Korea has Achieved the Impossible

Korea has become one of the global leaders regarding information and communication technology. Accounting for 40 percent of global demand, Korea has a "communication penetration rate of 100 percent." This means there is one mobile device for every citizen. Not only has the impossible been achieved, but within 20 years. At a meeting on December 18, 1990 to discuss the promotion of science and technology, Kim Jin-hyun, the Minister of Science and Technology, announced a plan that would "turn Korea into one of the world's top seven science and technology powers by 2000."

Boosted by funds and strong support, the Korean IT industry developed rapidly and successfully. The Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute initially favored the TMDA-based (time division multiple access)European standard of GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) but eventually chose CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). Since many European and Americanoperators already possessed TDMA technology, Korea would have to catch up and run the risk of becoming technologically dependent if they chose the TDMA path over CDMA. Despite high stakes and many skeptics, new systems have been developed capitalizing on the CDMA system.

The development of Broadband Internet has made Korea an Internet powerhouse, leading to the explosion of other developments such as the online gaming industry. Just six years after the the launch of the first commercial service the penetration rate was almost twice the average of other developedcountries.

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