Assembly Speaker Urges Creation of IT Control Tower

As reported in The Korea Times, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Kim Hyong-o has reiterated the need to set up a control tower for information and technology policies.  "Korea needs a control tower that can oversee and lead the entire IT industry," he said in a radio program.  He contended that the IT industry has been treated as a byproduct of other industries, following the disbandment of the Ministry of Information and Communication in early 2008.  "We are facing a revolutionary moment, with the advent of smartphones, including the iPhone," he said. "We must quickly realize our failure to respond to the rapid evolution of the IT industry."
In February 2008, shortly after taking office, the Lee Myung-bak administration divided MOIC into the Korea Communications Commission; the Ministry of Knowledge Economy; the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security. Certain functions of the information ministry were also taken over by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

English Name Change: Ministry of Knowledge Economy

Apparently a number of people had the same reaction I did to the naming of a new Ministry as the Knowledge-based Economy Ministry. Today, according to Yonhap News, the government has changed the English names of several ministries, including this one. It has now been renamed the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. For purposes of this blog, I'll continue to refer to it as the Knowledge Economy Ministry since the other word order in English seems to beg for insertion of an article, thus calling it the "Ministry of the Knowledge Economy." As noted in my earlier entry, this is not intended as nitpicking about English wording, but rather to point to the larger picture. How will the new English names be received in other countries or in organizations that follow developments in Korea through English-language sources?

Language, Ministry Names and Korea's International Image

Korea.com, an official web portal of the Korean government, announced on Friday January 18 that President-elect Lee Myung-bak’s transition team had unveiled the English names of new ministries to be created as a result of his streamlining of government. According to a team spokesperson, "The transition team’s senior members finalized the official English titles of the new ministries after examining those of foreign countries." He said a new giant organization to be created through the merger of the Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry with parts of the Information and Communication and Science and Technology ministries will be named the Ministry of Knowledge-based Economy (지식경제부 in Korean). Two observations about this announcement

• 지식, in Korean, can be translated into English as knowledge, knowhow or information. In the U.S., Europe and other parts of the English-speaking world, the concepts of the information economy or information society (정보사회) are more widely used and understood than that of the "knowledge economy." Therefore, one might reasonably ask why it becomes the "Ministry of Knowledge-based Economy" rather than the "Information Economy Ministry."
• Now that South Korea has one of the world's leading economies, any change in the English language, or other language names of its ministries and other key government organizations is like changing a brand name. It has huge value and affects the nation's relations with other countries and international organizations.