Futurize Korea

Michael Kanellos did a three day report on South Korea's Digital Dynasty in June 2004. Like the WIRED magazine coverage, the report focused on broadband usage, Samsung and online gaming.

With 13 million of the country's 48 million citizens living in the high-rise forests of this dense metropolis, people are constantly spying on what their neighbors or fellow subway commuters are buying. As a result, South Korea has become something of an open-air focus group for technology manufacturers, accelerating replacement cycles and a plethora of new product uses.

Some other frequently covered subjects by News.Com on Korea: mobile phones, consumer electronics, DRAM/computer hardware, censorship, software piracy and open source.

Another interesting article from Michael is on home networking research in Korea.

The South Korean government and several large companies here are actively promoting technology for connecting every household appliance to the Internet. Under the 8-3-9 initiative, the country is trying to take the lead it has established in broadband (there is a 71 percent penetration rate there, according to an average of various estimates) to serve as a lab--and eventual supplier--for the products for the home of the future.

On a larger and more ambitious scale, the New York Times has a report on the U-Life Digital City initiative.

The U-Life South Korea plans to spend $25 billion on New Songdo, the world's largest "ubiquitous city," with computers linking home life and life on its streets. Construction, 40 miles from Seoul, is to be done in 2014.

A recent report in the JoongAng Daily reported on some pending legislation in the Korean National Assembly to plan and fund future ubiquitous cities.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation said yesterday it will announce a legislative proposal today to support the planning, construction and management of these high-tech hubs. The bill will require that new towns of a certain size be built as ubiquitous cities. New towns that are smaller than the specified dimensions can choose whether to install the computerized systems.