ATIP Report: Seoul's Soft Expo'97
Rick Schlichting
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ASIAN TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION PROGRAM (ATIP)
REPORT: ATIP98.019 : Seoul's Soft Expo'97
To: Distribution
From: rep...@atip.or.jp
This is file name "atip98.019"
Date: 11 Mar 1998
ATIP98.019 : Seoul's Soft Expo'97
ABSTRACT: Soft Expo '97 was held 10-14 Dec., 1997 at the Seoul Yoido
Exhibition Center. Soft Expo is the largest software exhibition in
Korea and organized by the Ministry of Information and Communication. In
this report, an overview of Soft Expo'97 is given and the current status
of Korean software industry is examined.
=====================START OF REPORT ATIP98.019===========================
Copyright (c) 1998 by the Asian Technology Information Program (ATIP)
This material may not be published, modified or otherwise redistributed
in whole or part, in any form, without prior approval by ATIP, which
reserves all rights.
Seoul's Soft Expo'97
(ATIP/Seoul)
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. OVERVIEW OF SOFT EXPO '97
3. LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
4. SOFT EXPO'97 CONFERENCE
5. CONCLUSION
6. CONTACT
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1. INTRODUCTION
Despite ever-increasing use of computers everywhere, the software
industry in Korea is not yet mature. According to statistics compiled by
the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), the total
production of Korean companies having anything to do with software in
1996 was about US$3.5B based upon the exchange rate at that time. In
contrast, Korean semiconductor companies produced in the same year about
US$17B worth of semiconductor products. Microsoft, the largest software
company in the world, alone had yearly sales of US$11B in 1996-1997
fiscal year. (Indian software exports in 1996 were about US$1.2B.)
There are several reasons why Korean software companies are not doing
well. First, they are not yet technically mature. The pace of change in
software has been too fast for late starting Korean companies to catch
up. Most Korean software companies began their business within the past
ten years or so. With relatively open Korean markets for software,
foreign software products cannot be controlled in the same way as, say,
automobiles -- people just use the best software available.
Consequently, most software products that are popular in Korea are
produced in the US.
Second, the domestic software market is small. There are very few
Korean software companies that can export their products -- most
software products that have been developed are for the domestic market.
Occasional companies create very nice products which many people like
to use, but not necessarily to pay for. Illegal copying of software is
a routine practice in Korea. According to one study, the rate of illegal
copying of software products in Korea in 1996 was about 70%, meaning 70%
of all programs used in computers in Korea are illegal copies. In US, it
is estimated that this number is only 27%, and in Japan 41%. In this
harsh environment, even companies with popular products find it hard to
survive.
Nevertheless, the importance of a healthy domestic software industry is
well understood and efforts are being made by the Korean government to
boost the Korean software industry. One such effort was Soft Expo '97,
held 10-14 Dec., 1997 at the Seoul Yoido Exhibition Center. In this
report, an overview of the exhibition is made and a selected list of
companies that participated in the exhibition is given. In addition,
list of papers presented at an accompanying conference on computer
science is given.
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2. OVERVIEW OF SOFT EXPO '97
Each year there are more than five trade shows in Korea related to
software, but Soft Expo was the first one directly sponsored by the
government, or more specifically, by the Ministry of Information and
Communication (MIC). MIC wanted to demonstrate its support for, as well
as control of, Korea's software industry and consequently organized a
grandiose software trade show which included a software product
exhibition, computer science conference, and a ceremonial visit by
President Kim Young-sam himself.
Unfortunately, Soft Expo'97 was not as great a success as MIC hoped.
First of all, the timing was unfortunate. The news of Korea's financial
crisis has made everyone very nervous, and the motto of "Soft Vision
2001", did not seem particularly relevant. In addition, the
presidential election was only a few days away. Despite intense
advertising activities by MIC, the Expo did not receive much attention
from Korean media; both exhibitors and spectators seemed more concerned
about their economic future and/or who they were going to vote for as
the new president. Second, Soft Expo'97 had too much bureaucratic
oversight. MIC tried very hard to make Soft Expo look successful but
apparently did not carefully listen to the needs of participating
companies. Electronic News, a leading trade newspaper in the field of
electronics and computers, said it succinctly, "Money spent for the show
would have been better spent if just given to a few promising software
companies". Nevertheless, Soft Expo '97 drew about 180 Korean
software-related companies, and their products showed the present status
of Korean software industry.
