Korean Cyber-Warfare

The Korean War may have ended in an armistice, but it seems to be continuing in cyberspace.  The latest evidence of this is in press reports that the South Korean-U.S. joint war plans, referred to as Operation Plan 5027, may have been hacked.  According to The Korea Times, the Defense Ministry announced that computer hackers who may be from North Korea might have gained access to this secret plan.
The Chosun Ilbo reported that an officer with the U.S.-Korea Joint Forces Command had used an unsecured USB memory stick and that, in the process, some contents of the secret plan were accessed by a hacker with a Chinese IP address.  North Korea is believed to have military personnel who specialize in hacking.

Strength in Software/Content Versus hardware: The E-Learning Initiative

The Korea Times yesterday carried an article on the government's new e-learning initiative that sheds some light on the importance of content and software in driving the use of digital devices.  Reportedly, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has spent about $255 million to install electronic blackboards or interactive monitors for showing electronic content in 256 middle and high schools across the country.   The article notes that, according to critics, these screens are not seeing much use yet, because of the absence of appropriate electronic content.
Converting whole textbooks into digital content and using it in classrooms would be considered illegal under current rules, so teachers are limited to using excerpts from the texts.
The overall project also calls for the provision of e-book readers to a 110 schools in rural areas of Korea, but the government says it will not spend more than 1.1 million won for each device, while the companies involved in the project say they cost more.
There is always a balance to be struck between the provision of digital networks and equipment to be attached to the networks, on the one hand, and content or applications, on the other.  Although there is currently controversy over the e-learning initiative, the story is far from over.  

Apple Envy at Samsung Electronics?

An article in Business Week suggests that Apple-envy may have been a major factor in the recent personnel shakeup within the Samsung Group.  The company Choi, Gee Sung, the head of its TV and cellphone business as CEO, replacing Lee Yoon Woo.  It also created a new position, that of chief operating officer, for Lee Jae Yong, the only son of former chairman Lee Kun Hee.
Some Samsung-watchers have a one-word answer for why the company made these changes now:  Apple.    For all of its success in consumer electronics, the company is an also-ran in the battle to win customers away from Apple's iPhone.  Park Kyung Min, chief executive of fund manager Hangaram Investment and a longtime watcher of Samsung noted that "Samsung must have taken a whopping blow from the revolutionary popularity of the iPhone.  To emulate Apple it needs a new start."
Until now, Samsung electronics success has come largely from the development and worldwide sale of electronics hardware, led by semiconductors, flat screen displays and televisions and handsets.  According to Business Week, the new management team will try to refocus the company on total solutions, including creative software.  After all, the Apple iPhone is a beautiful and efficient piece of hardware, but everyone knows that its real worldwide popularity lies in the software applications available through its App store.  The Apple iPhone is really just the first of a whole generation of hand-held computers and internet terminals.  The new Android phones will emulate the best features of the Apple iPhone and eventually these handsets will be come commodities, just as desktop or notebook PCs did.  Perhaps Samsung should envy Apple, but not for its hardware, but rather all of the very useful internet and iPhone based applications that people love to use!