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Korea's economy has shown recovery since the financial debacle in 1997. In year 2000, GDP in Korea reached USD 457.4 billion with 7.1% of growth rate [1]. Korea is one of the main producer of IT equipment, electronics, ship-buildings, chemicals and automobiles. In particular, IT industry is one of the fastest growing industry in Korea. The IT industry in Korea has experienced rapid growth in the past 10 years. The production of IT industry increased from USD 58.1 billion in 1998 to USD 109.9 billion in 2000 and growth in production is expected to continue for the time being [1]. The IT industry has continued to have a growing share of the GDP accounting for 8.6% of the GDP in 1997, 9.3% in 1998, 11.2% in 1999 and 13.0% in 2000 [1]. In addition, IT industry exports increased from USD 9.2 billion 1990 to USD 51.2 billion in 2000 [1]. Imports also increased during the same period from USD 7.5 billion to USD 35.5 billion [1]. The growth of exports exceeded that of imports, and the trade surplus grew from USD 1.7 billion to USD 15.7 billion in the last 10 years [1]. Korea ranked 12th (1999) in terms of revenues in telecommunication services [1]. Moreover, in terms of production, Korea ranked 12th in information equipment , 6th in communication equipment and 3rd in electronic components (2000) [1]. The number of IT companies grew at an average rate of 20.2% from 1996 to 2000 [1]. In 1999 alone, IT companies totaled 12,382, representing 0.42% of the total number of companies in Korea [1]. In 2000, IT services companies, equipment manufacturers, and S/W and computer-related services companies took up 33.6%, 7.0%, and 29.8%, respectively, out of the total IT industry [1]. In this report, we scan the IT landscape in Korea and analyze Korea's IT strengths & weaknesses and impacts on businesses. Despite its small population of 48 million, South Korea has became one of the major players in the e-commerce industry with explosively increasing Internet usage and the supervision of a proactive government. The South Korean government deregulated telecom industry, which helped the country's Internet and wireless market enormously. People in South Korea enjoy relatively cheap telephone, broadband network services, high-speed cable modems, and DSL services. These commercial broadband services are offered for about USD 20 to USD 30 per month [8]. There are currently significant internet users in Korea.
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