Essay draft 1

S5, Note 4 and Tab S are all parts of the latest products of Samsung Galaxy series. These technological gadgets are commonly seen in everyday lives of the people in South Korea. However, many North Koreans living in their isolated communist world may not even know the existence of these modern ICT products. The ICT level in North Korea is awfully low; not more than 7% of the population has the access to the mobile cellular (“The World Factbook”, 2011). On the other hand, the number of mobile phones in the South is 105% of its population (Park, 2011). This illustrates a huge distinction between the access to ICT in North Korea and South Korea. Also, we can infer that a large percentage of the workforce in North Korea has limited knowledge of ICT, as compared to South Korea. Thus, the local and international efforts have to contribute to increase the access to ICT among the current and future generations of workforce in North Korea, so that the ICT level among the labour force in North Korea can catch up with South Korea’s workforce as soon as possible, or the digital gap between the North and the South will continue to widen, and detriment both the ‘micro’ and ‘macro’ sectors of North Korea. Such devastating impacts are the main push factors to increase the access to ICT in North Korea.

As technology advances, the inadequate ICT devices and skills among the workforce of North Korea results in the North Koreans ‘losing out’ to the internet-savvy South Koreans. Looking at the ‘micro’ level, when a North Korean worker lacks the ICT knowledge and experience, he may be in a disadvantaged position in this globalised world when he is compare to a South Korean who is well-equipped with knowledge of technology. As the world becomes more interconnected, labour mobility becomes a common international phenomenon, and many talents from developing countries leave their home country for a better future. However, these talents may not be valued if they cannot catch up with the modern technology as they will not be able to maximise their productivity to profit the company (“Connecting to Work: How ICTs Are Expanding Job Opportunities Worldwide”, 2013). This may hinder the employability of the North Koreans who are deficient of ICT skills.  This problem of huge quantities of workers without sufficient ICT skills will lead to the ‘macro’ problem in the country. When the economy is largely comprised of workers who have little or no knowledge in ICT, it will be difficult for the country to transform from a labour-based to a skill-based economy. One of the likely impacts of this failure of transforming the nature of economy is low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita.  This is evidently seen in North Korea, which has an extremely low GDP per capita of USD 1, 800 (“The World Factbook”, 2011) that have adversely impacted the living standards of the North Koreans. On the other hand, South Korea’s economy is largely formed by the high-tech industries that prosper the nation and allow the citizens to live with high quality of life. Looking at this broader picture, we can see that the lack of ICT will affect North Korea’s economy and society adversely, while South Korea makes use of ICT to rise in status and becomes one of the most developed nations in the world. Digital divide on the Korean peninsula has caused more harm to North Korea than we think as the economic and social gaps between the two nations are greatly attributed by this digital gap. It is not surprising that many individuals and, in fact, the whole nation do advocate a pro-ICT stance in one way or the other ("Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2009-2010", 2010).

Before I begin introducing my proposed solutions to narrow the digital divide on Korean peninsula, I think that there is a need to explain the background of North Korea to clear the doubts that many of us will have when we first think of this country. The political restriction over ICT in the North is one of the two biggest obstacles that creates and widens the digital divide between the working populations of the two Koreas. The best remedy to bridge the digital gap will be the communist government relinquishing its control over the flow of information within its national boundary. I once, like many others, felt that this ideal situation is not likely to happen and the communist nation will take forever to increase their workforce’s access to ICT, as long as the Kim family does not step down from the political stage in North Korea. However, Beal (2009) proves that it is not a “mission impossible” for North Korea to increase the ICT level within the nation. According to him, the communist leader, Kim Jong Il, has a glamorous ambition of leading North Korea to defeat the other competitors in the auto-industry. Hence, the political leader of this “reclusive” country is “clearly wide open to those with the latest technology” ('Prospects good for unification? Think again, says one scholar', 2002). Furthermore, Hunter (2001) reports that Kim Jong Il, for the future benefits of North Korea, wants his country to maintain a harmonious relation with the USA and South Korea. We can infer that the communist North Korea is willing to forgo part of her political stance for the economic benefits that can be generated from ICT. Although I will not deny the current policies of the North are not going to change in the near future, we should not wipe out the possibility of North Korea revising its political goals in the long term future.

Presently, the most practical solution that the non-government parties can provide is probably a focused effort by the private enterprise to increase the access to ICT among the working population in North Korea.  The huge economic gap on Korean peninsula is the second biggest problem that causes the digital division. North Korea has one of the lowest GDP per capita of USD 1, 800 in the world while South Korea is one of the most affluent countries with a high GDP per capita of USD 25, 977 (“GDP per capita(current US$)”, 2014). These figures provide evidence how the North’s low economic growth worsens the digital gap between the two closely related countries. Most workers of North Korea have financial difficulty in affording the access to ICT as they are living in poverty, while the South Koreans have greater financial ability to engage themselves in the digital world.

