Although South Korea is ranked highest in the world in terms of IT knowledge and usage, Internet connectedness, and broadband access, so-called ‘digital divides’ are prevalent and salient. These divides are especially dependent on people’s income, education, occupation, and age. The three variables of socio-economic status (SES), namely, income, education, and occupation, are most often used as a measure of class. Korea’s digital formation advanced even within a single year from 2001 to 2002 toward the provision of universal access and the reduction of the digital divide, but the changes were uneven. Awareness of this unevenness enables us to identify the policy priorities set by the Korean government. Training and education have been aimed much more at students or schools than at women; the provision of Internet infrastructure is more pronounced in rural areas. Unlike in the case of knowledge, access, and usage, age and the fact of being a student are the most influential determinants of what people do online in Korea. They are closely related not only in their demographic classification, but also in their social and cultural standings, as a result of a strong emphasis on education and the ‘right age’ for life stages, which are all connected to the ingrained Confucian culture of Korea. This implies that Internet activities are more of a matter of culture than class. This interrelatedness may be a result of their being different faces of the same group: namely, adolescents. What they do for their pastimes and what they do online not only distinguish them in the online subculture, but also contribute to form the age- or generation-specific online culture in Korea.
목차
Abstract INTRODUCTION I. CONCERNS ON UNIVERSAL ACCESS AND DIGITAL DIVIDES 1. Data on the individual level 2. Household Data II. CONCERNS ABOUT INTERNET ACTIVITIES 1. What people do online 2. Who does what online SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION 1. Universal access and the digital divide 2. Internet activities: Who does what online BIBLIOGRAPHY
한국연구원은 1970년 5월 한국 민속의 각 분야에 걸친 자료의 수집과 학술적 연구를 목적으로 '한국민속연구소'로 출발하였다. 그 후 1973년 5월 연구 분야를 확대하며 민속뿐만 아니라 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 위해 '한국학연구소'로 개편하였고, 다시 1989년 3월 한국의 국제적 위상의 부상과 함께 한국학 연구의 중요성이 높아짐에 따라 '한국학연구원'으로 확대, 개편하였다. 한국학연구원은 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 통해 지역과 민족문화 발전에 기여하며 한국학의 세계화를 위해서 학술활동을 강화하고 나아가 내·외국인에 대한 한국문화 교육을 담당하고자 한다.