This is the second of a three-part series highlighting economic pledges of the two most prominent presidential candidates, Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party. ― ED.



By Kang Seung-woo



The nation's information and communication technology (ICT) industry is buzzing with the upcoming May 9 presidential election, as the sector is under the direct influence of government policies and regulations.



Particularly, on the verge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that is expected to drive sweeping changes in high-tech areas, the industry is paying keen attention to candidates' pledges regarding this.



The two leading presidential candidates -- Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party -- stress the need for the nation to brace for the upcoming global trend, while proposing measures to rev up the ICT field.



Whoever is elected, the industrial movement will be high on the agenda for the new head of state, while a drive to recover the ICT sector will be accelerated unlike the two previous administrations that put the high-tech segment on the back burner.



Moon calls for a government-led drive to cope with the industrial transformation in a so-called "21st century New Deal" policy.



"I will create a Fourth Industrial Revolution committee under the direct control of the president and based on it, I will establish a robust platform for it," Moon said.



"I plan to set up a high-speed internet of things (IoT) network, which is the basic infrastructure of the industrial transformation, and build smart highways for autonomous vehicles."



He also said that if elected, the government will install superchargers for electric vehicles (EVs) on main roads and public parking lots, with a plan that government offices will purchase a large number of the cars, in an effort to develop the industry.



In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Moon plans to set up an organization for small ventures to support their research and development (R&D) with government startup assistance.



Also, he has proposed building a control tower to help improve technology and nurturing 10,000 computer science teachers in elementary, middle and high schools.



Unlike Moon, Ahn believes that the private sector should lead the nation's preparation for the industrial transformation and the government should play a supporting role.



"The Fourth Industrial Revolution is different from previous ones in that it is far less predictable. Hence, it's not desirable and not possible for the government to lay out plans in advance," Ahn said.



In addition, Ahn has stressed the need to shake up the education system to produce creative talent fit for the upcoming industrial trend.



"To fully prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we must break from the uniform and cramming education," he said.



"Also, the education ministry should be removed and new organizations should be set up to formulate a long-term education policy."



Ahn also vowed to produce 100,000 talented people for the Fourth Industrial Revolution by 2022, saying, "There will be a shortage of professional manpower in the areas of artificial intelligence, IoT, big data and three-dimensional printing, so I plan to educate 100,000 young and elderly people to make them specialists to handle the trend."



In an effort to help startups, Ahn has suggested that the government create a body to support them, while designating a regulation-free special zone.



ICT



The nation's ICT industry took a quantum leap under the administrations of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun from the predecessors of the Democratic Party, and Moon wants to build on their achievements.



Moon's flagship ICT pledge is deregulation like getting rid of ActiveX and public certification systems that have been cited as major hurdles for brisk online transactions and the development of the info-tech industry.



"I will introduce a negative regulation system. In other words, entrepreneurs can do whatever they want to do if not they are clearly prohibited," Moon said.



"There will be no more ActiveX on websites managed by the government. The new websites of the government and public bodies will support the no plug-in policy."



ActiveX, which controls and protects users' computers, works only on Microsoft Windows platforms, such as Internet Explorer. Thus, users of other web browsers or mobile devices are unable to access websites based on Microsoft's technology.



In addition, he plans to integrate ICT-related tasks scattered into several ministries into a new independent organization.



To boost the nation's capabilities in the sector, Ahn, a former software mogul, has set his sights on nurturing 5G mobile communication technology, exporting the e-government system and building an ecosystem for mobile applications.



Given that 5G technology is a key element in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, he plans to concentrate governmental and public efforts on commercializing it for the first time in the world to gain a global presence.



As for the e-government system, Korea has gained recognition for its establishment of this in a short time. It topped the United Nation's biennial e-government survey three consecutive times starting in 2010 -- although it fell to third in 2016.



In that respect, Ahn will seek to improve the nation's reputation and increase the export of systems to developing countries.



Also, Ahn is set to help large and smaller businesses work together to construct a collaborative business ecosystem and tap into emerging markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia, which he believes will help them grow and create jobs in the end.