The exhibition was held in two separate halls at the Yoido Exhibition
Center. In one hall, products for personal applications were displayed.
About one hundred companies participated. The majority of displayed
products were software for education, multimedia, and games. The most
popular booth was that of Hite Media which displayed Cocktail'97, a
grand prize winner of Soft Expo'97. This is a multimedia editor which
can handle image, audio and other multimedia files in a unified and easy
manner. In particular, the developer of this product, Mr. Lee Sang
Hyup, is an eighteen year old high-school graduate, has recently become
a software star in Korea. In a country where anything useful has a label
associated with one of a few chaebol companies and anyone of
importance is a graduate of one of handful of prestigious universities,
a successful software product single-handedly made by a high-school
graduate who did not do well in school and did not bother going to
college makes for great news. Mr. Lee has been seen on TV and magazine
covers, and is claimed as Bill Gates of Korea, with his product selling
very well. According to Hite Media, Cocktail '97 has about 50% of the
domestic market, beating such competing programs as Director and
Shockwave. Furthermore, Cocktail '97 will be exported to five countries
including US and Japan. If software in Korea has any hope, it is likely
not because chaebol companies nor the government but because of people
like Mr. Lee.
In the second hall, software products for corporate applications were
displayed. There were a total of eighty companies, domestic and foreign
exhibiting. Displayed products were mostly related to intranet, DBM, or
ERP applications. The product that attracted the greatest interest was
UniERP made by Samsung SDS. The latter company is a member of Samsung
group and specializes in SI and ISP business. UniERP is an ERP package
specifically designed for small and medium size companies and is claimed
to handle entire manufacturing processes from production to shipping.
Many business owners showed real interest in the possibility of
manufacturing cost reduction with UniERP. For its excellence, UniERP
received a presidential award in Soft Expo '97.
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3. LIST OF PARTICIPATING COMPANIES
Selected companies which participated in Soft Expo '97 are listed below
along with their web addresses and business specialties. Among about 180
companies, only those Korean companies that have their own URL are
listed. ATIP members who wish further information about any of these
companies are welcome to contact us directly.
Korea G & M
http://www.kgsms.co.kr
GIS application software and systems
Kong-Young DB Marketing
http://www.dbminfo.com
Integrated DBM software and systems especially for tele-marketing
applications
Nextel Inc.
http://www.uriel.net
Internet/intranet software
Daewoo Information Systems Co.
http://www.disk.co.kr
IT Service branch of Daewoo group. SD&SI network service
Daihong Information Technology
http://www.webnara.com
Web systems for branch management
Tong Yang System House
http://www.tysystemhouse.com
SI and communication service
Dream C&C
http://www.dreamsell.co.kr
Machine translation programs between Japanese, Korean, and Chinese
Digital Case Inc.
http://www.digitalcast.co.kr
Internet fax systems, Intranet products
Menics Co.
http://www.semtle.co.kr
Network game software
Muhan Information Technology
http://www.muhan.co.kr
Firewall solutions, DB solutions especially for government application
Future Information Community
http://www.edufinder.org
Web magazine publication for education
Basis-NET
http://www.kadd.co.kr
Information systems for advertising industry
Cyber Gate International
http://www.cgii.co.kr
Internet/intranet security solutions
Samsung SDS
http://www.sds.samsung.co.kr
A software branch of Samsung group. ERP solutions, CAD tools, ISP business
Seoul Database Marketing Co.
http://www.sdm.co.kr
Unified messaging systems including client-server systems, voice, fax and
email
Serim Infotel. Inc.
http://www.seorim.com
Consulting business for various SI applications
Soft Machine
http://www.chollian.net/~softmach
Simulation game software
Soft Link
http://soback.kornet.nm.kr/~softlink
MIS development tool software
Softmax Co.
