speech 

that meddling governments and big 

business have, for the time being, 

very little control over. 


Feature 

IT Bridges not 

Strong Enough 

for Brittle 

Human 

Emotions 

Technology helps the world 

become a smaller place, but 

though human relationships are 

now easier to conduct, 

Kim Eun-sil asks if they are not 

suffering as a result. 

The camera focuses on a table where a middle-aged 

man and his son are having breakfast. "Your hair is 

so messy!" So says the older man to his son. And 

these are the only words spoken between them during the 

meal. 

After breakfast, the older man is looking for his mobile 

phone before he goes to work so the son calls his father's 

phone, and he find the phone on the table. On the display, 

as the phone rings, we can see his caller ID and the son's 

picture on the phone with, instead of his name, the words 

"My Hope." 

It is quite an impressive televisual moment, to be honest, 

it almost brings a tear to the eye. I was not the only 

person who was moved by this SK Telecom commercial. It 

is one which makes a fantasy of the IT world and nowadays, 

advertising like this is becoming the norm. 

But the fantasy is becoming a reality with the appearance 

of WCMA. According to adverts, if you talk via video 

phone, it will make your husband come home early or turn 

you into a dutiful son. 

Through a well-known portal site, you can help someone 

who have never met. Society is warmer than before 

because of portal sites and the world is full of humanity 

with WCMA. If the commercials are to be believed, IT is 

building bridges between people. 

I also regard technology as a convenient way of getting 

in touch with people. I can tell all the members of a presentations 

team about a meeting time by SMS at once, and we 

can even have a meeting online. Every document which 

we need for our presentation can be uploaded in mere seconds. 

Now presenters do not have to meet each other face to 

face before presentation. "Hello" - it is an embarrassing 

word to say just once on the day of the presentation. After 

the presentation, everyone feels relieved and they say to 

each other, "Thank you for your trouble." 

But these superficial pleasantries mean to say, "We are 

done here, we don't need each other anymore." The next 

time they meet, these individuals will probably pretend not 

to recognize one another. 

Most people habitually log in to MSN's Messenger or 

Nate On every day. Messenger comprises lots of people's 

names in long lists. Some of them might not know each 

other well, and some of them might even have never met in 

real life. 

If you do not want to see a name anymore, even with no 

real special reason, you can break that relationship in a 

second with just one click. With one click we built the 

bridge, but with a similarly brief click, we can also break it. 

We are becoming more and more accustomed to the 

terms of the "IT Bridge". An image on a phone can replace 

our faces, and letters on the screen take the place of our 

voices. IT helps us build bridges more rapidly than ever, 

but also gives us the means to destroy them in the blink of 

an eye. 

If the old man had told his son he was his "hope" with 

his own voice, face to face, it would have made the bridge 

between them stronger than any "IT Bridge". People need 

strong bridges, ones they can trust, ones that they can 

walk on and feel safe. If we play our cards right, perhaps 

we can find a way to couple our intelligence and the power 

of technology to build bridges that are sturdy enough for 

our frail human characters. 


Tech Wizardry 

an Undervalued 

Skill 

David Jones, a teacher at Boston Campus, a 

language school in Korea. 

Amy's laptop was screaming 

bloody murder. The big CPU 

fan was whirring and chirring, 

behaving like a sick, overweight man 

running a marathon. Good in spurts, 

but there was no way he was ever 

going to finish. 

We thought the laptop was finished, 

making all manner of noise, 

working momentarily, then straight to 

the BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death). 

Besides an over-priced cellular 

phone, her laptop was the only way of 

communicating with the outside world. 

There was a job to do. 

I brought it home one night, puzzling 

over what looked like a perfectly 

normal laptop in most respects. The 

only real concern I had was the 

amount of filth and grime covering 

every centimeter of it. 

So, after some research on the 

Internet, I figured out a plan of attack. 

I had to unscrew the keyboard from 

the laptop in order to have access to 

the big, obnoxious, pain in our backsides. 

Trouble was, it appeared normal in 

every way. I gave it a shake, solid. I 

spun the fan blades with my finger tip, 

normal in every way. I gave the fan 

plug a jiggle, and attempted to pull it 

out gently. It was then that I knew we 

had a problem. 

The connector remained attached 

to the motherboard, and what I had in 

Sometimes there is no substitute for 

good workmanship, and it does not 

always have to cost the Earth. 

my hand were three frayed, naked 

wires, pointing back at me as to say 

"Why are we out of our protective 

sheath? " It wasn't as easy as somehow 

rolling them back on there. This 

was a job for a professional. 

I broke the news to Amy. She was 

more than cool about the situation, 

and even offered to tag along. We 

had to get the wires soldered back 

into the connector, and I figured the 

best place would be Technomart at 

Gangbyeon Station in Seoul. It was a 

quick bus ride away, and I had been 

there many times with all types of purchases 

in mind. 

It was the first person we got to talk 

to who turned out to be the most helpful. 

The picture of us both was pretty 

funny, looking back on it. I had the 

laptop in question toted under my arm 

like a school book, wandering from 

place to place on the 7th floor, saying 

"laptop fix?" 

After having a few people shooing 

us away, we met a really nice man. 

His English was limited, but, they 

were far superior to any Korean either 

Amy or I had acquired up to that point, 

and he was more than happy to have 

a look. 

With the keyboard off in a matter of 

seconds, he got right to work. I only 

had to point at the problem, but he 

already had his soldering iron in hand, 

preparing some molten metal for the 

application. 

He re-attached the wires with the 

precision of a quiet assassin, picking 

his targets, and hitting them with 

acute accuracy that some Olympic 

biathalon participants would be proud 

to witness . The work of a solderer 

should be revered in our culture, but, 

it seems their destiny is to live a modest, 

quiet, happy existence, helping 

the common man with his troubles. 

We were at his tiny little cubby-hole 

of an office for no more than 15 minutes. 

In that time the laptop was taken 

apart, fixed, and put back together. 

Amy and I spent this time chatting 

about how such a shop could exist in 

such a big building, with seemingly no 

customers, and make any kind of 

money at all. 

