Technological Diffusion, Internet Use and Digital Divide in South Korea

Abstract

South Korea is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, particularly in terms of computer use and broadband penetration rate. Although the overall proportion of the population using the Internet has been very high, people's access to it have been, generally unequal. In view of this, this paper examines the characteristics of Koreans' Internet use and assesses inequalities in Internet use by examining survey data over the period between 2002 and 2007. The paper also analyzes the nature of information inequality on the basis of age, gender, education, occupation, and household income. What the paper finds is that the Korean situation closely resembles the typical international pattern in which the digital divide is narrowing: the access to the Internet had been highly uneven at first, but is becoming much more egalitarian.