 Urmas Paet |
Staff Reporter
For many Koreans, Estonia may be considered just a far-away country where backpackers travel.
But the country in northern Europe is much closer to Korea than most think as people here benefit from Estonia-made services almost every day when they use Skype, a voice-over-IP application.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, 35, said that the two IT powerhouses ― Korea and Estonia ― can share experiences in developing this sector.
"I think Korea is advanced in (the IT) sector and has great potential, so the two countries can cooperate and share related experience," he said in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Tuesday.
Paet is the first Estonian foreign minister to visit Seoul since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1991. During his stay, he met with Foreign Minister Yu Myun-hwan, Tuesday. Paet also served as culture minister between 2003 and 2005.
He highlighted human resources as Korea's main strength in the IT industry.
"Korea has brains. It has skilled people in this area, knowledge, tradition, strong companies, strong finances and a strong market," he said. "I think the IT sector is a strong part of the economy, which is well fueled."
Estonia with a population of 1.3 million utilizes its IT technology well in the public sector.
Paet pointed to the country's electronic voting system introduced in 2005, saying, "People can vote at home, or wherever they are, with no need to go to a polling station."
The European country became the first to hold "legally binding" general elections online in 2005 and picked legislators through the system in 2007.
The minister said, however, Estonia has not always been an IT powerhouse.
"About 20 years ago, we became independent from the former Soviet Union. Then, we had almost nothing," he said.
The country turned its eyes toward the IT sector and found the necessity to advance it, he said.
Asked what the secret was to developing IT technology and creative programs, including Kazaa, a peer-to-peer file sharing application, the minister said the country allows people room to experiment.
"Our society is very open, so it is easy for young people to try new things and get results," he said. "I think this helped the country become the birthplace of Skype and other technology."
IT technology does not always generate positive results, as evidenced by cyber attacks that crippled Estonian computers in 2007.
"It also has risks," he said. "This kind of attack can kill your banking and mobile systems."
Thus, a cyber defense center was established in its capital, Tallinn.
Minister Paet said Korean experts are welcome to visit and increase cooperation. "The two countries can discuss how to create an international legal framework to deal with cyber defense."
While Estonia has just begun to seek partnership with Asia, Paet is optimistic about the future.
"(The Korean) development process is interesting and (Korea) also survived the global financial crisis," he said.
Besides, Paet noted that the two countries share similar historical backgrounds, which could help boost cooperation and exchanges.
"South and North Korea have divided families who are not able to see each other and so did Estonia," he said. "Mental understanding is much stronger than we may expect."
The Estonian minister left Seoul, Thursday, ending his Asian trip that also had taken him to Singapore from Jan. 8 to 11.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
