Over the past two decades, the South Korean government has strongly promoted the establishment of a nationwide Internet network. As a result, by 1999 some 22.4% of South Koreans used the Internet and by 2005, Internet use had more than tripled to 71.9% (National Internet Development Agency of Korea, 2006). As a result, South Korea has been ranked first in the ITIF Broadband rankings- the international standard- since its founding in 1999.
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| PC Baang hall, South Korea |
In South Korea more adolescents use the Internet than do any other age group. For these youths, the Internet is not only the most common activity of daily life but also a major recreational activity. By 2005, some 97.3% of South Korean adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19 years used the Internet (National Internet Development Agency of Korea, 2006).
Generally, the concept of addiction has been applied to excessive use of the Internet. Young (1999) claimed, “Internet addiction” is a broad term that covers a wide variety of behaviors and impulse control problems. The term adopted in describing this behavior in which some people’s involvement can become so intense as to be pathological has varied, including Internet addiction, problematic Internet use, and pathological Internet use (Charlton & Danforth, 2007).
As elsewhere, problems related to Internet overuse in South Korea include addiction, circulation of undesirable content, dissemination of private information, extreme entertainment-oriented use, grammar problems, diminished vision, and lack of sleep (Song, 1999). The addictive aspect of the Internet is of special interest because it can lead to more serious problems such as mental illness, lying, kleptomania, lessened concentration, lower school grades, poor school attendance, dropping out of school, running away from home, and other family crises (Kim & Kim, 2003).’
-Source. ‘Prevalence of internet addiction and correlations with family factors among South Korean adolescents’, Park et al, 2008
