Korea’s Top Stories in Science and Technology of the 2000s
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
It was quite a decade for Korea, an increasingly technology-obsessed nation where geekery qualifies as cool, hospitals dabble with gene therapies and everyone has their own opinion about the latest failed rocket launch.
In the 2000s, the country witnessed its own emergence as a technology powerhouse, thanks to aggressive government policies, a vibrant local industry and a wealth of talent in science research.
Korea is now one of the most wired countries on the planet, with mobile telephony and broadband Internet penetration rates both approaching the high 90s, percentage wise, while the fascination with e-this and e-that has been dramatically changing the way people live and work.
There have been notable achievements in science as well, with local researchers gaining reputations in biotechnology, new materials, drug development, aerospace engineering and other advanced fields.
Too bad their efforts are destined to be overshadowed by the perils of a certain disgraced cloning expert when people recall the memories of the Korean science sector of the 2000s.
As the decade comes to a close, The Korea Times takes a look at the biggest stories in science and technology in the last 10 years. If you’re interested, you can retrace the paths of the stories below on our Web site (www.koreatimes.co.kr).
1. The Hwang Woo-suk Saga
 It was just five years ago when Hwang Woo-suk, then a Seoul National University (SNU) researcher, achieved rare rock-star status as a scientist for his work on cloned human stem cells.
Now, Hwang, since dismissed from SNU and forced to set up his own lab in Gyeonggi Province, is considered the biggest pariah of the science world.
Hwang made global headlines in 2004, when his research team claimed it had successfully cloned a human embryo and produced stem cells from it ― a technique they said could open new opportunities to provide cures for a range of diseases ― in a study published by peer-review journal, Science.
The following year, Hwang's team claimed to have created patient-specific stem cells from cloned embryos, also published by Science and regarded at the time as an even greater achievement.
But Hwang's reputation was left in tatters after an SNU panel exposed both studies as fraudulent the following year, which led to his dismissal from the school. Science retracted both papers.
However, the 2005 cloning of Snuppy, the Afghan hound, the world's first cloned dog, remains Hwang’s verified achievement.
The cloning scandal had a devastating effect on local research efforts; it wasn’t until April of this year that the government finally decided to lift its three-year ban on embryonic stem cell research.
It's debatable whether the international science community will ever take Hwang seriously again, but the disgraced cloning pioneer is still managing to find clients for his services.
The Hwang-led Sooam Biotech Research Center recently landed a deal with the Gyeonggi provincial government for research on genetically modified pigs to be used for organ transplants.
2. Korean Tech Giants Go Global
It wasn’t long ago when Samsung Electronics was considered the poor man’s Sony. Now, the roles seem reversed, with Samsung, since emerging as the world’s biggest electronics maker, blowing its competitors out of the water.
Samsung is now the world’s biggest maker of flat-screen televisions and second-largest provider of mobile phones, while also being the leading producer of memory chips and liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels.
After being labeled a follower in recent years, Samsung has been gaining a reputation for innovative products and technologies, as seen by benefiting from getting early out of the gates in light-emitting diode (LED) backlit televisions, which are currently the buzz in consumer electronics.
Gaining in Samsung’s rear-view mirror is LG Electronics, as the competition between the two domestic rivals goes global. LG is currently the runner-up in the television market and the No. 3 handset vendor behind Nokia and Samsung.
3. Broadband Penetration Hits Roof
Since first turning its attention to broadband Internet access in the early 1990s, Korea has since emerged as one of the most connected nations on the planet, only rivaled by Japan and Hong Kong in Asia.
Currently, the country has more than 16 million broadband subscribers, which account for about 95 percent of the 16.67 million households counted at the end of 2008. The number of broadband users exceeded the 10 million mark in 2002, just three years after the high-speed data services were commercially launched in 1999.
Recently, broadband access has been going wireless. Telecommunications giant KT is vowing to nearly quadruple the number of its 13,000 Wi-Fi access zones next year to meet the growing demand for wireless Internet services generated by laptop computers, smartphones and other portable devices.
KT and industry rival SK Telecom are both operating WiBro, a wireless technology that is the local variant of mobile WiMAX, which is competing with Long Term Evolution (LTE) in the fourth-generation (4G) standard battles. The two companies currently combine for around 170,000 users for WiBro, which promises fast broadband delivered to a wide range of devices.
4. Ubiquitous Mobile Phones
 Korea has also become one of the undisputed leaders in mobile communications as well, as evidenced by a wireless penetration rate that is inching toward the high 90s.
KT, the country’s No. 2 mobile telephony operator behind SK Telecom, predicts that more than 49 million handsets will be used by local wireless users in 2010, representing a penetration rate of over 100 percent.
Since Statistics Korea estimates the country’s population to reach 48.8 million next year, Korea looks to be on the verge of becoming a country with more mobile phones than heads.
To keep growth alive in a saturated voice market, the wireless carriers are now considering more ways to boost revenue from data and get a better return for their massive third-generation (3G) investments.
The popularity of smartphones, which provide Web browsing and multimedia atop of voice, certainly helps, as premium phones like the iPhone 3GS and T-Omnia II are now flying off the shelves. And with the carriers offering a larger variety of fixed-rate monthly data plans, the long-awaited mobile Internet explosion just might become a reality next year.
