[kictanet] Korea

Tue Nov 8 19:18:05 EAT 2011

Further to this, I'd recommend an idle reading of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Korea, gives perspective.

On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 7:08 PM, Andrea Bohnstedt <
andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> Vaguely related stuff with a hint of ICT, just in case you want some
> distraction over a cup of (Kenyan!) coffee:
>
> I've recently developed a bit of a weird obsession with North Korea after
> after coming across the crazeballs Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang (have a look
> here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryugyong_Hotel - it takes the concept
> of a white elephant to a whole new level).
>
> So I bought and read the fantastic 'Nothing to Envy' by Barbara Demick and
> also 'North of the DMZ - Essays on Daily Life in North Korea' by Andrei
> Lankov (both available as Kindle e-books, so a mere mouse click away).
>
> It's intriguing that in the beginning, South Korea was actually less
> developed than North Korea - but then caught up and overtook it at a
> blazing speed. When my dad started working in the aid/development industry,
> South Korea was still an aid recipient, now it is a donor, too.
>
> South Korea is one of the most high-tech countries in the world - and
> North Korea one of the most isolated. One of Lankov's essays looks at
> mobile access in North Korea: heavily controlled, only for senior regime
> members (although that may have changed now, as his book is a couple of
> years old). Internet access is just as radically restricted. But during the
> famine, the northern border to China became more porous, and even though
> North Korea is still very cut off, technology has slowly seeped through the
> border as electronic items are smuggled across. In the beginning, the
> global transition from video tapes to DVDs created a surplus of videos that
> nobody wanted anymore - apart from the North Koreans. And DVDs are easier
> to smuggle than video tapes. South Korean content is very popular, and also
> completely undermined the carefully nurtured propaganda that the
> Southerners are poorer than the Northerners. Near the border, North Korean
> can use foreign mobile networks, and also receive foreign broadcast
> content.
>
> Have a good evening,
> Andrea
>
>
> On 8 November 2011 17:52, william janak <williamjanak at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Dr. Ndemo,
>>
>> Thanks for the snap shot of Korea. Your description of what is happening
>> in that country is most most interesting and of course a challenge to us in
>> Kenya because we certainly can do much more to move the country from where
>> it is.
>>
>> Oloo Janak.
>>
>> --- On *Tue, 11/8/11, bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke>* wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke>
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Korea
>> To: williamjanak at yahoo.com
>> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> Date: Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 9:19 AM
>>
>> I arrived in Korea yesterday for a Global e-Government conference.  ITU
>> ranks Korea as number one in ICT diffusion.  From the airport you see
>> people walk through with an e-passport using biometrics.  The New Incheon
>> airport is 70 Kms west of Seoul, the capital and largest city of South
>> Korea with some 11 million inhabitants. It is one of the largest and
>> busiest airports in the world actually the world's fourth busiest airport
>> by cargo traffic, and the world's eighth busiest airport in terms of
>> international passengers in 2010.
>>
>> Korea is about 99,000 sq Kms or one half of the Rift Valley Province of
>> Kenya with a population of 50 million and a GDP of $1 trillion (Kenya's
>> GDP is about $35 billion).  In the 60's it was largely a donor recipient
>> country with a GDP less than that of Kenya and more than 60% of its
>> population below poverty.  They have turned tables to be a member of the
>> OECD and a donor country over a short period.
>>
>> For many years it mostly depended on the USA as its largest trade partner
>> but over a time they focused their energies on the Asian Markets.  Its
>> trade with China, USA and Japan in 2010 figures stands at %190, $98 and
>> $90 billion respectively.  They import a great deal of food and the reason
>> why we should not lease our land but use it to improve on our economic
>> growth.  A Kg of meat here is $100 imported from Canada and Brazil.
>>
>> I asked our Ambassador why we cannot sell our meat here.  He says we do
>> not meat their standards.  This should not be a problem since we have
>> broadband in most parts of the country that we can keep pace with the rest
>> of the world in keeping the records especially those required by various
>> standrds organization.
>>
>> Back to Korea.  ICTs are also deployed along the highways making it easier
>> to go through the toll stations and collecting all the revenues.  You can
>> get data from government at every hour.  You can for example know the
>> number of children born in a day throughtout the country.  There is CCTV
>> practically everywhere.  Crime is approaching zero.
>>
>> There is an over supply of affordable public transport via the rail and
>> bus system all clean and on time.  If you choose to drive on your own, you
>> are taxed at every new turn you make.  The tax from the polluters who
>> cannot use public transport is used to subsidize the energy efficient
>> public tranportation.
>>
>> Every child after high school has to go through the Military thus
>> instilling the discipline required in this competitive world.  Because of
>> such discipline, they do everything very fast.  We were literaly running
>> behind our hosts to catch up with them.  In the Newspapers there is a Bank
>> executive who has committed suicide because he gave questionable loans to
>> friends.  He killed himself for shaming his family and that he may not
>> have any friends.
>>
>> My experience here confirms much of what we have been saying in this
>> forum.  The problem is how to inculcate such high levels of ethical
>> standards as well as feeling of shame.
>>
>>
>> Regards
>>
>>
>> Ndemo.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt>
> Publisher
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>

-- 
Warm Regards,

Phares Kaboro Kariuki
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