The Worldly - A World Culture Web Magazine and 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization

Original posting: December 2003 Issue

by JENNIFER CHANG, editor-in-chief

*Notes on our exclusive interviewee: Samuel Minje Cho is the vice-president of The Kukminilbo, a national daily newspaper in South Korea. He was trained and worked as a reporter before he was put in charge of the Strategic Planning Department. Subsequently, he was promoted to vice-president. At present, he manages the Dizi-wave, a total e-Business solution provider as its president. The Dizi-wave has played an important role in helping the expansion of the internet media.The Kukminilbo was established in 1988 and is a very young newspaper. The Kukminilbo is ranked as 6-7th among the 160 newspapers in Korea. The Kukminilbo was based on the spirit of Christianity. It publishes an issue of 40 pages every day, and among them, 8 pages cover the news on Christianity. The number of Christians in Korea is 10 million, which is 22% of the total population of 45 million people.

When the internet first became widely-used by the public a little over a decade ago, few questioned the experts when they said that the world wide web would revolutionize communication on all scales – local, national, and international. There were even fewer, however, among these experts who dared to offer any specific predictions as to exactly how the world would be affected by a mode of lightning-fast communication for which nearly no limitations existed.

Now the picture is clearer. In the United States, the faces of interpersonal and business communications have been changed forever. We saw the rise of the instant message, of the internet stalker/pedophile, and of the pop-up ad. Where a revolution has failed to materialize, however, is in the realm mass communication. Internet newspapers and magazines in the U.S. are little more than electronic versions of their printed forms. Online message boards set up on these internet publications for serious news discussion are instead flooded with lewd or racist remarks by posters who get their ya-ya’s from anonymously offending people. Of the internet publications that spring up independent of established printed publications, a very small minority last long enough to gain a large or regular readership. Using the internet as a forum for intellectual debate and a means to disseminate news to the general public has proven to be a failed experiment in the United States, and as America is one of the world’s technological leaders, it would be the logical conclusion that the same has happened worldwide.

And yet, surprisingly, this is not the case.

One only needs to look to South Korea to see an example of where internet technology is being put to the uses that the experts once predicted so optimistically for the world.

The Republic of Korea held its presidential elections last year on December 19th. The election pitted Roh Moo-Hyun (who favored a policy of financial aid and industrialization projects for neighboring North Korea) against candidate Yi Hoe-ch'ang (who favored hard line against North Korea in coordination with the US administration). When a few high profile supporters of Roh withdrew their support for him the hour before the polls opened, it was believed that the campaign would be lost to Yi. In a surprising turn of events, however, Roh won by 2.3 percent. Though this defied initial logic, it did not take long for political analysts to piece together what had occurred in the final hours before the polls closed. This correspondence from an intelligence analyst for the US Forces Korea (to a writer for smartmobs.com) tells the story in plain words:

“Young supporters of No Mu-hyon flooded the internet with e-mails and saturated text messaging services with calls to get out the vote for No Mu-hyon……From what my wife had heard, candidate Yi Hoe-ch'ang was leading until about 3 pm on 19 December. The polls closed at 6 pm. If that's correct, there was about three hours for the No Mu-hyon supporters to rally and turn the vote around.”

What happened in South Korea marked the first time in history that the internet has played a decisive role in the outcome of a political election. The logical questions that follow, therefore, would be 1) whether the internet will be so influential in the politics of other countries that are just starting to embrace it, and 2) is such a change possible in America, where the internet has already established itself as more of a mode of entertainment than anything else.

To answer some of our questions, we turn to Samuel Minje Cho, who is fast establishing himself as the expert on the future of internet publications and their current effects on world politics. He has given several talks on the subject in various countries around the globe. What follows in the transcript of our exclusive interview:

The Worldly: Would you say that the boom in internet newspapers in Korea has been a recent phenomenon? What do you think started it, and what allows these publications to enjoy continued success?

Cho: The internet media boom in Korea does not have a long history. In my opinion, the internet media boom started in the year 2000. In particular, the recent presidential election in December 2002 was a great event in enhancing the influence of the internet media.

