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Korean Internet use creates a digital divide

Seung eun Myung CNETAsia

Published: 11 Aug 2004 11:40 BST

The Internet is at risk of causing divisions in Korea's population, according to new figures released by the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), which show young men in the cities are by far the most likely to be Net savvy.

MIC's figures show that of the 68.2 percent of Korea's population accessing the Internet last month, the most frequent users were young males, with use lowest amongst women and in Korea's rural areas.

The MIC figures show a strong correlation between age and Internet use, with 86.4 percent of 30-year-olds logging on regularly, but only 27.6 percent of 50-year-olds doing the same.

More than 45 percent of respondents said they are a member of at least one Internet community, while 37.1 per cent utilise instant-messaging services.

The figures also show that only 46.2 percent of Korean's rural population regularly surf the Internet.

More than 17,300 residents from 7,030 households across Korea were interviewed in the bi-annual survey, conducted by the MIC and the National Internet Development Agency.

However, the research suggests that since the start of commercial services in 1994, Korea's Internet use has steadily increased and its penetration rate is now starting to match that of mobile phones.

Frequent Korean surfers spend an average of 11.5 hours a week on the Web, an hour less than they did six months ago. They primarily use the Web to surf for information, play online games and check their email.

Seung eun Myung is a staff reporter at ZDNet Korea.