We postured that these repairs 

were going to be pretty pricey if he 

were to keep his tiny place open. So, 

when he handed back the laptop, I 

kind of cringed and asked him how 

much the job was going to cost us in 

my broken Korean. 

He said, matter-of-factly "Man 

Won". My eyes went wide, and he 

shook his head in approval, so as to 

say "I know you thought it was going 

to be more, but yes, all I really want 

for this is 10,000 Won." We left shaking 

our heads, not knowing how 

places like these stay open - but we 

left smiling. 

David Jones davids.k.jones@gmail.com 


In-depth report 

How is IT Transforming Korea? 

The sixth in a ten part series 

even sell the house for 

the sake of my child's education," 

is a phrase that is "Iwould 

uttered from the lips of Korean mothers 

across the nation. Another common 

expression you might hear is, "I 

have bent over backwards before the 

sake of my child." Let's have a look at 

the ten year old boy next door to see 

if these expressions are only exaggeration, 

or if they bear any truth. 

At three o'clock, Min-su comes 

home from school. Twenty minutes 

later, a van with martial arts stickers 

all over its front and side doors stops 

in front of Min-su's apartment building. 

Soon after, kids in taekwondo costumes 

pop out the of doors and 

streets, and get into the van. An hour 

later, another van comes and girls in 

the neighborhood run to the van, they 

are going off to an Art Academy. 

Thirty minutes go by, and the taekwondo 

van comes back to drop off the 

kids. Min-su now has to go to a tutoring 

center to learn English and Maths. 

He normally finishes his school homework 

there as well. Min-su's friends 

say hi to him as they walk to the piano 

and violin academy. 

Around six o'clock, kids stand 

around the food stand eating spicy 

rice cakes, fishcakes, or a bit of chicken 

on a stick. Min-su gets home 

close to seven, since his academy 

does not send him home until he has 

completed his assignments. Min-su 

has to stay at the tutoring center until 

9 o'clock during test periods. On 

Saturday, he has to go to basketball 

practice and on Sunday, his writing 

tutor comes to his house to teach him 

for an hour. 

According to a study conducted by 

the Korea National Statistical Office, 

households' education expenses have 

increased by 10% since 2007. Most 

families with children in the city area 

are spending $2400 dollars per 

month, and at least $300 of it is spent 

on educating their children. 

Further studies predict that the 

minimum cost of education will 

increase soon. University tuition has 

increased by 10%, while a 13% 

increase occurred in expenses for 

after-school learning centers, private 

tutors and extracurricular activities. 

The price of education supplies has 

increased 6%, to its highest point 

since 2003. 

Eight out of ten students are taking 

extra lessons with private tutors for at 

least 8 hours a week. Korea's national 

educational spending for 2007 was 

$20.1 billion. A study from Hyundai 

Economy Research Center shows 

that the actual cost of education is 

way more than the statistics from the 

Korea National Statistical Office. 

Hyundai Economy Research 

Center has found that the increasing 

number of kindergartens, whose 

monthly tuition fees of $2700 is also 

increasing. Currently, 15% of kindergarteners 

are paying more than 

$2000 tuition every month to receive 

superior education. 

Further research shows that 20% 

of high school students spend at least 

$1000 a month. This is the country 

where families generally spend at 

least 20% of their income on education, 

and 26% of mothers take on 

part-time work, or second jobs to keep 

up with increasing educational spending. 

Where else would online education 

contents be more welcomed? 

But how is IT transforming student's 

lives? There is always so 

much to learn, but limited budget and 

time. If it were common to find students 

shuffling through vocabulary 

cards in the buses and subways until 

recently, now it is more common to 

find students watching their cell phone 

screens. Students choose private 

tutors on their own by reading their 

profiles or checking out the short 

video clips of their potential teachers, 

and download chosen subject lectures 

on their mp3s or mobile phones from 

learning aid websites like MegaStudy. 

Lectures are available in mp3 format 

from $1.50 to $7 and can be 

replayed as many times as students 

need. The Ministry of Knowledge 

Economy's research shows that four 

out of ten people are getting online 

education. The average spending on 

online education per month is estimated 

to be around $29. 

According to a month-long survey 


conducted from October 26, 2007 by 

the Ministry of Knowledge Economy 

and Korea Institute for Electronic 

Commerce, 67% of students aged 

between 6-19 are using e-learning 

programs online. 

National online educational spending 

in Korea increased 7% from last 

year to $1.7 billion. Sun Eun-jin, the 

Director of MegaStudy said, "The E- 

Learning market has been growing 

since 2000 and its contents and quality 

are improving fast. We expect to 

see more subscribers this year with 

the expansion of the subjects available." 

From March 16 to 21, JTC1/SC36, 

or the educational information technology 

committee meeting, was held 

on the Island of Jeju. Fourteen countries, 

including America and Japan 

took part in discussions with 80 

experts from the International 

Organization for Standardization 

(ISO). JTC1/SC36 has been running 

with 25 member countries since 1999 

to set international standardization in 

the education information field. 

According to Korea Educational 

Metadata, there are three types of 

metadata technology for education, 

technology, copyrights. This technology 

has been tried out in 16 cities, so 

if it is internationally standardized, 

Korea's E-Learning contents and 

service industry will become more 

competitive than now. 

KT's Mega TV, Hanaro Telecom's 

Hana TV, and LG Dacom's My LGtv 

are focusing on educational contents 

to attract Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) 

subscribers. When IPTV develops yet 

further, students can study with a private 

tutor online and have a realtime 

conversation, just as if a student was 

actually studying with a teacher face 

to face. 

KT's MegaTV educational contents 

are near to 3,600 at the moment with 

500,000 subscribers. Mega TV subscribers 

can access to any of these 

educational programs without paying 

additional costs. 8,300 lectures are for 

first grade to third grade elementary 

school students on the subjects they 

learn at school. 

Also, a special lecture has been 

designed for mid-term exams and 

final exams for students, to study with 

special help before the test. For high 

school students who are studying for 

college entrance exams, KT has 

made partners with leading education 

institutions, MegaStudy and Jongro 

Academy. Once again, all e-classes 

are free for Mega TV subscribers. 

7,000 educational contents for English 

and Creative classes are also offered 

for young learners. 

