World's first internet president logs on

Web already shaping policy of new South Korean leader

Jonathan Watts in Seoul
Monday February 24, 2003
The Guardian

South Korea will stake a claim to be the most advanced online democracy on the planet tomorrow with the inauguration of a president who styles himself as the first leader fully in tune with the internet.

From calls for a softer stance towards North Korea to demands for a revision of the security alliance with the US, websites are already shaping the position of Roh Moo-hyun's new administration.

"The development of internet technology has changed the whole political dynamic in South Korea to an extent that the outside world has not yet grasped," said Yoon Yong-kwan, the head of foreign policy formulation in Mr Roh's transitional team. "It will affect foreign policy."

The rise of webocracy has already made South Korea a place of exhilarating but unpredictable change.

In recent months online campaigns have swung the presidential election, stirred tens of thousands into anti-US protests and nudged government policy on the nuclear standoff.

New Korea's hi-tech credentials have been a focus of national pride. Its biggest claim to international fame is the development of internet services, which are far ahead of most countries. Almost 70% of homes have a broadband connection, compared with about 5% in Britain.

Because of the high connection speeds, much faster than most British broadband, people use the web more for shopping, trading and chatting. Koreans are said to spend 1,340 minutes online per month, and 10% of economic activity is related to IT - one of the highest levels in the world.

"The internet is so important here," a western diplomat in Seoul said. "This is the most online country in the world. The younger generation get all their information from the web. Some don't even bother with TVs. They just download the programmes."

The voice of this New Korea is OhmyNews, arguably the world's most domestically powerful news site, which has built up almost as big a readership and as fearsome a reputation for moving public opinion as the Sun.

"OhmyNews is as influential as any newspaper," a South Korean diplomat in Tokyo said. "No policymaker can afford to ignore it. South Korea is changing in ways that we cannot believe ourselves."

Polls showed that the victory in December of Mr Roh - who claims to be the world's first president to understand HTML website coding - came from a huge surge of support from twenty- and thirty-somethings. In South Korea, where elections are usually decided by regional rather than generational loyalties, this was a dramatic development.

It was not the last. An OhmyNews report on an accident in which two girls were crushed to death by a US army tractor prompted one surfer to call for demonstrations. Within a week, South Korea was witnessing the biggest anti-US protests in its history.

"We are becoming very powerful," said Bae Eul-sun, one of the Ohmynews editorial team. "The pay is lousy, but it is very satisfying to work here because I really feel like I can change the world little by little."

When the new administration takes power, its external priorities will mark a continuation of the "sunshine policy" of outgoing president Kim Dae-jung, who focused on maintaining a strong alliance with the United States while engaging with North Korea.

But Mr Yoon said policy towards North Korea would be developed to reflect public opinion better. This is likely to give more influence to domestic media and less to the US.

"We will maintain strong ties with the US, but our young people have tasted democracy and they speak out about what they feel. They believe bilateral relations are important but unlike the older generation they don't think it is taboo to make demands of the US."

The change is already apparent. In comparison with the efforts it made during the last North Korean nuclear crisis in 1993-94, Seoul has taken a far more active role in trying to head off a confrontation - even at the expense of infuriating its ally.