2018, Vol.25, No.1

Informatization Policy 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 4.08

pISSN : 1598-3498
https://journal.kci.go.kr/nia

The Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality protections on December 14, 2017. This is the very opposite decision of the net neutrality rule that the Obama administration has consistently maintained. The ensuing storm from the repeal of net neutrality protections has an extensively effect enough on individuals and businesses to cover the entire spectrum, and the impact is hard to assess in the U. S. content industry, which dominates the worldwide Internet content and platform market. On the other hand, Korea’s net neutrality protections have been firmly pursued, and there is no sign of change even after the decision happened in the U. S. Net neutrality is not a simple theme that is associated with the Constitution, such as freedom of expression, as well as the issue of network enhancement to prepare for 5G. Accordingly, this study examines how the net neutrality has been carried out in the U. S. and Korea over the years, and provides the issues of Internet enhancement, perspectives of ISP and ICP, and implications for the Constitution, market economy, fair competition and zero rating. This research delivers future direction and implications of domestic net neutrality policies.

The ICT policy domain is one of the most important policy domains in terms of national development and continuity. It is primarily because the contemporary society has been continuously developed and changed based upon the advanced information technologies. Recently, the Moon Jae-in Administration reorganized the Ministry of Science and ICT, and transferred a few of the key ICT related functions to other ministries as an attempt to develop the national ICT policies. However, critics in this domain argue that various problems still exist in the ICT policies in Korea. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to verify the empirical validity of the existing problems in the ICT policies in Korea, and develop alternatives to solve those problems. In order to serve the research purpose, this study employs multiple methods; a quantitative method which is a survey involving experts in ICT policies, and a social network analysis involving public officials in ICT related ministries. Research results show that the Korean government needs to enhance its capacity to make adjustments in ICT-related policies as the current decentralized system continuously creates various types of problems. The second possible solution to the problem is to change the national ICT policy system to a centralized one. However, this requires various efforts such as cooperation among ICT related government agencies, separation of ICT policies from science and technology policies, and increased government capacity to implement the ICT policies.

Healthcare is on the verge of a paradigm shift towards an emphasis on wellbeing, integrative health, and prevention of disease, while the traditional medical model focuses solely on end-point treatment. The development of digital technologies has played a major role in this change as digital technology and health have converged. Therefore, many developed countries promote the digital healthcare industry as a new economic growth engine, and Korea is no exception. To promote the digital healthcare industry, the Korean government provides institutional support by improving the legal and regulatory system for medical devices and health data. However, Korea still has an underdeveloped legal and regulatory framework for digital healthcare compared with other countries. In this study, we review the relevant regulatory systems in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. We then explore newspaper articles and conduct expert interviews to analyze the regulatory situation in Korea and the problems the digital healthcare industry faces. In conclusion, we discuss a regulatory reform plan for development of the digital healthcare industry in Korea.