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Export and Workforce

Since 2019, Korea has led in 5G, mobile life, and smart cities—tech for real-time living. Watch Professor Hosung Jo explain more.

In the 1990s, Korea transitioned digitally via the KII project, deploying fiber-optic internet nationwide to link homes, schools, and offices. This sparked PC bangs (internet cafés), central to e-sports and online gaming. Korea bypassed foreign platforms, building local ones: Naver (Q&A), Daum (news, forums), and Cyworld (avatars). By 2005, a ‘platform society’ emerged, with internet-driven services for news, shopping, jobs, tax, and school records. Digital literacy programs bridged generational divides, while rural areas gained access, embodying digital democracy. In the 2010s, smartphones dominated, with apps replacing IDs, bank cards, and keys. Korea didn’t just adopt mobile trend. It led global mobile living, reshaping work, learning, and connectivity. Explore how top-down infrastructure, grassroots innovation, and inclusive policies propelled Korea to the forefront of the digital age.