Draft The New Dynamics of Democratization in South Korea The Internet and the Emergence of the Netizen by Ronda Hauben rh120@columbia.edu I - The Global Internet and the Importance of the Netizen Experience in Korea In 2002, the Sisa Journal, a Korean weekly, named Netizens as the Person of the the Year.(1) This represented a rare recognition of a new and significant phenomenon that has emerged with the development and spread of the Internet.(2) The netizen has become a signficant actor in the struggle for democracy. No where is this more pronounced that in South Korea. Describing the progressive worldwide impact that the Internet is having around the world, Choi Jang Jip, a Professor at Korea University, writes: mic Development and Democracy "[A]ccompanied by the develoment of communication technologies, globalization creates new elements that enable people to counter undemocratic or antidemocratic elements.....In the instrumental sense, globalization enables communication for democracy in cyberspace. In terms of content, a greater affinity between worldwide democratic vlaues and norms and the unique experiences of younger Koreans in the democratization movement becomes possible." (Choi 2000, p.46) Explaining the dissatisfaction of Koreans with the slow process of democratic development in South Korea, Choi recognizes that it is the Internet and the democratic processes that the Internet makes possible that provide a continuum with the democratic processes and practices that helped to win the June 1987 victory in South Korea. He writes: "Political society is preoccupied with political parties, political elites, and mass media, which produces and transmits dominant discourse...however, cyberspace has no barriers to entry and is an absolutely free space over which no hegemonic discourse can exercise a dominant influence."(Choi 2000, p. 40) He recognizes that the Korean experience of democratic practice is important not only for the democratization struggle in Korea, but also as a contribution to the worldwide struggle for democracy: "The citizen movement using Internet is just a beginning stage. It will become popular in the near future and change the quality and contents of movements because of the rapid internet diffusion and information expansion." (Choi 2000, p. 50) Hence I want to propose that there is a need to document and understand the experience of netizens in Korea not only to support the democratization struggle in Korea itself, but also toward understanding the contribution of this netizen experience to the worldwide struggle for democracy. II - A Model for Democratization Along with the recognition that the experience of democratic struggle provides the basis for the continuing struggle for democracy in South Korea, Choi believes that there is a need for broadranging public discussion of democracy. He writes: "In any given nation or society, democracy develops in parallel with the level of understanding in that society. In order for democracy to take root and to develop in quality, [a] social understanding of democracy has to develop. This is why civic education for democracy is important, and it is necessary to increase public interest and participaton through such education. When this happens, people's intellectual curiosity for understanding will increase, and so will their social particiaption. This is how democracy develops." (Choi 2005, p. 13) Such a process of discussion and experimentation with democracy is currently going on on the Internet in South Korea. Yet because it is taking place at a grassroots level, and online, it is little understood and even more rarely considered in the world outside of the Internet. Choi himself has written a recent book, "Democracy after Democratization: the Korean Experience," about the struggle for democracy in South Korea. The only mention of the online developments, however, in the book, is the cover which shows a massive demonstration in Seoul that took place in 2004 which was made possible by the online democratic developments. The online newspaper "OhmyNews" is credited for the photo. Thus the book and its cover demonstrate the confusion about the contribution to the democratic struggle in South Korea by the Internet and the netizen. This is understandable as the Internet and netizen are relatively recent phenomenon and their contribution to the struggle for democracy is still poorly understood. Just as Choi observes, "[I]t is not easy to understand democracy. In Korea, for example, on what basis and with what theoretical guidelines do we understand our situation? To broaden the understanding of democracy and to increase civic participation, there must be critical discussions and debates on democracy." (Choi 2005, p. 13) III - A New Model for Democracy and the Need for a Communication Infrastructure Before discussing the Internet and netizen and their impact on the democratization struggle in South Korea, however, I want to propose the model for democracy that I will utilize in my paper. A number of Korean scholars note that a minimalist conception of democracy is inadequate as a goal. Han Sang-Jin, a Professor