Category Archives: Korea

Mobile Internet on Smartphones Challenging Real-name ID Law | Telecoms Korea

Mobile Internet on Smartphones Challenging Real-name ID Law

Submitted by TKorea on 2010/03/12 – 10:44 pmNo Comment

The decision, which overturns the regulator’s ruling a year ago, is touching off a debate about the effectiveness of Internet regulations that have changed little over recent years, while the Web market and the industry are changing rapidly with the emergence of new Web devices such as smartphones, a mobile handset with computer-like functions.

“IT companies have long been concerned about the real-name requirement for Web portals,” said Kim Joong-tae, a consultant to IT companies and head of Seoul-based IT House, a private group collecting data and analysis on the local IT industry. “It makes it practically impossible for Korean companies to make services that attract users around the world.”

via telecomskorea.com

This is a good post, though it jumps around a little too much. The take-away is that the real name verification law limits the reach and grow of local Internet players.

What they don’t address is the benefits that real name verification has for data collection with the big local players. Real name verification makes it easy for these companies to collect data on their users across sites. If there companies were really against real name identification, it would have been overturned a long time ago.

Funny Sign: How not to use the Bathroom: Rated R | Seoul Eats

Media_http2bpblogspot_rkitd
via seouleats.com

Oh my! Too funny. Seoul Eats posted this picture as seen in a Seoul bathroom on proper toilet etiquette. I’m going to guess it was intended to be humorous, but you never know.

Wireless Data Usage Surges over 100-fold After iPhone’s Launch – not surprising. tethering might factor into this.

Wireless Data Usage Surges over 100-fold After iPhone’s Launch

Submitted by TKorea on 2010/03/08 – 9:43 pm

Monthly usage of wireless data among smartphone users in South Korea surged over 100-fold during the first two months following the iPhone’s launch here, a report from KT showed Monday.

via telecomskorea.com

Certainly not a surprise, but KT had to have been taken aback. Nobody predicted the sales of iPhone that has been seen here in Korea. This corresponded to increased data plans for iPhones as well as other smartphones.

I hope that they are able to alter their business model from features to data to a certain extent. It think that this will benefit users, though not the telecoms.

What’s a Seoulite Like?

What’s a Seoulite Like?

By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

In Seoul, a city with a population of 10.4 million, the average resident is a 37.6-year-old married office worker with a bachelor’s degree and works 46.4 hours per week, according to a survey by Seoul City Hall and Statistics Korea released on Monday.

They take the subway to work and earn 3.6 million won as their monthly wage and spend 2.8 million won per month with 610,000 won covering food and 580,000 won going to private education.

Six out of 10 households earn between 2 million and 4 million won monthly, which makes them the so-called middle class.

The number of Seoul residents in their 20s or under is on the decline while the population of the older generation is increasing.

Every day there are 264 births, 106 deaths and 197 marriages. In 2009, 91,000 babies were born in Seoul, around a 3,700 decrease from the previous year.

There are 26,000 foreigners registered in Seoul, a five-fold jump from 10 years ago.

Each household is composed of 2.48 members on average and the number of single-person households takes up a 35 percent share, a 66-percent increase from 1999.

More than 42 percent of Seoul’s housing consists of apartments, while houses only account for 7 percent.

The rest are multi-household houses.

About 47 percent of households are in debt, with the biggest portion being mortgage loans.

via koreatimes.co.kr

It is scary how much this resembles my family.

Web Design for the Korean Market 101

Web Design for the Korean Market 101

Here’s a quick rap sheet for WEB DESIGN FOR THE KOREAN MARKET
(aesthetically speaking):

Benchmarks:  (note: Korean sites are usually best viewed in IE.  Many Korean sites will not display properly in FF, Safari or other browsers).

Portal/Search: use www.NAVER.com as you benchmark. Not Daum.

Social Network: www.cyworld.com
(you must look at the pop-up “mini-hompies”– that’s the meat of it.)

Community/Forums: www.dcinside.com

Blog: www.tistory.com

Flash: www.kidzania.co.kr

Commercial: www.flowerfund.co.kr

Ecommerce: www.Gmarket.com

Korea Portal Naver

if you need other examples, you have to give me a specific area.

Anyway.. here’s the bullet point rundown:

Pastel colors, media rich, loud, flashy, lots of flash ok (esp. for menus and stuff like that)

via kmixx.com

Richard, you’re becoming a must-read for me. Great post.

The rest of you, read the whole thing. You’ll hate everything he says, but he’s 100% right on. I haven’t been an IE user for years, but I keep it handy each and every time I visit a Korean site. I load up all the active X I can get my hands on, update Flash, and put on my sunglasses to ward off the glare from flashing graphics.

Can I Learn Korean? Great blog with suggestions from someone trying to learn Korean

Media_http3bpblogspot_emboa
via canilearnkorean.blogspot.com

I really like this. The blogger writes about his experiences as they relate to learning Korean. These are primarily pointing to websites and apps for learning the language. Great recommendations.

Choice vs Package (business in Korea) http://www.kmixx.com/2009/12/choice-vs-package/

I like this one. Yet another I missed a while ago. It’s pretty obvious (after being pointed out) to someone who has lived in Korea for a long time, but it’s also critical for anyone to know who wants to enter the market.

Korean Tech Is Losing Its Cool – BusinessWeek

Korean Tech Is Losing Its Cool

How Korea, a onetime digital trendsetter, became a laggard in an era of smartphones—and amazing apps

By
Moon Ihlwan

The iPhone’s popularity is a sign that Korea may be losing its edge in the international market, despite its reputation as the epicenter of digital cool. The country still rules in hardware, but it is stumbling in software.

“The Policy Backfired”

Seoul in 2005 required handset makers and content providers offering products or services in the country to use a Korean technology for Internet access instead of the programs used in most other countries. The rule was rescinded last year, but it clearly slowed the foreigners: The iPhone hit Korea more than two years after its U.S. debut. The downside is that Korean software writers were left with programs that worked only in their home market. As a result, they received scant exposure to the rigors of the global marketplace. “The policy backfired for Korea by stopping competition for innovation,” says Chung Tai Myoung, an engineering professor at Sungkyunkwan University.

Yet when it comes to smartphones—perhaps the most important new sector in the technology business—young Koreans don’t expect much from homegrown alternatives to Apple or BlackBerry. “I don’t think I’ll want a Korean phone in the next few years,” says Yoon Ju Hwan, a 30-year-old fund manager who bought an iPhone in December. “We simply don’t have the capabilities to create the kinds of things Apple does.”

The above is just a couple good paragraphs from the article. I recommend you check the whole thing out. It’s a good, well-rounded piece.

My only pause is that I think the author cherry-picked responses from techies. I don’t think that this is the opinion of the average Korean. I’d say the average Korean still doesn’t give a hoot about smartphones.

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