Hana TV is working in partnership 

with VitaEdu, the online teaching center 

that is best known by the high 

school student in preparation of the 

college entrance exam. Hana TV's 

contents provide strong TOEIC and 

English learning aids for adults. They 

also provide lectures for those who 

are studying to achieve Government 

Official Certifications. 

Vice President of Hanaro Telecom, 

Kim Jin-ha said, "Hana TV is especially 

strong in contents for young learners. 

We offer unique, yet competitive 

programs that other TV providers 

don't provide - such as Thomas and 

Friends, Veggie Tale, Between the 

Lions, and Learning English with 

Ozmo. We also have programs 

where children can learn English by 

songs like Thomas Sing Along, 

Teletobi Everywhere, and 

DoodleBobs." 

Children who are with LG Dacom's 

myLGtv can learn English through 

childrens' songs, stories, and some of 

the PBS English teaching programs. 

Children can learn to read and write 

English using various programs. The 

most amazing part of using myLGtv is 

the subtitle system you can control 

the speed. This helps young learners 

pronounce difficult words by playing in 

a speed that fits the students' English 

level. 

Children will no longer have to hop 

on and off the vans to go to all sorts of 

academies after school for extra curricular 

activities. Guitar lessons, 

piano lessons, taekwondo programs, 

English lessons, all school-related 

subject lessons, and even certificate 

lessons for adults - these are all available 

online for one tenth of the price 

of learning offline. It might be that IT 

is helping students like Min-su get a 

part of their lives back. 

CGE 


Focus 

The Incheon Free 

Economic Zone - 

A City From 

Nothing 

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority tells 

the Korea IT Times about Northwestern 

Korea's big hope for the creation of a futuristic 

megapolis where once there were only mudflats. 

cal location. The goal is to secure an 

important engine needed for the country 

to attract high-value industries, 

including state-of-the-art technology 

businesses and tourists. 

The IFEZ will create business and 

an eco-friendly residential environment 

that will meet global standards. 

Its mission is to attract industries, 

spread this trend to the entire country, 

and become a business centre in the 

huge Northeast Asian market. 

As of January 2008, a total amount 

of US$8.9 billion has been committed 

to the IFEZ. Of this amount, $299 million 

has been from foreign direct 

investments. 

In terms of attracting investment, 

the IFEZ is still in its initial stage, with 

The Incheon Free Economic 

Zone (IFEZ) is a project aimed 

at reviving the national economy 

by restructuring it into an 

advanced industrial structure. 

In the world of Today, Korea still 

lags far behind Japan in economic 

terms, and China has emerged as a 

giant market. Under these circumstances, 

if we continue to reply on the 

manufacturing-centered, export-led 

economy, Korea will still remain a 

weak nation sandwiched between 

tech-savvy Japan and the new economic 

powerhouse - China. 

The IFEZ was built as a way to further 

Korea's economic development 

to an advanced level, while taking 

advantage of Korea's great geopolitia 

little more than four years having 

passed since its establishment. What 

is important is its competitiveness. 

The IFEZ is a competitive zone 

thanks to its location, its infrastructure, 

its personnel resources, and its 

urban planning. 

The current strategy to attract 

investments is to focus on attracting 

knowledge-based research facilities. 

These facilities will serve as a catalyst 

to attract enterprises and create continued 

value based on their relationship 

with enterprises. 

One of our major duties is to help 

Korean and foreign global enterprises 

- the leaders of the global economy - 

select the IFEZ as their advanced 

base and a testbed to advance into 


the rest of Asia. 

Now into its fifth year since its 

founding, the IFEZ has gained in 

recognition, and a growing number of 

foreign investors are taking an interest 

in the IFEZ. We are going to maintain 

a close relationship with the central 

government to speed up the "quality 

management" and remove the negative 

factors that hamper urban development 

and investment attraction 

efforts. 

First of all, Songdo International 

City will become a centre for multinational 

enterprises and modern technology. 

Currently, Gale International, 

an American developer, and POSCO 

Construction are building the Songdo 

International Business District, the 

IFEZ's main district with state-of-theart 

business and eco-friendly residential 

environment. 

Portman Holdings, another 

American developer, Samsung 

Corporation, and Hyundai 

Engineering & Construction plan to 

build Songdo Landmark City in northwestern 

Songdo, where the 151-story 

Incheon Tower will be built. 

Yeongjong Airport City will be born 

as a hub of logistics and tourism. 

Fiera Milano, a group of Italian companies 

that not only manages spaces 

of exhibition centers, but also organizes 

shows and exhibitions globally, will 

build an exhibition center in the logistics 

complex. 

Kempinski, a European hotel operator, 

will develop a leisure complex in 

the coastal area west of Yeongjong 

Island, and Lippo Group, a developing 

firm from Hong Kong, will develop a 

similar complex in an area northeast 

of the island. 

The Cheongra District is turning 

into a center of international finance 

and a leisure resort. One of the main 

development projects in this district is 

Cheongra World Trade Center (WTC), 

which will be built in the middle of the 

district. 

This district will be housed with a 

77-story WTC building, and business 

and commercial facilities. Besides, 

Incheon High-Tech Park will be built 

in an area south of Cheongra. 

The geographical strengths the 

IFEZ possesses makes the free economic 

zone distinguishable from other 

cities. The IFEZ has strength in terms 

of its geographical location, infrastructure 

and abundant local population. 

As the IFEZ is located at a midway 

point between major East Asian cities 

like Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and 

Hong Kong, and it will be convenient 

to travel from here to any of those 

cities. 

In addition, it has both an international 

airport and a harbor, which 

make it possible for people and goods 

to travel fast and easily. Korean people 

also are industrious, and are welleducated 

and very IT-savvy. 

On top of the natural competitiveness 

of Incheon, the IFEZ has also 

developed three urban development 

strategies to help it grow. First, it will 

build the world's first "ubiquitous city." 

Ubiquitous systems will be introduced 

into all aspects of urban life to speed 

up business and create better residential 

environments. 

Secondly, the IFEZ will be an ecologically-friendly 

venture. More than 

35% of business and residential areas 

will parks or gardens. 