at Seoul National University, disagrees with scholars who depend on institutional politics from within the political system. (5) Han writes: "If the outside energy dries up or disappears, it seems very unlikely that any political leader or faction would pursue structural reform. by its own initiative" (Han 1995, p. 13) Han proposes the need to support a culture of diversity, a culture which nourishes the quest for a conscious social identity. He writes: "Crucial for democratic consolidation...is the capacity of civil society as the basis of democratic institutions in which cultural identities and diversities are nurtured and developed. It is probably in this sense that one may expect that new visions for civilization will also come from East Asia. It is indeed tempting to think about the possibility, and it will be as much so in the future as it is now." (Han 1995, p. 13) Han's intuition that democratic development requires a cultural process is similar to the model for democracy created by the Students for a Democratic Society in the US in the early 1960s. An essay by Arnold Kaufman, a Professor at the University of Michigan, inspired the development of the SDS model of democracy which has become known as 'participatory democracy.' An essay Kaufman wrote, "Participatory Democracy and Human Initiative" helped to set the foundation for the SDS model of democracy. Kaufman writes, "Participation means both personal initiative -- that men feel obliged to resolve social problems and social opportunity -- that society feels obliged to maximize the possibility for personal initiatives to find creative outlets." (quoted in Hauben 1995)(6) Thus the concept of participatory democracy had two aspects, one a role for the person as part of a social process, and two, a role for the society to encourage the creative initiative of the person. This is different from the minimalist conceptions of democracy and from conceptions relying on an elite to make the decisions for the population, or proposing that democracy means faciliting institutional competion among an elite. Kaufman, and subsequently SDS, proposed a model for democracy which had three elements: (1) the involvmeent of ordinary people actively participating to foster the changes they desire in their society. (2) some structural connnection between the community of ordinary people and those in society who make the decisions. (3) a commitment by society to foster the creative development and functioning of the population Crucial to this model is the need for a network communications infrastructure to provide a public space for discussion and debate among the community of ordinary people. Such public discussion "mechanisms of voluntary association must be created through which political information can be imparted and political participation encouraged," proclaims the Port Huron Statement of SDS in the section "Towards American Democracy" (Hauben 2005, p. 7) In his paper on SDS, Hauben describes how the creation and development of the Internet has provided the communications infrastructure identified by SDS as necessary for their model of participatory democracy. IV - The Development of Computer Networking and Internet in South Korea Consequently, an understanding of the history of the development of computer networking and of the Internet in South Korea and of the interconnection of the development of this infrastructure with the struggle for democracy can help to provide needed perspective through which to view the current netizen developments. Korean networking development began in 1982 with networking connections set up between a computer at the Department of Computer Science at Seoul National University (SNU), a computer at the Korean Institute of Electronics Technology (KIET)in Gumi, using a 1200 bps leased line. In January 1983 a computer at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) was connected. Also in 1983 there were connections from South Korea to a computer in the Netherlands (mcvax) and then to a computer in the US (hplabs). These connections made it possible for researchers and students to connect with others in the developing international networks. Computer networking for the public in South Korea in the 1980s was via connections to commercial networking by Korean Telecommunications. PC communications began with email (Dacom's Hangeul Mail) in 1984 which in 1986 became part of what was known as Chollian. KETEL (Korean Economic Daily Telepress) services began in 1988 and became known as Hitel, which by 1995 made it possible for users to connect to the Internet. (7)(Chon 2005, p. 2-3) A plan to build the Koran National Information Infrastructure was created in 1983. Through the 1980s, there was continued research and development of networking. Though there were commercial networking services available to the public in the 1990s, it was not until 1994-5 that Internet connectivity began to be publicly available. This early Internet connectivity was limited to 64 Kbps with modem and dial up access until July 1998. In July 1998, high speed Internet access began to be avalable to computer users either through