South Korea and Technology

Many Americans, when they find out that I live and work in Korea, ask me "North or South"? I think that question shows the lack of understanding that many Westerners have about South Korea and its place in the world. While I am not going to address this issue generally, I will talk about technology, and to some degree, where South Korea fits into that picture. After all, I am a bit of a geek!

Over the years I have seen a number of technologies where South Korea has a leadership position in one way or another. However, I recently saw two technologies that I want to talk about. One has made the world stage in a few ways, the second is not as widely popular outside of South Korea.

I was at the YongSan electronics market last weekend. The market is a gathering of a very large number of electronics and gadget manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers where the general public can go to buy the latest gadgets, computers, electronic games, etc. I came across something called the KF WiBro Egg. More about WiBro later, but the KT WiBro Egg connects to the cellular network by WiBro but the egg is also capable of joining up to three computers, iPhone, iTouch, or anything with WiFi capability to the WiBro network. The Egg has a battery life of four hours but also has external power capabilities also. In essence, you have your own WiFi router attached to the fast WiBro network anywhere you go (in Korea of course). Out walking, riding in a car or train, anywhere the cellular network stretches (and in South Korea, that even includes subway systems). The Egg itself costs KRW 120 thousand (Korean won) (about US$94 at the time the blog was written) with a one year contract. The WiBro monthly cellular service costs range from KRW 19,800(US$15.50) for 30GB transfer per month to KRW 27,000 (US$21.10) for 50GB of transfer per month. Of course, for the budget conscious you can get 1GB of transfer per month for a mere KRW 10,000 (US$ 7.82).

There is a back story to this technology as well. South Korea developed WiBro and launched it in 2006. WiBro has an aggregate throughput of 30 ~ 50 MBits/sec! That is enough to put most fixed home internet connections in the US to shame! There is one limitation though -- 120 kph (or roughly 75 mph). Yes, you can stay connected with good network speed and quality in your car/train/bus while traveling at speeds up to 75 miles per hour! Amazing!

In the West, this technology is known more frequently as WiMax or 4G services. So how did South Korea launch these services in 2006 (of course significantly improved over the last few years) but we in the West are just now seeing them?

Next Blog will continue the technology theme with Lithium ion batteries (yes, South Korea is a technology leader in this critical technology as well!).