Global television and the politics of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics

Three decades ago, the 1988 Seoul Olympics carried enormous political significance for Korea, as documented in my 1993 book (with Heung Soo Park), Global Television and the Politics of the Seoul Olympics. (full text PDF downloadable here from Google Books.)  Domestically, the 1988 Olympics played a key role in South Korea's political liberalization and democratization. Internationally and in terms of Korean foreign policy, they were the principal vehicle for President Roh Tae Woo's "northern policy."  That policy opened up diplomatic, economic and cultural relations with the Soviet Union, nations of Eastern Europe, China and Vietnam, all of which had been cut off from South Korea during the long Cold War.

It is too early to say whether the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, currently underway, will have such a profound political impact on Korea, but North Korea's decision to participate in the games, and to send a high level diplomatic delegation to them, provides a glimmer of hope.  In 2018 as in 1988, television continues to play a major role in the politics of the Olympics.  Three decades ago, the Korean Olympics were a mass media event.   Today television still attracts massive global audiences for events like the Olympics.  However, people are watching on multiple screens.  The Olympics have become a "bring your own device" showcase for 5G, digital phenomenon, as amply demonstrated in the PyeongChang Opening Ceremony on February 9.

PyeongChang 2018 -- 5G networks and speed matters

The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics about to formally commence with the Opening Ceremony this evening, will give the world a glimpse into what next generation networks will make possible.  This post was prompted in part by the "2018 Adobe Consumer Content Survey," which was taken in the U.S. but doubtless reflects global trends.  (click on the graphic for a full size view) 
As regular readers of this blog already know, South Korea possesses the most advanced and fastest digital network infrastructure in the world.  Furthermore, the speed (aka bandwidth) of broadband Internet connections matters a great deal. (see my numerous posts over the years on the importance of speed)  Consequently, it is no accident that the nation has built a super-fast and dense network infrastructure in and around the sports venues and will utilize the 2018 Winter Olympics to showcase to the world the possibilities for next generation (currently 5G) networks.  Ironically, these world-leading network infrastructures have been built in the largely rural and mountainous Gangwon province.
This evening, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the domestic Korea telecasts of the PyeongChang Olympics Opening Ceremony, fully recognizing that this is the latest (Since London) in a series of "bring your own device" Summer and Winter Olympic Games.   The Winter Olympics, as one of the world's largest media events, will retain that status, but with a global audience that is tuning in via multiple screens and according to their individual preferences, as facilitated by mobile apps and social media.

Samsung phones and sanctions in PyeongChang

Samsung Electronics is a leading worldwide sponsor of the Olympic games and, as described in this 2014 post about the Sochi Winter Olympics, they regularly provide members of the Olympic family with complimentary late-model smart devices.  In the case of the 2018 Winter Olympics, just getting underway in PyeongChang, the provision of special Olympic Edition Galaxy Note 8 devices to athletes from North Korea and Iran raised an issue on the grounds that this might violate United Nations sanctions against these countries.   The Washington Post published an article explaining the issue and how it was dealt with by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Korea's R&D leadership and commitment to education

My last post noted that Korea continues to lead Bloomberg Innovation Index, one element of which is R&D intensity.  However, R&D intensity is not only an important element in innovation.  Perhaps more importantly it is one indicator of a nation's commitment to education, as I noted in a 2014 post. It is well worth updating the graphic from that post which was based on data through 2012.  As the accompanying graphic shows (click to see a full size version), by the end of 2015, Korea had matched Israel as the world leader in R&D intensity.  This long term commitment of money to support research and development says volumes about this nation's commitment to education, science, technology, and the solution of world problems.

Korea stays atop Bloomberg Innovation Index

Bloomberg has published its 2018 innovation index, and Korea ranked first followed by Sweden, while the U.S. dropped out of the top ten.  As noted by Bloomberg Technology, "South Korea remained the global-innovation gold medalist for the fifth consecutive year. Samsung Electronics Co., the nation’s most-valuable company by market capitalization, has received more U.S. patents in the 2000s than any firm except International Business Machines Corp. And its semiconductors, smartphones and digital-media equipment spawned an ecosystem of Korean suppliers and partners similar to what Japan developed around Sony Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp."  The U.S. ranked 11th.  The index is comprised of measures of R&D intensity, manufacturing value-added, productivity, high tech density, tertiary efficiency, researcher concentration, and patent activity.