The IFEZ will be developed as a 

"designed city." From the urban development 

stage, everything - from the 

urban skyline to advertising standards 

- will be taken into consideration. 

Major buildings will be planned and 

designed at a global level and emerge 

as new landmarks in Northeast Asia. 

All these features are possible only 

because the IFEZ is quite a new concept 

in city development. It is being 

built as a city from scratch, in contrast 

to Shanghai or Singapore. 

The three districts in the IFEZ - 

Songdo, Yeongjong and Cheongra - 

are being built under different development 

plans. Songdo is 

modeling itself as a center of multinational 

enterprises and 

knowledge-based industries. 

Yeongjong will be a centre of aviation 

logistics, tourism and leisure 

resorts, and Cheongra will become a 

capital of international financing and 

leisure. 

In addition, each district is also 

designed as a self-reliant city that has 

residential, commercial and leisure 

facilities, with their specified industries 

working side by side. 

But it has not been plain sailing for 

the IFEZ, by any standards, and we 

still need a lot of work done. 

Most of all, there has been a lack 

of public understanding when it 

comes to what we are doing at the 

IFEZ. When it was established, the 

IFEZ was regarded as a national project 

aimed at securing a new growth 

engine for the national economy for 

the future. 

But regrettably, there has been no 

clear-cut definition of the IFEZ's status 

and nature yet. For example, nobody 

can find answers to questions like this 

- What does the "free" in the IFEZ 

mean? They are not sure if this is a 

national project or a provincial project. 

We are in urgent need of generous 

support from central government. We 

need them to help by lifting various 

restrictive regulations and providing 

subsidies. 

The IFEZ is a national project with 

clear visions of building a businessfriendly 

city. One of the visions is to 

build a "free" Incheon and a "free" 

Korea. If the "free Incheon" model is 

established stably and successfully, it 

can act as a model for the whole 

country. 


Hot Issue 

YouTube Chief - 

“ 

We Will Improve in Korea” 

The online video 

site's founder tells 

Korea that 

YouTube's international 

perspective 

gives them the 

upper hand in the 

UCC war. 

Business managers around the 

globe must get tired of this dull 

mantra: "East Asia is the next 

big market." However, as this area 

contains one third of the World's population, 

and as Asian markets just 

keep on growing, the increasingly 

large disposable income of young 

Asians means everything to corporate 

fatcats in US and European offices. 

The English Premier League is the 

most popular football league in Asia - 

so much so that its Chief Executive 

recently announced plans to "export" 

games, and have matches played 

elsewhere - including Asia. Or especially 

Asia, maybe. 

And the IT big hitters are no exceptions 

to this marketing rule. Google 

has been trying to crack the gigantic 

nut that is the Oriental market for 

some time now. However, Internet 

companies elsewhere in the World 

are quickly finding that although their 

flashy websites from Europe go down 

well in the US or vice versa, this is 

just not the case for Asia. 

The problem is that in the case of 

Korea, Japan, and even in China, the 

US and Europe have left it too late 

with their Internet ventures. In terms 

of search engines, UCC sites and so 

on - these sites already exist in Asia, 

and have existed for some time. 

Naver, Daum, Pandora, Mnet, 

Gom. The sites have evolved in 

Korea, and have almost exclusively 

Korean staff. They helped to create 

the national Internet landscape. 

Korean versions of hit sites like 

Google and YouTube seem almost 

doomed from the outset. 

It is a Korean instinct to reach for 

Naver, Daum or Pandora TV, just as 

the rest of the World cannot function 

without its YouTubes and Googles. It 

is entrenched in the national character 

here, and it will be very hard for outsiders 

to find a way in at this late 

stage. 

But at a press conference held in 

Seoul last month, Steve Chen, the cofounder 

of YouTube, and its Chief 

Technical Officer, seemed to hint that 

YouTube was ready to employ a different 

strategy in the effort to break 

into the Korean market. 

To all the individuals and companies 

who have said a resounding "so 

what?" to the launch of YouTube 

Korea, which went live late in January 

this year, Chen asks Koreans to think 

of the international angle. 

He said, "There is a lot of content 

being created in Korea, but people 

here find it hard to reach an international 

audience. We can offer companies, 

artists and individuals a global 

audience, a platform. You can build a 

world brand through YouTube." 

Reportedly, the launch of YouTube 

Korea saw a sudden surge of traffic to 

the side of 382,000 visitors to the site 

on 23rd of January, the day of the 


launch. However, there are now only 

around 115,000 daily visitors to the 

site from Korea. When you consider 

that 997,000 people visit the Pandora 

TV website a day, there is an incredibly 

large amount of ground to be 

made up. 

And Chen readily conceded that 

YouTube Korea has not really made 

much of a dent in the Korean market 

thus far. He said, "Our site in Korea is 

little more than a translated version of 

our main English site at the moment. 

But we are going to customize it and 

tailor it to meet Korean needs." 

Chen was in Korea with a team of 

Youtube and Google representatives 

for a five-day tour, which included 

several Google and YouTube-themed 

events. The Korean visit completed 

his tour of Asia. 

And Chen, himself a Taiwanese- 

American, admitted there he has reasons 

of his own, which add a new 

dimension to his company's desires 

for YouTube to succeed on this continent. 

He said, "I have a personal interest 

in taking YouTube into Asia. I really 

want it to have a more Asian focus, 

not just the current American and 

European outlook." 

However, Chen even said that he 

has noticed changes as Google have 

increased their spending in Korea, 

showing signs that the YouTube- 

Google team are here with every 

intention of staying. He said, "I was 

here in Seoul last year, at the Google 

offices, which have grown a lot since 

then." 

Building partnerships has been a 

key YouTube-Google strategy in 

recent times. Indeed, YouTube boasts 

that it has over 1000 partnerships 

Worldwide. YouTube has been busy 

especially here, building up partnerships 

with a diverse network of companies 

here. 

Companies involved in media operations, 

like the Joongang group and 

MBN, have signed up. And in the area 

of youth culture, the likes of the 

Gorilla Crew break dancing community 

and Park Jin-young, the music producer 

behind the Wondergirls, have 

also joined forces with YouTube. They 

have also set up a channel with 

Castnet, an online talent-promotion 

site. 