5. Rise of New Convergence Technologies
With Korea becoming a source of innovation for broadband and wireless technologies, such advancements have been resulting in the birth of a wide range of convergence services.
Digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) has made mobile television conventional to Korean handset users since satellite operator TU Media first beamed its signals in 2005.
The country’s mobile television audience exceeds 23 million when including viewers of the free terrestrial DMB services, with mobile television reception becoming a popular function in handsets.
Telecommunications operators like KT, SK Broadband and LG Telecom are also pushing Internet protocol television (IPTV). By delivering television services over broadband networks, the operators are providing viewers with a wealth of interactive features, including video-on-demand (VOD), e-commerce and other data services on top of conventional television programming. A full year after entering commercial services, the country’s number of IPTV viewers is approaching 2 million.
The emergence of voice over Internet telephony (VoIP), which provides cheaper rates compared to traditional fixed-line telelphony services, has declared the death of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) as a relevant business model. Telecommunications companies are also pushing a new type of Internet telephony service called fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), which allows users to switch between fixed-lines and mobile networks using a single handset.
6. Emergence of Online Media
With the Internet becoming increasingly essential to how people get information and stay connected, the dead-tree media is bleeding red ink. Newspapers are now concerned over possibility being wiped out by independent news sources, such as blogs and online news sites.
Now, popular Web portals like Naver (www.naver.com) and Daum (www.daum.net) seem to wield stronger power than traditional news outlets in the shaping of public opinion, with their news sections and message boards generating a massive chunk of their online traffic.
Professional news sites such as Oh My News (www.ohmynews.com) and Pressian (www.pressian.com) have also gained significant readership.
The ubiquitous blogs and emerging micro-blogging services such as Twitter (www.twitter.com) and me2DAY (www.me2day.net), which allow users to broadcast their real-time status online, are proving to be just as dangerous a threat to the print media, as they eliminate the need of a middleman between the news source and reader.
With the Internet having such a massive influence, government officials are now debating whether to put major Internet sites under the same regulatory framework of news organizations, which means more scrutiny.
The controversial plans also include limiting online anonymity and stronger punishments for cyber bullying and misinformation, which critics claim would suppress legitimate online speech.
7. Blossoming of User-Generated Content
Korean Internet users have been developing a vibrant Internet culture over the last 10 years, which has allowed Internet companies to explore innovative services based on user-generated content.
Web sites like Daum and Naver have been gaining popularity since the late 1990s for their online community services called ``cafes’’ and blogging platforms.
The creation of Cyworld (www.cyworld.com), launched in 1999, was perhaps a bigger innovation. It continues to maintain a stronger presence with more than 23 million subscribers and provide a prototype for social networking services such as Facebook and Myspace.
Internet companies are now racing to convert their services for use on portable devices as their competition goes mobile. This also has them creating their own Twitter-like micro-blogging services, with Naver’s me2DAY off to a bright start.
8. Online Games Become Industry Standard
Online computer games are becoming just as distinctive a Korean export as cheap cars and kimchi, as they increasingly steal the space of console games as a global industry standard.
Companies like NCsoft, now one of the world’s largest computer game publishers, first generated the online game craze in the late 1990s, with role-playing games such as Lineage gaining massive acceptance.
With the games running from computer servers, Korean companies didn’t have to worry about selling discs or game cartridges, thus relieving them from privacy and inventory worries that haunted other game companies in China and other Asian nations.
Now, the Korean online game companies are trying to extend their success in Asia to North America and Europe. NCsoft is off to a bright start, with its new fantasy role-playing game, Aion, getting positive reviews from Western gamers.
9. Copyright Issues Increase
The negative side of the Korean Internet boom has been rampant online piracy, as evidenced by every major Hollywood studio giving up on their DVD businesses here.
Copyright holders in the music, film and television industries have ferociously battled peer-to-peer sites such as Soribada and Freechal for years, blaming them for profiting from illegal file swapping that had a devastating impact on their revenue.
The government is now moving to strengthen its anti-file sharing measures to curb online piracy.
The revised copyright law, devised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, grants authorities the power to suspend the Web accounts of Internet users transferring copyrighted content such as videos, music and text, for a maximum of six months.
Regulators can also shut down Web sites after a third warning over copyright infringement, regardless of whether or not the copyright holders complained about it.
Internet users accused of illegally sharing copyrighted content will also be subject to the ``three-strikes'' rule, which results in having their Web accounts severed.
10. Korea Fires First Space Rocket
All eyes were on the Naro Space Center at the southwestern tip of the peninsula on Aug. 25 when Korea attempted its very first space launch at its brand new space center.
Although the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) reached its desired height and speed on its maiden flight, it failed to deliver its payload satellite into orbit because the fairings, the part of the rocket which covers the satellite on top of the launcher, didn't separate properly.
Russia's Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center, which is providing the technology for the Korean rocket project, is contracted for another launch during the first half of next year, likely to be somewhere between April and May, and a possible third should it be found responsible for failure in any of the first two launches.
After launching KSLV-1 rockets once or twice more, Korea will focus on its second-generation space rocket, the KSLV-II, which it plans to complete and launch by 2019, relying almost entirely on domestic technology.
The government is planning to spend around 1.5 trillion won (about $1.26 billion) on the KSLV-II, which will be used to send a 1.5-kilogram satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of somewhere between 600 to 800 kilometers above sea level.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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