Korea as king of tech is ministry ambition

Relying on his experience in leading a large private company, Information Minister Chin Dae-je is setting forth a broad and ambitious strategy aimed at making Korea a world leader in technology. The Ministry of Information and Communication recently launched a project to identify and aid growth industries for the future. Mr. Chin, the former head of Samsung Electronics, coined a slogan, “839 project,” for the strategy. The slogan refers to eight telecommunications services, such as broadcasting through satellites or Internet phones; three infrastructure components ― a broadband network that integrates communication, broadcasting, and the Internet network ― and nine growth information technologies on which Korea will stake its future, such as wearable personal computers or robots with artificial intelligence. Based on the project, the ministry wants to raise the scale of the information technology industry in Korea from 209 trillion won ($183 billion) in production and $57.6 billion in exports last year to 380 trillion won in production and $110 billion in exports by 2007. The information technology industry’s share in gross domestic product would then grow from 15.6 percent last year to 19.3 percent. “Our first 839 conference was on March 30,” Noh Jun-hyeong, who heads the planning and management bureau at the ministry, said yesterday. “And we will hold one every month to review the development of the project.” Each participant at the conference had three minutes for their briefings. Their reports had to be condensed onto a single sheet of paper. Mr. Chin, who became information minister last year, ordered a streamlining of his staff and their work, a ministry official said. “Reports do not need to be long. Only essential parts are necessary,” Mr. Chin reportedly said. There have been many talks at the information technology-related ministries, such as the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Information and Communication, or the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, about the government selecting and nurturing future growth industries. This was the first time that an actual task force was created and given a name. “We thought that without securing necessary infrastructures and parallel development of services that can apply the technologies in the real life, there will be limits in the developments of such future growth industries,” an official from the information ministry said. As a result, the 839 project is a version that expanded the number of selected industries to nine, and stressed the simultaneous establishment of service and infrastructure network, the official said. The ministry’s plan is that the government takes the initiative in telecommunications services and infrastructures, while letting project managers from private sector that lead the part to nurture nine future growth engines. “The government plans to invest 800 billion won in the project, while the private sector will invest 1.2 trillion won in the initial stage,” said Mr. Chin. “We expect an estimated 111 trillion won worth of effect on production inducement.” The business community asked that the government to provide participating companies with incentives, and not discriminate against small- and medium-sized collaborators. “It is necessary for the government to select what industries to focus on and support to strengthen industrial and national competitiveness,” said Shin Jae-jeong, from the Korea Internet corporations Association. “But we wish that the government allow small information technology companies to have opportunities, too.” by Chung Sun-gu