Indeed, they also revealed that 

they are working with Korean UCC 

video site Mgoon, and might see a 

site like this as a way into the Korean 

market for them. 

In recent times, it has been difficult 

to get YouTube out of the news, especially 

in Asia. Last month saw furore 

in Pakistan as a video which allegedly 

appeared to criticize the Islamic faith 

provoked Pakistani officials to impose 

a blanket ban on the site, which has 

recently been lifted after the offending 

videos were taken down by the site. 

Pakistan government spokespeople 

had labeled the videos, "highly profane 

and sacrilegious footage." 

Over in China, there has been a 

myriad of problems, with videos showing 

the Taiwanese flag causing a stir, 

resulting in bans and restrictions. 

Thailand also banned YouTube for 

around six months last year after 

videos that appeared to deride the 

Thai royal family were uploaded to the 

site. 

However, despite these hiccups, 

Google and YouTube remain confident 

that they will break into the Asian 

market. 

Chen believes the desire to grow 

further - into Asia and beyond - is only 

natural for a company like YouTube. 

He said, "Most of our users are not 

from the US. Going global is a logical 

step for us." 

As UCC sites are, by their very definition, 

user-based, YouTube are recognizing 

a need to connect with their 

users, wherever they may be. Chen 

added, "I'd say about 1% of what we 

are worth as a company is down to 

our own technical expertise. The other 

99% is thanks to our users - the peo- 

ple out there who upload and download 

contents on the site." 

YouTube are truly global, but have 

come up against a lot of local resistance 

in Asia. Trying to force their way 

into a market that is already close to 

saturation is hard. Local competition 

between the likes of Daum, Pandora 

and Mnetcast is high enough even 

without YouTube. But the company 

seem sure that their unique "international 

appeal" will mean that Koreans 

are forced to turn to them if they want 

to do anything on the world stage. 

"Working together [with companies, 

TV stations and musicians] we can 

sell global advertising on YouTube," 

announced Chen. That is something 

not one of the Korean UCC sites can 

boast, and if Korean companies buy 

into this message, the American company 

might just have found themselves 

an edge over Korean domestic 

competition. 

It is certainly worth thinking about - 

while Pandora and GOM pretty much 

have the domestic market sewn up, 

one thing they will struggle with is getting 

commercial messages out to an 

international audience. Everyone in 

Korea knows what Naver and 

Pandora are, but does anyone else in 

the World? 

Indeed, Pandora are moving quickly 

to try to rectify this discrepancy. 

April is the month when the company 

goes live with a global service that is 

targeted at markets like The 

Philippines, China and other countries 

close to Korea in terms of geography 

and culture. 

However, YouTube have an interesting 

strategy in aiming for Korean 

companies who are looking to expand 

abroad, if that indeed is their primary 

target. If that is the line they try to pursue 

- rather than trying to target the 

nation's youth, who could not care 

less about foreign UCC sites - they 

might enjoy some success through 

this more inventive approach. 

TA 


Hot Issue 

Telecoms merger 

set to go ahead 

KT and KTF are set to merge, 

but unions worry that job and pay cuts 

loom on the horizon 

It was confirmed that KT and KTF 

are to undergo reorganization in 

preparation for the consolidation of 

the two companies. KT, in particular, 

has started analyzing the wage system 

of KTF, considering changes in 

employment conditions which become 

the most sensitive in the process of 

merging companies. 

As KT officially initiated the reorganization 

process for the merger with 

KTF like this, the industry expects that 

KT will make an application to get 

approval for the merger in good time. 

The two conglomerates are making 

plans to establish IT, distribution and 

logistics subsidiaries which will share 

a common infrastructure after the 

merger, according to an KT and KTF 

statement made on March 23rd. 

Lee Yong-kyung, former president 

of KT, pursued the establishment of 

an IT unit five years ago but the plan 

was cancelled following after trade 

union protests. It seems that the 

unions would agree to the separation 

of the company under the proposition 

of consolidation. 

The industry mentions a plan that 

KT, either independently or in collaboration 

with outside IT consulting 

organizations like CSC, will establish 

an affiliate in July or August. By that 

time, KT will complete the IT infra 

planning process innovation (PI) project, 

which is being pursued by the 

company. 

Regarding this, KT and KTF said, 

in a joint statement, `Àll this is just a 

rumor and nothing has yet been 

decided.'' The industry, however, forecasts 

that KT will complete a plan to 

establish an IT business but the timing 

of its actual opening will be 

rearranged depending on the 

progress of the merger. 

KT and KTF plan to pursue projects 

related to the PI project, and the 

next-generation customer management 

system in consideration of the 

organization of consolidated database 

and the system compatibility. KTF is 

working on a next-generation project 

based on service-oriented architecture 

(SOA) with the goal of launching 

its operation in January next year. KT 

also is going to finish the design job in 

July. 

The appearance of a distribution 

subsidiary is imminent as well. KT initially 

pursued a plan to jointly use the 

distribution network of KTF M&S, a 

KTF affiliate, in the form of owning its 

shares. 

As the merger process has been 

progressed more rapidly than expected, 

however, KT is making a plan 

beyond simply purchasing shares. A 

distribution business to be launched 

after the merger will reportedly undertake 

some of the duties of the KT 

Plaza in addition to jobs related to the 

existing mobile communication agencies. 

A KT union leader stressed, 

``There will essentially a distribution 

company after the consolidation. 

However, there remains a problem 

regarding the degree of job transfer 

and imposing new duties on existing 

workers.'' 

KT management has started to 

prepare employment terms such as 

the actual wage system, except for 

the establishment of affiliates. As 

there are significant differences in 

terms of wage between KT and KTF, 

meaning that KTF workers will likely 

suffer pay cuts. 

In connection with this matter, an 

official from KT admitted that the two 

companies are analyzing their wage 

system and working on their infrastructure, 

adding, that he thought it 

too early to start talking openly about 

the merger. 

JKS 


Samsung Electronics started the 

mass-production of 32-inch full 

HD LCD panels last month for 

the first time in the world and other 

major panel makers, including LG 

Display, Sharp and AUO, are all set to 

follow suit. 

