When the world first saw Korea lay the groundwork for an e-government in 2002, former President Kim Dae-Jung said to Dr. Ahn Moon-suk, then Chairman of the Presidential Special Committee on e-Government said at a ceremony held at the Blue House, "There have been a handful of good days in my life, and today is indeed one of them."
In the meeting between Korea IT Times and Dr. Ahn Moon-suk (ahnms@korea.ac.kr), Professor Emeritus of Public Administration at Korea University, who played a pivotal role in opening the way for Korea's IT informatization, Dr. Ahn unexpectedly gave us his essay books and collections of poems, talking voluntarily about his favorite poems, essays and music.
"At the end of my lectures, I would ask students to write a poem. I know it may not be their cup of tea, but when I read their poems, I was surprised to find many that there were well-written. So I consolidated their poems into a book and published it. When I gave my students copies of the book, they loved it," said Dr. Ahn as he chuckled.
"Writing poems is a good way for students to be freed from the loophole of old ways of thinking. In the near future, I will compose songs by using my poems. There are plenty of easy-to-use songwriting applications in cyber space," added Dr. Ahn.
Dr. Ahn obtained a bachelor's degree in economics (1965) and a master's degree in public administration (1967) from Seoul National University -- he made his first step towards Korea's IT informatization sector by becoming a founding member of KIST's computing lab in 1968.
Dr. Ahn is a member of Korea's first-generation of computer programmers and believes that historians need to learn about IT to add new chapters to history. Such beliefs have led to efforts toward ramping up Korea's level of informatization and a myriad of feats in IT development.
When asked by foreign reporters about how Korea has so rapidly achieved such high-levels of informatization, he always responds with, "There is no royal road to informatization. To enhance the level of informitization in a nation, all the members of that nation, from the head of state down to grass roots should get familiar with IT.
The foundation of informatization began at the end of the 1960s
At the end of the 1960s, when Dr. Ahn started to work with KIST (Korea Institute of Science and Technology), there was only one computer manufactured by the Japanese company FACOM. The computer was based on an assembler language which was difficult to learn and to use. KIST installed Korea's first mainframe computer, CDC 3300, one of the largest computers in Asia, setting a milestone in broadening Korea's computer user base. CDC 3300 has the ability to use high level computer languages like COBOL and FORTRAN which were easier to learn and use.
Ministers rushed to visit KIST to receive lectures as President Park instructed his cabinet members to learn how to use computers for their work.
With a favorable atmosphere, Dr. Ahn started to teach COBOL and FORTRAN at KIST, bearing in mind that the world's familiarity with computers would advance along with the dispersion of computer usage. Those who were taught COBOL and FORTRAN by Dr. Ahn disseminated their computer knowledge through providing lectures to others. During this process, Korea's computer user base was continuing to grow.
"At that time, there was no computer center in the government. KIST provided necessary facilities and human resources to implement a computer using system in their facility. For example, for the budget office, government budget officials worked day and night using abacuses to draw up budgets during that time. So I developed a computer program for budget formulation with the persons who were selected among the budget officers to receive my lectures on COBOL and FORTRAN. In the early 1970s, the computer program for budget formulation finally replaced abacuses," said Dr. Ahn.
Building of the first data communication systems
Development of Korea's first data communication system was also the work of Dr. Ahn. At that time, people had to print out documents at the computer center and travel to places where people worked to hand deliver documents. Dr. Ahn's team installed computer terminals that could read data and print output at the 'remote' area of the budget office at the Economic Planning Board in Gwanhwamun, connecting to the KIST mainframe computer located in Hongneung. This was a historic event. Even President Park attended the opening ceremony. Korea succeeded in data networking regardless of the poor condition of the telephone line.
Many useful programs like the property tax billing system was developed by local government officials who were selected and trained by Dr. Ahn's KIST team. Indeed, he pioneered computerization at local self-governing entities.
Dr. Ahn said, "To go off on a tangent, local government officials were selected based on their IQ scores. Then, how did we select computer persons in addition to the IQ test It may sound funny, but we preferentially picked those who were good at baduk, an ancient board game for two players. This is because we thought good baduk players were good at reading numbers and it would contribute to their knowledge of comprehending computer programs," he said laughing.
In 1972, he was picked as a recipient of the US State Department's East West Center scholarship. He received a master's degree in computer science in 1974 and a doctorate in resource economics from the University of Hawaii in 1977. His academic advisor was Professor Norman Abramson who invented the packet radio broadcasting concept. He then returned to Korea to spearhead the nation's push for e-government. When he returned to Korea, administrative procedures were very user-unfriendly: to export goods, exporters had to visit government offices where necessary documents were kept. Administrative costs were enormous. To ease the burden of exporters, Dr. Ahn, with the help of the Economic Planning Board, set up experimental computer networks in Chungcheongbuk-do to computerize the local government's work. It was similar to the current G4C information system we have these days. With the project, people could technically obtain official documents in remote areas.
