The Growth of Broadband Internet Connections in South Korea: Contributing Factors

2 The Asia/Pacific Research Center (A/PARC) is an important Stanford venue, where faculty and students, visiting scholars, and distinguished business and government leaders meet and exchange views on contemporary Asia and U.S. involvement in the region. A/PARC research results in seminars and conferences, published studies, occasional and discussion papers, special reports, and books. A/PARC maintains an active industrial affiliates and training program, involving more than twenty-five U.S. and Asian companies and public agencies. Members of A/PARC's faculty have held high-level posts in government and business. Their interdisciplinary expertise generates research of lasting significance on economic, political, technological, strategic, and social issues. Dr. Kyounglim Yun is a visiting scholar at the Asia/Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. He has participated in the Stanford Project on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) since May 2001. He is also senior vice president in charge of strategy, business planning, and marketing at Hanaro Telecom Inc., Korea, the second largest national telecommunications and high-speed ISP. His current research interests include broadband Internet and e-Business industries in Korea. He completed his doctorate on temporal impacts of information systems at the London School of Economics, and has worked at Brunel University, UK. His current research interests include the development of broadband Internet and electronic commerce. He recently led the Overseas Mission to Broadband Industry in Korea, which was sponsored by the United Kingdom's Department of Trade and Industry. He is also a guest editor of the special issue on " Broadband Internet and Electronic Commerce " in the Journal of Information Technology. So-Hye Lim is a Ph.D. candidate in the communications department at Stanford University. Her research interests include the comparative telecommunications policy and its social implications. Abstract In recent years, Korea has seen a remarkable diffusion in broadband Internet connections. This paper explores the actions and factors contributing to this diffusion from three viewpoints: public sector, private sector, and social. We suggest that the matching of demand and supply is the most important factor in the fast diffusion of broadband in Korea. In particular, fierce infrastructure competition has led to quality services at a low fixed price. We also consider two challenges that lie ahead: take-up of retail e-commerce applications, and the need to bridge the digital divide.