Such a movement is aimed at maximizing 

the profitability of TV or panel 

makers in the market in which the 32- 

inch displays have occupied the 

largest share of consumption. The 

PDP industry also is poised to actively 

join the 32-inch display market - one 

which has been winning great popularity 

among consumers. As a result, 

LCD and PDP makers are expected 

to once again engage in a new power 

struggle. 

Following Samsung's move to start 

to produce the LCD panels, LG 

Display says it is going to launch the 

products as early as this month, 

according to sources in the industry 

speaking in March. 

Samsung will start to supply panels 

for TV sets for the company's DM 

business and then plans to expand to 

major TV makers in other countries. 

LG Display has a plan to provide the 

first portion of its production to LG 

Electronics. Overseas companies also 

are taking up aggressive positions. 

Sharp, of Japan, is going to launch 

the mass-production of 32-inch panels 

before the end of the first half of the 

year, once it has finished developing 

them. 

IPS Alpha Technology, a joint venture 

between Japan's Matzushita, 

Toshiba and Hitachi, is going to develop 

32-inch full HD panels and then 

start its production during the third 

quarter of the year. Taiwan's AUO will 

start production of their panels as 

early as Summer this year. 

LCD panel makers are joining the 

32-inch full HD market one after 

another like this because demand for 

the so-called ``second TV'' is rapidly 

growing both in emerging markets, 

such as China, and in more advanced 

markets. 

LCD Television Production 

Starts in Earnest 

As the High-Definition versus LCD display war 

continues to rage, the big electronics players 

release their products - but with such high 

prices, how successful will they be? 

Their goal is to increase their profitability 

by actively exploring the 32- 

inch premium market. The price of a 

PAVV Bordeaux 550, the latest model 

of 32-inch full HD TV, recently 

launched by Samsung, is about 1.5 

million won, almost 25-percent more 

expensive than HD-class products of 

the same size. 

The LCD camp which is advanced 

in terms of quantitative competition 

has aggressively joined the 32-inch 

TV market, the PDP industry is 

expected to face an increased sense 

of crisis once again. Since LG 

Electronics launched the world's first 

32-inch SD-class PDP module at the 

end of last year, the product has 

emerged as a successful hit. 

LG Electronics and Samsung SDI 

had the plan to introduce the HDclass 

module and actively join the 32- 

inch TV market during the first half of 

the year. If the LCD camp starts a 

major attack with a full HD product 

with higher definition than the HDclass 

goods, the PDP industry will 

inevitably find itself under pressure. 

Bu Jae-ho, the Director of Display 

Search Korea, a Korean market 

research firm, said, `Às domestic and 

foreign panel companies will increase 

their productivity from the second half 

of this year, the 32-inch full HD LCD 

panels will have price competitiveness 

too.'' 

He also predicts that putting all 

their eggs in one basket may not be a 

wise move for many companies. 

Says Bu, `Àlthough the PDP 

industry is not a leading player, the 

two sides will have to wage an uphill 

battle as that they have placed a 

heavy bet on the success of the 32- 

inch TV market.'' 

JKS 


News in Brief 

World 

K 

Mozilla Chief slates Apple's 

Safari Update "borders on malware 

distribution practices" 

Mozilla, the company who make the Firefox Internet 

browser, has hit out at Apple for using underhand tactics 

in getting users of the iTunes music store to make them 

download Safari, a rival browser made by the Apple 

group. 

A new update for the iTunes player prompts users to 

install Safari on their PCs, but the CEO of Mozilla, John 

Lilly, says that Apple is not playing fair. 

The Windows version of iTunes automatically searches 

for updates for the iTunes player, but the Safari 

browser is a totally different product, and would require 

a user to specifically request the update sotware not to 

have it automatically installed on their PC. 

But Lilly says the practice "bad" and says it "should 

stop". He implies that it is immoral to exploit users in this 

way. 

He said, on his personal blog, "This is software that 

users didn't ask for, and maybe didn't want. This is 

wrong, and borders on malware distribution practices." 

Aussie Web Surfer Makes 

Meteor Find 

An Australian geologist has reportedly found a huge 

meteorite crater - on the Internet. Arthur Hickman, who 

works for the Australian government, found the 260 

metre-wide, 30 metre-deep blast site on Google Earth. 

The site, which is yet to confirmed by experts as a 

meteor crater, is estimated as being as up to 100,000 

years old. It is located in Western Australia, and will be 

named after its finder, who said "I wasn't looking for it, I 

just saw a circular structure on Google Earth that struck 

me as odd." 

American Town Bans Wireless Internet for 

"Health Reasons" 

The City Council of Sebastopol, a town in 

California, has decided to rescind an agreement 

with an Internet provider, Sonic.net, to 

provide free wireless Internet access for residents. 

The Council took their decision after 235 local 

residents signed a petition trying to get the 

local authorities to take reverse their decision 

to allow Wi-Fi in the town. The council said residents 

were worried about the possible effects 

of radiation caused by the wireless signals. 

One resident said, "Wi-Fi gives me headaches 

and makes me very sick." 

Google Boss Expresses Microsoft Doubt 

Amid growing rumours that Microsoft are on the 

verge of buying up Yahoo's Internet services, 

Google's Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has 

warned that the Internet as a whole may suffer 

should the takeover go through 

Schmidt said, "We would be concerned by any 

kind of acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft. We 

are concerned that there are things Microsoft 

could do that would be bad for the Internet." 

Last year, the European Union fined Microsoft 

a record $1.4 billion for ignoring sanctions 

imposed on it for anti-competitive behaviour, 

caused by linking the Windows and IT Explorer 

applications. 

Meanwhile, Fortune Magazine, an American 

publication says that Microsoft is preparing to 

hit back at companies who are turning to free 

an open source by asking large corporate 

users to pay for what MS claims are 235 patent 

infringements made by the software used by 

the free operating system. 

TA 


Korea 

World 

Korea 

Say Goodbye to "Yes" 

- And Hello to "YESS" 

Korean software company hopes to 

bag 20% of the market share with a 

new customized office strategy. 