Dr. Ahn lamented, "Despite such efforts, there were so many regulations and red tape that prevented a nation-wide dispersion of the system: laws required copies of official documents to be stamped with the seal of the head of the municipality where the document was located. If that law had been revised at that time, Korea' e-government system would have been put in place much faster."
Innovative informatization was achieved under the leadership of President Chun Doo-hwan
In the 1980s, when President Chun Doo-hwan was in office, a tumultuous period in Korean history was taking place, the progress of innovative informatization was made faster than in any other era. To promote an informitization-oriented mindset, the subject matter of information system theory and computerization theory were included in national exams such as the fifth-ranking civil servant exam. In addition, the National Computer Network Coordination Committee was set up in the Blue House and the chief of staff headed the committee to consolidate five national computer networks.
Dr. Ahn said, "As of now, Korea's online banking system and integrated computer network systems are very convenient compared to those found in developed nations. Those who have experienced Korea's online banking system would find it inconvenient to use other nations' banking system, such as people having to wait in long lines to get services at banks."
"From a historical point of view, the foundation for today's convenient, user-friendly banking system was laid under the leadership of former President Chun Doo-hwan. At that time, five national networks such as government administration, national defense, national security, education and finance were built to pave the way for today's advanced computer networking system" said Dr. Ahn.
He continued, "The groundwork for the development of personal computers was also laid during the same period. To localize PC hardware, a Korean computer manufacturer developed the first PC based on the US's PC design. It proved to be unsuccessful due to inadequate tests. After that, the Korean government provided PC manufacturers with general information and encouraged them to develop PCs. When PC manufacturing companies presented their computers on the market, the Korean government picked the cream of the crop. In the end, some domestic companies succeeded in developing Korea's second-generation PCs."
High-speed Internet connection projects were implemented in full swing when both President Kim Young-sam and President Kim Dae-jung led the nation
In 1993, when President Kim Young-sam, the first civilian President of South Korea, held the reins of the Korean government, Dr. Ahn was a member of the Government Restructuring Committee and helped in efforts for creating the Ministry of Information and Communications; he worked towards building high-speed Internet networks across the nation. High-speed Internet network projects and national database projects were earnestly carried out in 1998 when Korea, under the leadership of President Kim Dae-jung, was in the grip of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. As part of national policy aimed at lifting Korea out of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, funds for unemployed youths increased by cutting wages for civil servants. The money was used for building various government databases. The databases turned out to be very useful in building the e-Government sector later on.
Dr. Ahn said, "Credited with my IT achievements during the tenure of President Kim Dae-jung, I was invited to give a special lecture on 'how to successfully manage the government committee' at the transition committee meeting for President Roh Moo-Hyun. The Roh Moo-hyun administration expanded the original e-Government's 11 projects to 32 areas. Brown University ranked Korea as the winner of the e-Government evaluation. This year, the UN finally listed Korea as the top nation in the e-Government evaluation report.
"It was rather unfortunate for Roh Moo-hun's administration to be negligent in software development policy" said Dr. Ahn who prepared the IPTV law as the chairman of the government digital convergence committee for the administration.
Resurgence of the software industry, an opportunity is presenting itself
"2010 is a year of contents and applications. What are the characteristics of this new era They can be explained by referring to the term "prosumer". People develop their own computer programs and share them with others. We are entering a new era of e-Government in Korea. To take full advantage of this, the government should play an important role. The government has to create and maintain an adequate database for users who want to develop their own services. The government should have computer programming training centers. By doing so, we can jack up the level of informitization in Korea and facilitate the renaissance of Korea's software industry. This is what I call the concept of a next-generation e-government" said Dr. Ahn.
He went on to say, "To that end, we need to create an environment where anyone who wishes to learn computer programming can easily have the opportunity for obtaining a computer education. It is just like in the early 1980s, elementary school students who were taught basic computer programs, created numerous programs. The general public's heated interest in software we are witnessing right now doesn't come often."
Dr. Ahn, who is serving as Emeritus Professor of Public Administration at Korea University and the Chairman of the board of the Seoul Development Institute (SDI) -- he assumed the positions of Korea University vice president and chairman of the Korean Association for Policy Studies. In addition, he advised the Korean government by serving as Chairman of the Regulation Reform Committee, chairman of the Broadcasting & Communications Convergence Committee and chairman for presidential special committee on e-government. Credited with taking Korea's informatization and e-government to new heights, he was awarded an order of civil merit (Dongbaeg Medal) for his contribution to informatization and an order of public service merit (Blue Stripes) for his contribution to building e-government.