http://www.softmax.co.kr
Game software
Softwise Inc.
http://www.softwise.co.kr
Information search engines
Ssangyong Information & Communcation
http://www.sice.co.kr
Branch of Ssangyong group. SI and SM (system management) business
Success World
http://www.hoteldc.com
Cyber shopping mall development
C. C.R. Inc
http://www.ccr.co.kr
Internet application software, Network games
CNS Consulting Co.
http://www.interpia.co.kr
Multimedia contents development
Ablex
http://ablex.net
Multimedia on-line game software
Iway Co.
http://edunet.nmc.nm.kr/mid
Multimedia titles for education
ICan System
http://www.ican.co.kr
Software for internet commerce, education, MIS applications
Iquest Co.
http://Soback.kornet.nm.kr/~ipsoft
Personal finance management software
NCK Telecom Co.
http://www.netcenter.co.kr
Push technology software
Yein Information Co.
http://www.multinetkorea.com
Multimedia contents
Wise D-Base Co.
http://www.wisedb.co.kr
Internet provider of Korean translation for foreign newpapers and magazines
Indi Tech.
http://Indi-tech.com
Web-processor software
Incom I&C Co.
http://www.incom.co.kr
Internet/intranet solutions, construction safety evaluation software
Info Desk
http://www.inofrdesk.co.kr
Personal information management software
Info Land
http://www.infoland.net
Internet-based stock information provider
Electronic Art Co.
http://www.eleart.co.kr
BIMS (Building Integrated Management System) software
Jangwon Graphics Inc.
http://www.jangwon.com
Multimedia contents, graphics software
Jungbotel
http://www.jungbotel.co.kr
DB software for Korean brand names
Jung Soft Inc.
http://www.jungsoft.co.kr
English-Korean machine translation program
Jason Tech Inc.
http://www.jasontech.com
Simulation sofware for science education
E-Com Solutions Ltd.
http://www.heloshoppers.com
Multimedia CD-ROM, Software for internet commerce
Jiranjikyo Soft Inc.
http://www.jiran.com
Software for PC communcations
Chung Media Co.
http://www.joycity.co.kr
Multi-user on-line game software
Comkid
http://www.comkid.co.kr
Multimedia software for children
Taff System Co.
http://www.taff.co.kr
Simulation games, VR software
Taewool
http://www.taewool.co.kr
Game software
Tricom Inc.
http://www.tricom.co.kr
Domestic distributor of foreign software products
Posdata Co.
http://www.Posdata.co.kr
Software and SI division of Posco.
PointLine Co.
http://www.pointline.co.kr
Software for fortune-telling
Sky Blue Co.
http://www.skyblue.co.kr
Painting software for children
Protec Software Co.
http://www.chollian\~protec
Multimedia development tool
Korea Mighty Co.
http://www.mignty.co.kr
Internet homepage development, Web DB solutions
Korea Hi-Net Co.
http://www.khnc.co.kr
MIS package, SI and network development, ERP products
Hanjin Information Systems & Telecommunication Co.
http://www.hist.co.kr
Software divison of Hanjin group. Software for transportation, travel
management
Hite Media
http://users.unitel.co.kr/~whitemm
Hyundai Information Technology
http://www.hit.co.kr
SI company of Hyundai group. SI and SM software
Hyun & Young Systems
http://hysys.hys.co.kr
SI software for financial systems
LG Soft, Ltd.
http://www.lgsw.re.kr
Software company in LG group. Intranet SI, game engines, internet commerce
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4. SOFT EXPO'97 CONFERENCE
Soft Expo'97 had an accompanying conference on computer science. Most
papers were about research activities performed at MIC's research labs
such as ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) or
SERI (System Engineering Research Institute), or university research
supported with MIC research funds. The overall technical level of papers
presented were not very high. Nevertheless, the titles of papers
presented are given below along with the research institution in the
hope of giving a glimpse of software research in Korea.