Baek Jong-jin, CEO of Haansoft 

Baek Jong-jin, CEO of Haansoft, showed off his 

company's newest customized office service, 

"YESS," with office software and special consulting 

service added at the Grand Inter Continental 

Hotel in Samsung-dong in March. 

Baek said that Haansoft hope to get back the office 

market which was taken over by Microsoft through 

customized services for different types of businesses. 

He also added that a customized service can be done 

only with the services of domestic software companies. 

"YESS" overcomes the typical old office system problems by 

accumulating condensed technical know-how gathered over 

the past 19 years. It constitutes a System Integration (SI) service 

and special consulting service which is customized to each 

company's business environment that are based on "Haansoft 

Office 2007." In addition, it keeps the same office packages 

and license prices while it also contains a new, free consulting 

service. 

The basic SI expenses are included in the license price and 

the office solution and utilized Scenarios are complimentarily 

supplied for small sized companies. 

He pointed the limitations in the past, saying, "We supplied 

the customized office service for public organizations such as 

the Supreme Court, the Korean Post and so on because their 

practical usage of Hangul Word Processor (HWP) is fairly high. 

However, there are few such services for private ownership 

companies. YESS is to actively assault these private companies," 

he added. 

Baek emphasized that Haansoft can increase its 18% of the 

current market share to more than 20% by this year through 

this customized office strategic service. Therefore, it will help 

small and medium sized companies' businesses in their search 

for active economic growth. 

KEJ 


How to--- 

F ind 

a Good 

Job in IT 


Your heart is racing, your hands are sweaty. 

When you speak, your voice sounds high-pitched and alien to you. 

Only one situation can make a human being like this 

- the dreaded job interview. 

IT is one of Korea's biggest industries 

- and a job at a major Korean 

IT company is so lucrative that 

even a couple of years spent working 

in certain jobs at big firm can set you 

up for life. But as any Korean jobseeker 

will tell you, competition for the best 

jobs is cut-throat. 

Many believe that only graduates 

of the so-called "SKY" universities - 

Korean "Ivy League"-equivalent 

Universities, Seoul National, Korea 

University or Yonsei, need apply for 

the best jobs. However, experts in the 

recruitment business say that there is 

a way in, even if you think your 

resume does not look as good as the 

next person's. 

IT Job seeker's Tip #1 

If you think that you fit about 

50% of the requirements in the 

job advert you are looking at, 

you might as well apply for the. 

More often than not, companies 

set their goals unrealistically 

high, and only realize this 

when they start to get resumes 

in. 

Kim Joo-pil, the manager of 

Recruitagency, a Korean job agency 

who specialize in IT recruitment, says 

"Everyone wants to get a great job at 

a good company, but it's not easy to 

get this chance. So the best thing to 

do if you think your resume is not 

impressive enough is to make a 

career plan - to build up to a bigger 

job step-by-step. Think carefully - is 

the job and the company that you are 

applying for going to be helpful for 

your ultimate goal. Is it a step up for 

you?" 

The consequences of neglecting a 

career plan, says Kim, could have 

serious negative repercussions on 

your future. "Looking for a job without 

a clear plan in your mind might mean 

you end up changing jobs frequently 

in the future, and that is quite harmful 

for your career goals." 

But many candidates worry about 

those all important qualifications more 

than anything else. They ask, "How 

on earth will a big company even look 

twice at my resume if I haven't got the 

name of a big university on it?" 

Satnam Brar is the Managing 

Director of Enterprise Resource 

Planning at Maxiumus, an 

International IT recruitment agency 

based in London. He believes that for 

IT companies, bits of paper are not 

the be all and end all. He says, 

"Directly relevant experience is the 

key. Formal qualifications are the 

icing on the cake, but the fact that you 

have actually done the job before is 

the cake itself." 

And a lot of experts are now saying 

that it is not just insider knowledge 

and techy skills that will win you a job. 

So-called "soft" or "people" skills are 

becoming more and more valuable in 

the IT world. Brar says, "The days of 

the IT geek locked to a keyboard and 

screen are dying fast. Employers are 

looking at inter-personal, communication 

and commercial skills as well as 

technical ability." 

Kim agrees. "IT projects more often 

than not require a lot of collaboration 

and teamwork. That means that just 

being technically proficient is not 

enough for most Human Recourses 

managers. You have to be able to 

show you are good at being a person, 

too. Communication is not less important 

than job ability," he says. 


Read back everything before 

you send it, and then ask 

someone else to check it - 

spelling mistakes and inaccuracies 

might make potential 

employers bin your application 

on the spot. Also, try to avoid 

sending attachments if possible, 

people are very suspicious 

of potential viruses sent along 

with emails. 

Self-belief is also a vital commodity, 

say the experts. Says Ki, "IT is all 

about the unknown - new technology 

and new solutions, so you need to 

demonstrate that you are a confident 

person who is not afraid to try things 

they have never done before." 

And confidence might mean not 

just bravery with computers and team 

projects, but also in building relationships 

outside the constraints of the 

office. Brar says, "It's important to be 

able to network, both in person and 

online, to build relationships with past 

and potential clients." 

The last point to remember should 



Write a targeted covering letter 

that is clearly written only for 

the company you are applying 

for. It should immediately show 

that you are writing to apply to 

that company for that job, not 

writing generally to a whole 

host of companies. You probably 

only have a few seconds to 

draw attention to yourself from 

amongst hundreds of applicants. 

be possibly the most important one - 

don't mess up your chance to make a 

good impression. Recruiters are inundated 

with resumes and applications, 

so even the tiniest of mistakes in this 

process could mean that you never 

make it to the interview room. 

Says Kim, "You would be surprised 

how many candidates make mistakes 

with the name of a company, the date 

or the spelling of a particular name. 

These are all easy mistakes to make 

when you are applying for two or 

three different jobs at the same time. 

However, it creates an ugly first 

impression." 

And first impressions are everything 

in getting a good job. 

If you are stuck, there is no shame 

in asking a professional to help you 

out. Kim says, "If you ask a recruitment 

specialist, they can really help 

you out. They have seen thousands of 

resumes, both good and bad, and 

they are armed with a lot of information 

about the companies you would 

like to work for." 