cable tv networks provided by Thrunet or by Korean Telecom and Hanaro Telecom offering a version of DSL called ADSL. (Chon 2005, p. 4) A combination of factors led to the fact that this access was relatively low cost and welcomed by different sectors of the Korean population. Consequently, in 2004, over 70% of the households in Korea had broadband internet service. This included over interact access availability in 11 million homes. "The widespread availability of broadband Internet services," writes Chon, "provided the impetus for Korea to become the leading Internet stronghold nation of the world." (Chon 2005, p. 7) One of the important contributors to the spread of Internet connectivity in Korea were Internet cafes called PC bangs. The first one opened in Sept. 15, 1995. By 1999 there were 150 such cafes. The widespread popularity of computer games in Korea along with the popularity in the 1990s of online discussion communities contributed to a strong demand for inexpensive Internet broadband service to the home. In describing the development of computer neworking in South Korea, Chon notes the importance of the netizen. He writes, "It was in the early 1990s that individuals of the general public were able to express their political and social opinions through the Internet." Documenting several examples of ways in which online discussion led to offline social activity such as the massive cheering of the world cup games in June 2002 or political activity such as the demonstrations protesting the deaths of 2 school girls by a US armoured truck and the acquittal of the US soldiers responsible, by a US military court, and the protests against SOFA (State of Forces Agreement between the US and South Korea) that developed in 2002 and helped to bring about the election of the Korean President Rho Moo-hyun. In an article comparing Internet development in South Korea, Japan and Singapore, Izumi Aizu, a Japanese networking activist and researcher notes the advanced nature of the Korean networking developments. Izumi attributes the advanced nature of the Korean networking development to the desire and support by Koreans for freedom of speech. "The Korean political situation changed rapidly during the last 15 years," he writes, in 2002, "It was only 1987 when the first real free and democratic election took place for the presidency. Until the mid 80s, there was no such thing as freedom of speech or freedom of presss under the military autocrcy. Now with the power of computer neworking Korean people become very active and aggressive in exercising their freedom online and offline, a long-awaited value indeed. Now netizen is the common word for Korean people...ordinary citizens who want to speak up and communicate." (8) (Izumi, p. 11-12) Izumi attributes the Korean regard for "freedom of speech as one of the key factors behind the expansion of broadband, too." Other Parts to Be Developed V - The Netizen VI - Computer Networking in the 1990s in South Korea (This will include a discussion of the online groups that developed in the 1990s as a prelude to the events of 2000-2005. This will include a discussion of how the government utilized the computer networks in the early 1990s) VII - The Online Media 1998 - 2005 (This will include a discussion of the anti chosun movement, OhmyNews, DCinside, and Seoprise) VIII - Nosamo and the Election of 2002 IX - The Anti-Impeachment Movement that Developed and how the online activity helped to build that movement X - Problems This will include a discussion of commercialization of networking like Cyworld, the difficulty of Koreans to face public condemnation and the problem of network attacks on some, government emphasis on being online rather than in welcoming citizen feedback. XI - Prognosis This will be a discussion of why the new phenomenon of the netizen and online communities needs study and support rather than regulation. That this needs recognition as a part of democracy studies. Also that this is a worldwide phenomenon and while South Korea is leading the way, it needs to keep some perspective of the broader global developments. Notes: (1) La Do-sam, "Understanding Korea's Internet Development and Cyber-culture", Korea Focus, Sep-Oct 2003, Vol 11, No. 5, p. 1. (2) Michael Hauben, "The Net and Netizens: The Impact the Net has on People's Lives, "Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet," IEEE Computer Society, 1997. (3) Choi Jang Jip, "Democratization, Civil Society, and the Civil Social Movement in Korea: the Significance of the Citizens' Alliance for the 2000 General Election," Korea Journal, Autumn 2000, p. 46-49` (4) Choi Jang-Jip, "Democracy after Democratization: the Korean Experience," Humanitas, Seoul, 2005. (5) Han Sang-Jin, "Economic Development and Democracy" Korea Journal, Summer 1995. (6) Michael Hauben, Participatory Democracy from the 1960s and SDS Into the Future Online", 1995. http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/CS/netdemocracy-60s.txt (7) Kilnam Chon et al, A Brief History of the Internet in Korea, 2005. (8) Izumi Aizu, "A Comparative Study of Broadband in Asia: Deployment and Policy, 2002.