IT in Korea
Internet Activity
Internet Activity
The Internet usage in Korea is in a definite
growth phase. The number of Internet users is increasing rapidly;
the number of domestic Internet users increased from 216,192 people in
1993 to 3.1 million in 1997. Currently, 4.6 million people are using
the Internet [20].
According to the Fortune, the number of Korean Internet users is
ranked fourth place within the Asian countries following by Japan, Singapore,
and Hong Kong [21].
The Samsung Economic Research Institute
(SERI) reported the traffic increase on local service providers as indicative
of the growing Internet usage. Yahoo! Korea (www.yahoo.co.kr), the
Korean language search engine and , estimates that approximately
one million people are visiting the site in a week. Also, another
portal site, Daum Communications Corp. (http://www.daum.net), which
is providing web-based free e-mail service such as hotmail.com, is experiencing
a similar situation to Yahoo! Korea. The numbers of its users is growing
dramatically. Recently, Daum Communications Corp. has taken just 5 months
to secured 1 million additional registered users
[22].
Fig 1,2,3, and Table 1 show the number
and growth of Internet Service Providers, hosts, domains.
Table 1. Number of PC online
Service Subscribers. [23]
| Classification |
1997
|
1996
|
1995
|
1994
|
1993
|
|
PC online subscribers
|
3,117,553
|
1,711,013
|
718,188
|
427,623
|
216,192
|
|
Growth Rate
|
82.2%
|
138.2%
|
67.9%
|
97.8%
|
84.5%
|
|
Per 1000
|
67.79
|
37.57
|
15.93
|
9.58
|
4.89
|
Source:
National Statistical Office
Table 2. Number of Internet Host
and Domain in 1998 [24].
|
In 1998
|
Number of Host
|
Number of Domain
|
|
Academic Institutes
|
77,653,000
|
373
|
|
Private Enterprise
|
72,510,000
|
17,317
|
|
Government, and Public Organization
|
506,000
|
117
|
|
NT Operating Institutes
|
20,879,000
|
33
|
|
Non-profit Organization
|
4,500,000
|
1,025
|
|
Research Institutes
|
12,573,000
|
155
|
|
Regional Domain
|
2,851,000
|
322
|
|
Total
|
191,472,000
|
19,342
|
Source:
National Statistical Office
Table 3. Number of Internet Host per 10,000.
|
Classification
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
'89-'96 Average Growth Rate
|
|
Korea
|
0.66
|
1.27
|
2.71
|
5.28
|
10.53
|
143.2%
|
|
U.S.
|
28.73
|
48.74
|
78.44
|
162.15
|
309.46
|
98.5%
|
|
Average European Countries
|
5.12
|
11.27
|
19.20
|
37.55
|
66.27
|
105.8%
|
|
Japan
|
1.27
|
2.86
|
5.80
|
12.77
|
39.59
|
132.2%
|
|
Singapore
|
3.43
|
6.45
|
14.23
|
28.82
|
133.53
|
136.3%
|
|
Taiwan
|
1.02
|
2.61
|
4.88
|
7.59
|
14.29
|
97.9%
|
Source:
Korea Network Information Center
Fig.1.Number of Host. [25]
Source:
Korea Network Information Center
Fig 2. Number of Domain [26]
Source:
Korea Network Information Center
Fig.3 Number of Internet Service Providers.
[27]
Source:
Korea Network Information Center
List of Internet Service Providers in
Korea.
In October 1999, there were 47 ISPs in
Korea. ISPs are divided into two classifications; Non-profit ISPs
and commercial ISPs. Followings are names of ISPs in Korea.
Non-profit ISPs: HPCNET, KOSINET, KREN, KREONET,
PUBNET.
Commercial ISPs: AUNET,BORANET, CHOLLIAN, DOSITEL, DREAMX, ELIMNET,
EYES, GAMENET, HANANET, HANQ, HITEL, INTET, JCITY, KOLNET, KORNET, KOTISNET,
KTNET, LG INTERNET, NAUNURI, NETVALLEY, NOWNET, SDSNET, SHINBIRO, SK TELECOM,
THRUNET, UNITEL, URIEL.
Number of PC online service subscribers
has reached 4,955,000 people in January 1999.
Chollian has 1,402,000 subscribers (28.3%),
Unitel has 1,159,000 subscribers (23.4%), Hitel has 1,402,000 subscribers
(22.2%), Naunuri has 854,000 subscribers (17.3%), and Netsgo has 437,000
(8.8%). [28]
Promoting One PC per Person.
As a part of the Korean government's policy,
which direct for the Information Society, the government is promoting one
PC per one person campaign. By developing and distributing inexpensive
PCs, applications, and the Internet service via the high-speed network,
the government hope that the public are able to get access to PCs at offices
or schools; or either public places or at home.
Table 4. Number of PC Supply [29].
|
Year
|
1997
|
1996
|
1995
|
1994
|
|
Total PC Supply
|
1,921,000
|
1,866,000
|
1,654,000
|
1,532,000
|
|
Per 1,000 people
|
418
|
410
|
367
|
343
|
Source:
National Statistical Office
One interesting trend in Korea is advent
of PC game rooms and Internet Cafes. These are are widely used by young
people. In PC game room, there are 20 to 30 computers which have
an Internet access and installed most popular game software, such as Starcraft.
Users of the PC game room are mostly people who don't have PC at home or
don't have an Internet access. They pay average $1.5 per an hour and enjoy
web surfing, chatting, and playing games. By using PC rooms, every
Korean is able to get access to the Internet.
Competition in High speed Internet Service
High-speed internet service providers estimated
that the number of high-speed Internet subscribers will increase from 600,000
in 1999 to 3million by the year 2000. The high-speed Internet service
market will represent $1.6 billion by the year 2000 [30].
Six main service providers include Dream Line, SK Telecom, KT, Hanaro Telecom,
Durunet, and Dacom are competing by introducing new services, and dropping
down prices.
The SERI expected that the number of PC
online service subscribers will represent 10 million
by the year 2002, and 75% of these people
will use high-speed Internet service [31].
Domestic Portal Sites and Search Engines.
This report was completed in December
1999 for the class
Impacts of National Information Technology
Environments on Business
taught in the program of the MOGIT
(Management of Global Information Technology)
at the
Kogod School of Business at American
University in Washington, D.C.