Perhaps there will never be an 

easy solution, an easy way to get a 

good job in IT. But it is important to 

remember that the technology sector 

is possibly the fastest-growing industry 

in the world. If you have both technical 

skills and belief, there should be 

nothing to stop you beating those 

interview nerves and getting whatever 

job you put your mind to. 

TA 

Blow 'em away: 

How to really make an IT 

employer sit up and take 

notice of you 

Learn a programming language 

Even if you are not planning a job in the software or Internet industry, having 

some knowledge of basic programming code could make you a potentially 

indispensable employee. Teach yourself Java, C++ or another language. 

You can use online tutorials, or buy yourself an inexpensive "how-to" book. 

Learn about a different Operating System 

The Korean government is actively promoting Linux, while Open Office and 

other alternatives to Windows are available. If you end up in an office with a 

Mac or Linux computers, you should be able to use these systems, too. 

Know how to work with HTML 

Every year, the amount of people who need to know how to create, update 

and alter web content increases. You might think you the Internet like the 

back of your hand, but your knowledge is too shallow until you know its inner 

workings. 

Read the news 

It is not enough to have a wide smile and some technical knowledge in most 

interviews - you need to look like you actually take an interest in IT, too. 

Knowing about trends and latest IT developments will really make you look 

like you know what you are talking about in an interview. In Korea, especially, 

there are a lot of high-quality magazines (like this one!), newspapers 

websites and blogs that will keep you abreast of the latest industry goingson. 

Research the company and its competitors 

Doing your homework at school might have bored you to tears, but you have 

to do your homework when you are looking for a job, too. Research the business 

you are applying for, read news stories that mention the company and 

check their site for news and press releases. Do the same with the competition, 

too, and in the interview, you will come across as an expert on their 

subject. 


Tricky interview questions and 

how to deal with them. 

Satnam Brar, Managing Director of ERP Recruitment at 

Maximus Recruitment, tells you how to make sure you don't get 

caught out by difficult questions in a job interview 

1) Q: Tell me something about yourself 

A: This is a classic 'ice-breaker', often used to get an interview 

started and to get you talking. Map out in advance the 

areas you would like to cover, which should include your 

qualifications and academic history, career to date, 

achievements and a few personal details to give the picture 

of a rounded individual. Don't get carried away. This is an 

interview, not a chat show, so no matter how fascinating a 

person you are, five minutes should be enough. 

2) Q: What one thing has given you the greatest sense 

of achievement? 

A: Here the interviewer is trying to establish what really 

motivates you. Your answer, which should be work-related 

and relatively recent, should stem from your understanding 

of the job specification and the corporate environment it 

exists in. 

If the role involves a high degree of responsibility for others, 

think of an achievement in the people management 

area. If you will be called upon to overhaul a department or 

alter its direction, pick an achievement which demonstrates 

change management skills. Show how your abilities and 

experience made the difference. 

3) Q: What are your strengths and weaknesses? 

A: This is meant to test your ability to analyze yourself and 

others. Focus on three or four major strengths such as 

technical ability or communications skills and show how 

they have directly benefited past employers and could benefit 

the interviewer's organization. Don't be modest. If you 

don't tell the interviewer how wonderful you are, no-one 

else is going to do it for you. 

Weaknesses are a little more tricky. The obvious answer 

would be to deny you have any but that would leave most 

of us with a credibility problem. One solution is to pick on 

something minor that would have little or no impact on the 

job under discussion or to dress up a strength as a weakness, 

as in, "Sometimes I think I drive myself too hard to 

get the job done." Job interviewers are not priests or psychiatrists 

and do not want to hear about any dark nights of 

the soul you may be experiencing. 

4) Q: Give me five adjectives that would describe you 

as a person 

A: Keep them positive and relate them back to the job 

description. 'Independent', for example, may be fine if you 

are going to be working alone out in the field but might create 

some doubts if you need to operate in a closely-knit 

team. 

5) Q: What is the most difficult situation you have 

faced and how did you resolve it? 

A: Pick on something recent and easy to explain and make 

sure that you don't infer you were the source of the problem 

in the first place. Show how you analyzed the problem 

quickly and clearly, how you acted decisively and show a 

positive outcome. 

6) Q: Why are you looking to change jobs? 

A: Keep it positive. You are on the move because you relish 

new challenges, wish to take on more responsibility or 

want to develop your skills, not because your present 

employer is a skinflint who doesn't recognize your true 

worth. 

7) Q: Do you have any questions? 

A: Retain at least one or two questions for the end of the 

interview to demonstrate interest and a lively mind. Make 

sure that you maintain a positive image. Tough questioning 

about future plans and the company's status are quite legitimate, 

but too much interest in the length of the lunch 

break or the sick-pay scheme may set alarm bells ringing. 

Finally... Remember that, no matter how they are phrased, 

all the questions posed to you in an interview boil down to 

one. That is, "How would you fit into this company and do 

the job better than any of the other people we are talking 

to?" 


Briefing 

Posco Drawing 

u-Health Care 

Attention 

SubscribeNow! 

Large domestic construction companies are preparing 

to provide u-health care services to apartmentdwellers 

in cooperation with hospitals. 

As a marketing strategy to sell luxurious apartments 

more effectively, large enterprises are trying to introduce u- 

health care with a positive attitude. 

In particular, Posco E & C, in cooperation with Uracle 

and Seoul National University Hospital, has prepared an 

action plan to provide the 1,596 apartment units of "The # 

First World" with u-health service on a full-scale basis from 

January next year. 

An official from Posco said, "Following The # First World 

located in new Songdo City, which is set to become a typical 

international business district, we are going to provide 

u-health care services to the 4,000 to 5,000 apartment 

dwellers among a total of 20,000 apartment units to be built 

in the New Songdo City development near Incheon 

Airport." 

For u-health care services, each apartment is equipped 

with a lot of high-tech medical equipment and devices to 

check up the on residents' weight, blood pressure, blood 

sugar, and so forth. The results of this checkup will be analyzed 

by the university's medical examination center. 

In case of emergency, intensive medical care will follow 

automatically. Prior to the Songdo development, Posco is 

to deliver u-health care services to the 213 Star Park residents 

in Jamsil, Seoul in September. 

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