The internet media had some difficulty in their management during the last two to three years due to the sluggishness of the Information Technology industry, but the presidential election was a turning point in stimulating the internet media. The most important reasons for this kind of internet media boom are the wide spread of the broad-band network and the low cost for its users.

The number of people using the broad-band are already over 10 million in Korea and most of the Korean households and companies now use the broad band internet. As you well know, the OECD and the ITU recently recognized the Republic of Korea as the country with the most wide use of the high-speed internet.The internet media has shaped a new political culture. Owing to this kind of technical development, as has been seen in the events such as the two middle-school students’ death during the U.S military exercise of American troops in Korea, the World Cup match, and the recent presidential election, the young generation has surfaced as an important political power group in Korea.

The Worldly: Why do internet publications have such appeal in South Korea, and what do you think is the reason that they have had so much influence in the country's opinions and events?

Cho: As I mentioned before, the internet appeals to the young generation because of its high speed and easy access to information. They do not want to rely on the printed media any more. They want to use information any time that they need. The internet media satisfies their desire to get information at any time and anywhere.

The internet played a great role in gathering the young generation cheer-group, the ‘Red Devils’ together when the World Cup soccer games were held in Korea and it attracted the young generation in the recent presidential election who has had no interest in such elections before.

The internet is already positioned as a very competitive media compared to the television networks and the major newspapers. For example, the internet media ‘Oh-my-news’ is included in the 10 most powerful media in Korea.

The Worldly: Why do you think the same has not happened in America?

Cho: To be frank, I cannot explain the reason why the impact of the internet in the United States is not as powerful as in Korea. Even though many Americans use the internet, the broad-band network has not spread throughout the U.S. as it has in Korea. In my opinion, if the broad-band internet is not as widely provided, the speed in the wide use of the internet cannot be compared with that of Korea. Geographically, the area of Korea is about 1/100th of the size of the United State, thus it is a little bit easier to establish the broad-band network in Korea.

The Worldly: How would you say the internet publications have changed South Korea on the whole?

Cho: First of all, the media market has changed greatly. The internet media has changed the media market which the printed media had dominated before. Internet media has the advantage of speed. Because the internet media does not have the limitation of space, they can cover many events more in depth than the printed media. The internet media, the Oh-my-news and the Pressian have made great advances.

Second. the internet enlarged the generation gap between the young generation who are good at using the internet and the old generation who are poor at using the internet. Additionally, the internet provides broad opportunities for many people to express their opinions through the on-line media about social issues. Before the on-line media existed, only the leading opinion groups could present their opinions.

The Worldly: What do you foresee to be the FUTURE role of alternative communications in shaping the nation (in politics? in public opinion?). Do you think it is only a short phase, or do you believe this is a revolution that is occuring in Korea that will last for decades?

Cho: The on-line media is trying to develop various new ways to communicate information. The Kukminilbo is also trying to do internet-mobile broadcasting which is connecting on-line media and the off-line media. I think the internet media will advance greatly and make various types of new media in the future.

The Worldly: Do you think it will spread worldwide?

Cho: I think it will spread worldwide. The presence of the new media is not a temporary phenomenon. It will continue to develop around the world. I expect the present broadcasting, the press, and internet media will be changed considerably in the next 10 years.

It is important to note, in conclusion, that South Korea has only been allowed a free press since the late 80’s. The country’s rapid advances and increasingly innovative uses of the print and internet media since then have given the people a clear voice – one that truly brings about great change. It is an accomplishment that would be a credit to any country. Whether our own can make such effective use of the rapidly evolving internet technology to facilitate the democratic process remains to be seen.

A special thanks to the honored Mr. Samuel Minje Cho, who took time out of his busy schedule to allow our humble university publication an exclusive interview. His readiness to educate the public on this important topic is truly commendable and greatly appreciated by our staff and readers.

Internet sources: http://www.smartmobs.com/archives/000462.html, www.timeasia.com