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
-The development of a highly parallel computer system: SPAX (ETRI)
-The PSTN videophone with Web browser (Pantek Media)
-Intelligent multimedia W/S technology: HandyComBi system (ETRI)
-LRAID: A long-structure RAID for high performance storage server (Postech)
-KAIPTS: Knowledge-based image processing technologies (SERI)
-A study on a parallel I/O system for VOD (Pusan Univ.)
-Development of extended CGI environment and administration tool for WWW
server (SERI)
-Design and implementation of collaborative system supporting group work
in Java environment (Hongik Univ.)
-RODEO: Object-oriented multimedia service development environment (ETRI)
-Development of a training system for residents of cardio medicine based
on a network game (Ewha Women's Univ.)
-Implementation of a intranet VOD system (Kwanwoon Univ.)
-Development of security technology of Korea information infrastructure
(ETRI)
-High-performance computing on CROWN cluster system (SERI)
-Design and implementation of a C optimizer based locality (ETRI)
DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING AND DB TECHNOLOGY
-Hanuri: A framework for distributed applications (ETRI)
-Development of a high-performance transaction processing system in a
multisystem data sharing environment (Yeungnam Univ.)
-Design and implementation of a distributed debugger (SERI)
-The framework of distributed collaborative agents for agent-based
workflow management system (ETRI)
-Task planning to data mining support (Hongik Univ.)
-Technologies for contents based multimedia information retrieval (ETRI)
-Implementation and design of the tourism information service system on
information super highway (Daesang Information Tech.)
-Software development for the operation of manufacturing system using
distributed object and workflow technologies (Korea Univ.)
-Design on BADA-III multimedia DBMS (ETRI)
-Development of hierarchical, distributed CIM S/W (KUCIM) using
object-oriented framework methodology (Korea Univ.)
-An index structure for incremental indexing and compound nouns in
Korean texts retrieval (Chungnam Univ.)
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING AND S/W ENGINEERING
-Overview on the Korean language information processing project and the
technologies for structured information retrieval server (SERI)
-Speech input/output processing technology for human-computer interface (ETRI)
-Verification and automatic code generation techniques for LOTOS
specification (SERI)
-The definition and representation of word meanings suitable for natural
language processing (Yonsei Univ.)
-An approach to software process management based on formal process
modeling and analysis (KAIST)
-Prototype implementation of information and communication systems
development methodology (SERI)
-Development of a foundation of SGML based document management system
(Yonsei Univ.)
-Quality evaluation system of system integration software (SERI)
-Developing CORBA ORB in Ada95 (Ulsan Univ.)
-Object model extraction from procedural programs (SERI)
IMAGE PROCESSING AND VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGY
-Image indexing using color distribution features (SERI)
-Development of next generation visual information technologies (ETRI)
-A study on the development of virtual reality authoring tool (SERI)
-Development of virtual model house design system (Internex)
-A development on augmented reality software (SERI)
-Implementation of 3D medical education system on high speed network
(Seoul Univ.)
-The development of S/W for the processing of Avatar's behavior and
interaction (SERI)
INTERNET AND COMMUNICATION S/W TECHNOLOGY
-A study on mechanism for internet application service management (SERI)
-The comparison of two dynamic flow control algorithms improving the
performance of conferencing systems (Dongguk Univ.)
-Logical IP network and high bandwidth teleconferencing application
development on high bandwidth information network (KAIST)
CALS/ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
-Development of electronic commerce directory service (SERI)
-Electronic payment system for electronic commerce based on SET (SERI)
-Development of home shopping system using WWW security technology
(Chungnam Univ.)
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5. CONCLUSION
An overview of Sotf Expo'97 was given and the status of Korean software
industry was briefly examined. Soft Expo'97 was not a very successful
trade show despite (or perhaps because of) great efforts by MIC. It
did, however, provide a glimpse of software companies in Korea. Korea's
software industry is not mature yet and it will need more creative and
adventurous individuals like Mr. Lee of Hite Media before it can be self
sustainable.
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6. CONTACT
This report was written by Woo-Young Choi at ATIP Korea. For any
questions regarding this report and/or Korean software industry, please
contact the author at wc...@bubble.yonsei.ac.kr.
=====================END OF REPORT ATIP98.019r===========================