Korea sits at the center of fast-moving Northeast Asia. Twenty-five percent of the world's population lives in this dynamic region, producing 22 percent of the world's GDP. It is, along with North America and Western Europe, one of the world's three most critical economic zones.

At the very heart of the region, Korea serves as the geopolitical bridge between China and Japan. Since China's entry to the WTO in 2001, economic cooperation in trade, investment and technology has rapidly deepened between the three countries. Korea is the optimal destination to set up R&D centers and conduct profitability tests concerning new ICT business opportunities that target China and Japan.

Korea is currently carrying out a cluster innovation strategy in key cities around the nation to support its goal of becoming Northeast Asia's hub of the ICT industry.

Korea is already functioning as a global test bed for new technologies and as the optimal location for verifying new business models. The government is creating a one-stop support system to accommodate all relevant activities such as R&D, production and market profitability tests .

To take the quantum leap to become a global ICT leader, Korea embarked on two critical initiatives: Cyber Korea 21 and E-Korea Vision 2006 in 1999 and 2002, respectively. As a result, as of December 2004, Korea's broadband penetration per 100 inhabitants reached 24.9 - more than double that of the OECD average of 10.2. Korea continues to be the global number one in terms of broadband penetration for the 4th consecutive year.

The number of Internet users in Korea is approximately 31 million (out of a population of 48 million) as of December 2004. Virtually every Korean, regardless of age and gender, is an active user of the Internet. Korea is now working to provide a seamless Internet service anytime, anywhere through wired-wireless convergence services such as WiBro (Wireless Broadband) and next generation Internet networks such as IPv6.

Korea's strong competitiveness in the technology infrastructure area does not stop at broadband; Korea also leads the world in terms of patent productivity, telecommunication costs, GDP share of investment in telecommunications and consumer levels of IT technology usage. According to the International Institute for Management Development's "2005 National Competitiveness Report,"released in May 2005, Korea's technological infrastructure competitiveness index was the second highest in the world.

Korea's PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) international applications numbered 3,553 in 2004, up 20.6 percent from 2,947 in 2003, placing Korea in 7th place in global rankings. In the International Institute for Management Development "2005 National Competitiveness Report"of May 2005, Korea was ranked number two in the world in the "Scientific Infrastructure /Patent Productivity"category.

Korea's Ministry of Information and Communications is the global frontrunner in revamping laws and regulations to galvanize new next-generation ICT services that will be in full use by 2005. As of June 2005, to ensure full regulatory support of the commercialization of services such as DMB, home networks and WiBro (Wireless Broadband), the ministry is proactively improving existing communication-related laws and regulations.