By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Once regarded as future growth engines of the country, Korea's high-tech industries including information technology (IT) and the Internet have seemingly lost steam over the past few years.
Industry insiders and experts claim that the current administration is at least partially responsible for the sliding fortune of the high-tech businesses, which have slumped on global competitiveness indices.
In its annual survey on global IT competitiveness, the Business Software Alliance ranked Korea at third in 2007 but the nation slid to eighth in 2008, when President Lee Myung-bak took office, and 16th last year.
"The problem with the Lee administration is that it does not have any IT policies. As far as IT and the Internet are concerned, the nation is now falling by the wayside," professor Min Kyung-bae at Kyung Hee Cyber University said.
"The Seoul administration disbanded the IT control tower, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), while suppressing some Internet companies through tax audits or prosecution investigations. These ended up weakening our IT competitiveness," he said.
The MIC, which had spearheaded the development of high-tech businesses, was dismantled as soon as President Lee took charge. In addition, some Internet entities had to undergo unexpected tax audits or even prosecution for controversial reasons in controversial times.
Many economists contend that Korea needs to shift its policy priority from pump-priming construction work to knowledge-intensive businesses down the road.
Under the stewardship of the builder CEO-turned-president, bureaucrats have come up with a series of infrastructure construction plans, which will cost tens of trillions of won over the next few years.
For example, the four-river refurbishment scheme is underway involving the country's four main rivers ― the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan.
The related budget is expected to reach as high as 30 trillion won.
"I am not an expert in IT or the Internet. But it is common sense that the construction projects will not benefit the country that much in the long run," economics professor Lee Jun-koo at Seoul National University said.
"For a small-sized country that is rich in talent, knowledge-based businesses such as IT or the Internet are better. In my view, the government is required to rethink its policy for the future of the country," he said.
As distrust of the government runs high in the IT industry, the associated ministries have tried to win back the hearts of high-tech firms with various measures but to little avail so far.
For instance, President Lee appointed a special IT advisor midway through last year while Korea Communications Commission Chairman Choi See-joong recently disclosed a plan to support venture start-ups related to high-tech innovation.
However, the industry appears to be not buying into the ideas.
"To be frank with you, I do not trust the government when it comes to IT policies," said the CEO of a domestic Internet firm that was prosecuted for what he said was a tiny issue.
"Currently, I don't care whether the government gives us the cold shoulder. I just hope that it lets us do business without having to worry about prosecution or tax audits for dubious reasons," he said.