96 Percent of South Koreans Think Internet Access is a Fundamental Right

According to an international survey conducted by Globescan for the BBC World Service, 79 percent of adults around the world think of internet access as their fundamental right.  The percentage here in Korea is a world-leading 96%, compared to 94% in Mexico, and 87% in China.  78 percent of respondents worldwide felt the internet had brought them greater freedom, 90% thought it was a good place to learn, and 51% said they now enjoyed spending their spare time on social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace.  Despite this enthusiasm, the poll also showed concern, with many users cautious about speaking their minds online.  72% of Germans, 70% of Koreans, 69% of French and 65% of Japanese did not feel they could safely express their opinions online.  More than half of internet users worldwide (53%) agreed that "the internet should never be regulated by any level of government anywhere,"  including large majorities in Korea (83%), Nigeria (77%) and Mexico (72%).  The poll surveyed 27,973 adult citizens in 26 countries.

Korea's Beef "Infodemic"

This is a follow-up to my earlier post on President Lee Myung Bak's speech to the National Assembly, in which he warned that Korea must guard against "infodemics." President Lee may have, intentionally or not, given a big boost to the international use of this recently-coined term. The term was apparently coined by David J. Rothkopf, who used it in a 2003 Washington Post article to describe how the circulation of misinformation about the SARS epidemic had implications more far reaching than the disease itself. By "infodemic," Rothkopf meant the following: "A few facts, mixed with fear, speculation and rumor, amplified and relayed swiftly worldwide by modern information technologies, have affected national and international economies, politics and even security in ways that are utterly disproportionate with the root realities." He further noted that "Infodemics are emerging as one of the most virulent phenomena known to man, able to transit continents instantly. In virtually every respect they behave just like any other disease, with an epidemiology all their own, identifiable symptoms, well-known carriers, even straightforward cures. Yet to date many in power seem unable to contain them or unwilling to acknowledge their existence." Continuing the epidemic analogy, Rothkopf suggested that infodemics can be cured, stating that "... if information is the disease, knowledge is also a cure. We should react to infodemics just as we do to diseases. Understand how these ideas are introduced into the population, how they spread, what accelerates their spread, what their consequences are, and what localized outbreaks may be contained. That does not mean repressing information. It means effectively managing each outbreak and presenting the facts fully and quickly to critical audiences."

Anti-Americanism, Anti-American Beef Protests and Televised Images

Although the number of people participating in the demonstrations against importing American beef has decreased in recent days, the demonstrations have become more clearly political in nature and more violent. Public opinion polls show that nearly 60 percent of Korean citizens think that the candlelight vigils have accomplished their goal and should cease. Polls also show that many Koreans understand that the demonstrations now continue largely to push other political issues such as opposition to privatization and reform of public TV networks or opposition to the KORUS free trade agreement. The video embedded in this post was taken some days ago, before the violent protests of this weekend. However, I share it with you because it happens (almost or surely by accident) to include some powerful symbols. Those symbols--the golden arches of McDonalds and the Burger King logo, appear in the video only because this demonstration occurred at the Sinchon Rotary where these two fast-food establishments are located.

Information Age Politics--Mad Cow Disease and Anti-Americanism

What do the following have in common?

• A poll shows that 34 percent of first-year South Korean army cadets called the United States the main enemy of South Korea. While the majority ― or 34 percent ― picked the U.S., 33 percent said they regarded North Korea as the main enemy. Korea Times
• An in-house poll for the governing party in early May found that President Lee's rating has slipped to less than 30 percent, down 10 percentage points from last week. "Beef Deal Pulls Down Lee's Ratings," Korea Times.
• Education authorities yesterday instructed heads of schools nationwide to take steps to stop groundless rumors over the imports. This came in the wake of candlelight vigils in which an estimated 60 percent of the participants were middle-and high-school students.
• Reportedly 660,000 people have signed a petition on the web to impeach President Lee Myung Bak.
• Korean-American organizations in New York, Washington and Los Angeles held press conferences this week in an effort to calm the mad cow scare in Korea.
• All sorts of rumors regarding mad cow disease are spreading by mobile phone text messaging and via the internet.

All of the above are manifestations of South Korean politics in the information age. The significance of the current political developments has less to do with the Korean government's decision to resume importing American beef, per se, than with other larger concerns and President Lee's recent visit to the U.S. Over and above the symbolism of candlelight vigils, there is a decidedly anti-American message to the current student protests, as one can easily see from visiting http://www.michincow.net/ a website put up to help mobilize the protests.