Minister reflects on first 100 days

Yesterday, Information Minister Roh Jun-hyong celebrated his 100th day in office. In an interview June 30 with the JoongAng Ilbo, Mr. Roh spoke on his difficult tasks at hand and his plans for the rest of the year. Q. When you were appointed, you said you would focus on the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting, but it seems that the Information Ministry still isn’t getting along with the Broadcasting Committee. Some say that agenda may be postponed until the next administration. A. We’ve just laid the grounds in launching a committee to pursue [issues regarding] a convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting and will begin actual talks soon. The core of the convergence is Internet TV, and [related laws] still have to be passed by the National Assembly. The assembly must revise current broadcasting laws or create new laws, but since it has its own schedule, legislation will take place as early as the end of the year. The government won’t postpone this agenda until the next administration. It has a very firm will to see it through. President Roh Moo-hyun’s resident registration number is being circulated on the Internet and public organization Web sites are leaking people’s private information. What is the government going to do about this? Concepts such as the “information highway” and “ubiquitous computing” have been discussed since 1993 and we have arrived at an age where everything can come true at our fingertips. In making this come true, however, privacy protection must be a prerequisite. We plan to introduce an alternative personal authorization system that will replace resident registration numbers later this year. Not long ago, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates met with Korean college students and said he was interested in finding creative students because he was always thirsty for developers. Do you have any plans to raise students’ creativity? Lack of creativity comes up frequently as an education issue. However, when I look at the Internet, I am astonished by the creativity of young Koreans. I think there is full potential and that they need to take up the challenge. Korea has an advantage in being able to link embedded software with the production industry, which we plan to focus on. Cell phone companies are experiencing difficulties ― not only the small ones, but the major firms as well. What is your stance on this? This year is the hardest year. Next year, circumstances will be better. The mobile TV market will open up in advanced countries because 3G and 3.5G mobile services will be distributed on a wider scale. Korean companies have strength in high value-added products. Never in our history has Korea had such as strong market hold in high value-added products. We will try to make policies and abolish restrictions so that companies can maintain their competitiveness. We will present a schedule for those plans by the end of the year. by Kim Dong-seop, Lee Hee-sung