Digital Inclusion

All Korean adults under 40 connected

By Jianggan Li | 14 October 2008

Internet penetration young Koreans is almost 100 percent, according to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).

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Web applications such as emails, blogs and instant messaging services become more essential in their work and personal lives, especially for those under 40.

The KCC report is based on a survey of 17,000 households across the nation, conducted in June and July.

The study reveals that Koreans are increasingly considering the internet as the most reliable source of information, with about 52.5 per cent of respondents saying that they check the internet first when needing to know something. About 60 per cent of online users prefer reading news stories on the web than reading newspapers, while roughly the same percentage of users above 12 shop online regularly.

More than 82.5 per cent owned an e-mail account and nearly 50 per cent were members of at least one online community.

“The internet is certainly changing the way people work, spend money and do business, and emails, web communities and blogs have emerged as conventional methods of communication,” said Jeong Yeon-man from KCC’s Internet Policy Bureau.

Jeong adds that the internet is also spawning a new ecosystem in the economy, as about half of its users do commerce and banking on the web. He also points out the business potential of the web, as 11 per cent of the users say the purchased products or services after clicking onto banner advertisements.

By the end of July, the country had 35.36 million internet users, representing a penetration of 77.1 per cent among people above six years of age. People in their 30s accounted for the largest number at around 8.17 million – a penetration rate of 98.6 per cent.

Also 99.7 per cent of the Koreans in their 20s were connected, a population of 7.17 million; while 6.85 million people (82 per cent) in their 40s use the internet. Virtually all 6.33 million Korean teens were internet users, with a penetration rate of 99.9 percent.

An average internet user spends 13.7 hours online each week.

About 99.6 percent of white-collar workers use the internet, while the number was 75.6 percent for those in the services industry and sales, and 63.4 percent among housewives.

This perhaps explains the gender disparity in internet usage: 81.6 per cent for men and 71.5 percent for women.

Most people found not online have not received education beyond middle school, according to the KCC report – a clear divide in the country which is leading the world in internet penetration.

For those with university degrees, 97.1 per cent use the internet, while the figure for high school graduates is 78.2 per cent. However, only 34 per cent of middle school graduates and 28.4 percent of primary school graduates were internet users.