Futurize Korea

The Korean government has started a project to make their e-government websites compatible with more browsers due to the old problem of websites requiring Microsoft’s Internet Explorer due to the reliance on ActiveX controls for security functionality:

According to the government Sunday, users of these ``non-traditional'' browsers will be able to file for year-end tax returns, sign up for a new passport or look for job openings and do much more at various service Web sites operated by the state.

The Ministry of Public Administration and Security, which is in charge of directing e-government initiatives, said that it will invest 11.5 billion won this year for technical projects to increase the browser compatibility of 49 e-government service Web sites.

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Korean book publishers are looking to recruit some popular Korean bloggers to author new books:

Thirsty for safe, and cheaper, investment materials as their budgets tighten, publishers are eagerly searching the Web for the newest “blogging talent.” They now call the blog-based books “blooks,” combining “blog” and “book.”

“Blogs are like a limitless sea of ideas - a real blue ocean for us,” said Kim Eun-joo, publishing manager at Yedam Books.

Several factors make bloggers’ books attractive, including built-in positive word-of-mouth, considered even more valuable and effective than paid advertising in many cases.

Korean movie studios like CJ Entertainment are starting talks to sell their movies online:

However, with the government getting serious about copyright enforcement on the Internet, the studios are now smelling serious money and considering more ways to work with Internet companies to deliver their movies to the online audience, an idea that was repulsive to them just months ago.

Jean Kim at OhMyNews takes a look at how broadband access influences entertainment companies in Korea:

Considering its relatively smaller market size in Asia, the marketing budget set aside by the studios for the Korean premiere event is nothing short of a splurge.

Industry observers believe, however, that the studios are simply aiming to preempt rampant Korean file downloaders by opening them in Seoul first.

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Korean students are pushed on academics and it’s helped create a giant market for companies delivering online courses. The New York Times profiled one of those firms, Megastudy:

About 2.8 million students, including approximately half of all college-bound high school seniors, are members of Megastudy, which allows them access to some of the country’s most celebrated exam tutors. For a fraction of what they would pay at traditional private “cram schools,” students can watch video-on-demand tutorials on home computers or download them into hand-held devices for viewing in the subway or parks.

A recent plan by the Korean government to restrict the closing time of “hagwons” attended by students might just move them to studying more online:

Market watchers point out that the Korea-specific phenomenon ― if the government tries to reduce private education costs in one area, the money will flow into another segment ― will offer a windfall to the country's education companies that have already chalked up fast growth over the past few years.

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Satellite digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) mobile TV provider TU Media announced they had reached 2 million users for their subscription service:

The jump in the number of subscribers is attributable to the company introducing ``Slim Package'' rates, which allow SK Telecom customers to view some of its DMB channels for free.

TU Media has been saying it needs about 2.5 million subscribers to be profitable and believes 2.3 million by the end of the year is an achievable goal.

Futurize Korea: WSJ looks at the popularity of Korean mobile television (December 16, 2008)

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Minerva recently decided to start writing and blogging again after his recent decision to move to the US to study economics. Park Dae-sung also seems to be set to stop using  Daum’s blogging service:

Professor Jin Joong-kwon of ChungAng University initiated the exodus to the cyber asylum as he shifted from Daum to Blogspot, a Google service whose servers are located in the United States.

After Jin was accused of defaming a conservative political commentator, Daum suspended several of the articles in question. Then the Internet gladiator announced he would leave Daum earlier this month.

Nexon announced a deal to bring two of their online games to Russia:

Nexon Corp., the leading Korean online game maker, has signed a contract to export the popular "Crazy Arcade B&B" and "Crazy Racing Kartrider" to Innova Systems, one of the major game distributors in Russia and 11 other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Korean prosecutors decided to give a reprieve to thousands of teenagers caught for copyright infringement charges over pirated music files:

The prosecution decided to be lenient with people under the age of 19 to reduce the number of teenagers with criminal records since most of them were found to have been unaware of the consequences of downloading and sharing copyrighted songs. First-time offenders are to be let off.

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The New York Times recently visited South Korea to look at how people are integrating mobile phones into their lives:

Among all these features, however, one enterprise the country’s wireless carriers are banking on is bringing cash and credit to the mobile phone, “thus making South Korea a walletless, cashless society,” said Ju Hee-sang, a manager for mobile cash payments at SK.

Each month last year, four million South Koreans bought music, videos, ring tones, online game subscriptions and articles from newspaper archives and other online items and charged them to their mobile phone bills, without going through any bank or credit card.

Korean Insight wrote about a new royalty card program from SK Telecom using USIM  (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) cards:

Can you imagine that you collect your nectar point with your mobile phone? It might be possible in the near future because your nectar card function can be embedded in the USIM card in your mobile phone. This will definitely lighten you wallet, which are usually filled with a number of credit cards, royalty cards etc.

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At the recent Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Korea was once again not included on a list of countries where the iPhone is available for purchase.

But there might be some hope for Korean iPhone fans, Lee Chan-jin was interviewed by the Korea Herald where he speculated that the iPhone would finally be released in August and make an immediate impact in the Korean market:

"Although KT may have to relinquish control over the content and applications downloaded onto mobile phones, it will gain more than it loses from the introduction of the iPhone," he said. "KT will be able to generate revenue from mobile data plans required for the iPhone, which will offset a drop in content revenue."

He added, "KT can also benefit from subscriber growth, as the iPhone is expected to incite many customers to switch from its larger rival SK Telecom, to KT."

And Planet Size Brain has details on a recent application from Apple to recive certification from the Korean Radio Research Agency for the iPhone 3G.

Web 2.0 Asia: Once you're lucky, twice you're good, third time you're... great (February 2, 2009)

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