Korea and China: bilateral relations and regional influence

¶ … Korea, China has developed a national policy dedicated to informatization as a cornerstone of economic and social development. However, Korea's growth has far outshone that of China's for many reasons. The geography, economy, size, and political philosophies of the two nations must be taken into account when addressing the different scenarios and needs of the two nations. One of the most significant differences between the two cultures is that China's business sector is less focused on innovation for innovation's sake, whereas Korea's is. Following the American model of business growth and development, Korea has propelled its information technology infrastructure to become a world leader in many different it and telecommunications sectors. Innovation is viewed not just as a means to take new products to market but also as a key to securing global market dominance and advancing information capital. Moreover, the emphasis on informatization in Korea reflects a cultural commitment to information communication technology (ICT).

China can hope to keep pace with its Asian neighbors but only by engendering a deep cultural and political shift. The initial openness to global market forces has helped China develop a competitive technology market. Yet the total output of manufacturing domains is irrelevant compared with China's weakness in new product innovation. China's ICT sector lags behind Korea and other world leaders as a result. For China to capitalize on its enormous human resources and opportunistic business environment, the government must follow in Korea's footsteps.

One way China can learn from Korea is by developing institutions as well as information communications infrastructures. In Korea, ICT permeates school curricula especially at the university level. Regional ICT infrastructure development projects have also helped create standards for informatization, normalizing ICT growth across the country and helping Korea keep pace with its Western European and North American counterparts. Government initiaiatives, economic initiatives, and educational initiatives combine to create a business environment conducive to innovation, research, development, and growth. Furthermore, Korean universities have partnered with schools in the United States and Europe to maximize innovation and scientific research potential. Korea also implemented a Time Division Exchange (TDX) development program that allowed foreign companies to pick up the slack while Korean ICT infrastructure was still being developed domestically. Rather than restricting growth, the TDX initiative stimulated it, and increased domestic competition so that Korean firms developed specific ICT initiatives and goals.