As suggested by the fact that Korea succeeded in commercializing the world’s first 5G network, Korea boasts a superb network industry. Korea has been solidifying its position at the forefront of the global ICT industry. For example, the market size of Korea’s data industry reached KRW 19 trillion (USD 15.8 billion), up 14.3% compared to a year earlier in 2020. On the back of Korea’s digital infrastructure and government-led digital transformation, Korea is expected to continuously make great strides in the global ICT industry in fields like AI, cloud services, and 6G.
World-Class Digital Infrastructure
Korea is one of the most connected countries in the world with fastest internet connection. In 2020, Korea ranked 1st and 2nd respectively for evaluations of ICT penetration rate and 5G download speed, assessed by the World Economic Forum (WEF). What’s noteworthy is that Korea has ranked the world’s best for three consecutive years from 2018 on the ICT dissemination evaluation. The entire nation is densely connected via a fast network and a majority of the population is proficient in using such digital infrastructure.
Government-led Intensified Digital Transformation Policies
The Korean government has been aggressively investing in the digital industry. The government-led, nationwide shift towards a data-driven economy was further accelerated after COVID-19 to overcome the economic crisis and create new jobs by applying ICT across all industries. Despite the pandemic, digital production and exports as well as non-contact employment have shown continuous growth in Korea thanks to the government’s law amendment combined with enhanced fiscal investment, which amounted to KRW 10.8 trillion (USD 9 billion) from 2020 to 2021 in the industry.
**This article is extracted from Invest KOREA Magazine May, 2022.
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