ABSTRACT
South Korea’s digital development is part and parcel of a larger effort to build the global information society and is inextricably bound up with processes of globalization. The past three decades coincide with the so-called “third wave” of globalization, which was driven by two main factors. The first was the technological change leading to lower costs for computing and communications (and international travel) that made it economically possible for firms to locate different phases of production in different and faraway countries around the world. The second factor was the increasing liberalization of trade and capital markets. 1
Earlier chapters introduced the role of globalization in Korean education generally, and in research and development more particularly. They also noted Korea’s increasingly active involvement in and recognition by international organizations, led by the ITU, the OECD and the World Bank. In this chapter we expand our treatment of the global aspects of Korea’s digital development to include innovation, trade, the country’s large chaebol business groups, and the harsh reality of national division.