To ensure that the North Koreans will not lose out to the South Koreans in terms of the labour productivity and efficiency, local companies in North Korea can make a difference in narrowing the digital divide on the Korean peninsula by providing IT classes and technological gadgets to their employees. Such efforts provide the labour force of the economic developing country a channel to make use of digital technology in their work as many of them have little chance to have an access to such technology due to their lack of financial resources. Technological instruments, such as desktop computers and PC tablets, and computer software can analyse data more productively than tedious manual calculation. The Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet is a good example that shows that people can manipulate the raw data into useful information for analysis more efficiently. However, without a basic knowledge on ICT, such helpful tool will not be much use to accomplish the work effectively. Thus, company-funded IT courses are essential to impart the relevant and useful knowledge of using these technological gadgets and software to the employees, who have little or no interaction with the high-tech devices. We can conclude that ICT equipment and classes provided by the domestic firms will allow more North Koreans, who are ignorant of the technology, to have an access to ICT that connects to the outside world and bring more economic benefits to the country.

Other than the local efforts from the private enterprise to solve the lack of ICT skills among the current workforce in North Korea, international efforts can bridge the future digital divide between the North and the South by providing educational opportunities of ICT for the youths in North Korea, the members of the workforce ten years down the road. One possible solution is the establishment of student exchange programmes between universities of North and South Koreas. These programmes will provide the North Korea students opportunities to learn the ICT culture and knowledge while in South Korea. However, such programmes may only benefit a small minority of students who can afford the exchange programmes. Thus, another plausible effort that South Korea and other countries can employ is the subsidisation of ICT infrastructure and devices for the students in the North. For instance, the South Korea government can collaborate with the large multi-national company (MNC) of South Korea, Samsung to sell cheap subsidised computers and other technological gadgets to the schools in North Korea. Lee and Hwang (2004) agreed with my proposed solutions as they feel that North Korea is able to increase their national ICT level with the help of their close neighbour, South Korea, who has abundance financial resources and established ICT infrastructure. The increasing of the access to ICT among the working population of North Korea is more possible if the South can lend the North a helping hand which can benefits both parties. When the South establishes more connections and ties with their neighbouring country, this interaction and two-ways communication will allow the South to expand their market and pool of human resources from the North. In this way, the future North Korean workforce will be able to be equipped with ICT skills and have an opportunity to interact with their South companions.

‘North Koreans will be trapped in the economic turmoil forever and never be able to rise to power like their neighbour, the technology-savvy South Korea.’ Many believe that it is not possible for the restricted North Koreans to break free their political and economic chains that forbid them to connect to the outside world. However, many experts studying in this field, including Lee and Hwang (2004) think otherwise. They assert that increasing the ICT level in the North and to bridge the digital gap between the two Koreas is not a dream, as long as help from the local private enterprises and international efforts are provided to improve the ICT infrastructure and knowledgeable among the present and future labour force of North Korea. Furthermore, the 'micro' and 'macro' benefits of gaining an access to ICT, in my opinion, are powerful motivators that push individuals and the whole country to hasten their steps towards the digital world.

 

References:

1.       The World Factbook. (2012). Retrieved September 30, 2014, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html

2.       Park, M.C. (2011). Digital Policy of Korea Issues and Challenges. Retrieved Setember 30, 2014, from http://www.eurocpr.org/data/2013/Park_Korea.pdf

3.       Connecting to Work: How ICTs Are Expanding Job Opportunities Worldwide. (2013). Retrieved September 30, 2014, from http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/09/10/how-icts-are-expanding-job-opportunities

 

4.     Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2009-2010. (2010). Retrieved September 30, 2014, from http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=R4u48rbqEe0C&pg=PA232&lpg=PA232&dq=north+korea+ict&source=bl&ots=KpS6864kmH&sig=DbOIoNY8KKKNXRXvw0gNXrLcwDs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=iVErVMbuK5TeoATB2oBw&ved=0CFMQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=north%20korea%20ict&f=false

5.      Beal, T. (2009). Digital Divide on the Korean Peninsula: Constructive Engagement Offers Solutions. Retrieved September 30, 2014, from http://www.icasinc.org/2002/2002l/2002ltxb.html

6.       Prospects good for unification? Think again, says one scholar. (2002). Retrieved September 30, 2014, from
http://english.joins.com/nk/article.asp?aid=20011212165051&sid=F00

7.       Hunter, H. L. (2001). North Korea: Dreaming of High-Tech -- Subsisting on Hand-Outs. Retrieved September 30, 2014, from http://www.icasinc.org/s2001/s2001hlh.html

8.       GDP per capita(current US$). (2014). Retrieved September 30, 2014, from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD

9.       Lee, H. J. & Hwang, J. H. (2004). ICT Development in North Korea: Changes and Challenges. Retrieved September 30, 2014, from www.itidjournal.org/index.php/itid/article/download/193/63