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Korea's mobile culture

The Korean word for mobile is handphone, which is appropriate given that the device has literally become an extension of the human body. According to Jin Kim, who writes DisplayBlog from California but visits family in Korea about once a year: Folks have their phones with them at all times. And because of the way they move around using a lot of public transportation, a good percentage actually hold their phones. Being so visible to others, the mobile then also becomes an object to be decorated for display. He continues: From young to not so young, people go beyond just putting a case on their phones. There are stickers, photo stickers, extensions with cute things on them or lights sometimes.

For foreigners, the central place of mobile phones in Korean society can cause its own kind of culture shock. The biggest surprise for me was was seeing kids as young as 6 or 7 years old on their cell phones, standing on a busy street corner or walking down the street, says Maisha Cannon, a native English teacher with the Gyeonggi-do English Program in Korea (GEPIK). Presumably, they were arranging a pick-up from a parent, but who knows what kind of business they were handling!

Indeed, it is possible to do pretty much anything from a mobile phone in Korea, from buying a snack at a convenience store to opening locked doors, from paying your fare on the subway to watching TV on the ride into work. According to a recent survey by Google's mobile advertising arm, AdMob, entertainment is the number one activity on smartphones in Korea, followed closely by texting and phone calls (in a tie), and with Internet searches a slightly more distant third.

What's next in mobile technology

Mobile banking is already well established, with nearly 80 billion US dollars worth of banking transactions being processed in the first three quarters of 2010 alone, according to the country's Financial Supervisory Service. But a broader system of mobile payments, or m-commerce, is the next big thing on the horizon. Last summer, two of Japan's biggest mobile operators, KDDI Mobile and Softbank, announced an agreement with SK Mobile, Korea's largest mobile operator, to work on standards for NFC (near-field communication) chips and readers that would allow for the creation of a unified mobile payment platform in the region. Meanwhile, SK Mobile has already developed a SIM card with an embedded NFC chip.

Another major innovation coming soon is mobile gaming. Mag KW Kim, a territory manager for a gaming company based in Seoul, says, We are expecting mobile devices to become powerful enough in the near future to replace the traditional video game platform. Some of the unique capabilities of mobile devices, such as geolocation, are in use already. She notes, A game called "iAngel" developed by a Korean company named Softmax contains character simulation of a pet, map info, and an advertisement model.

The handphone is indispensable

With the mobile used for so many things, it goes beyond the usual categories of technology that simply makes life better or more convenient. Jin Kim says, Koreans would say smartphones are one of the tools that is essential. Essential for communications, essential for paying for goods and services, essential for living in South Korea.

Losing a mobile phone represents such a distressing scenario that Korea Post, the Korea Association for ICT Promotion and the major mobile operators set up a national assistance service. People who have found a phone can turn it into the nearest post office, while those who have lost one can fill in their personal details and phone number on a dedicated website called the Mobile Phone Lost & Found Center to see if there is a match.

Mag KW Kim, the mobile gaming executive, has had the misfortune of losing her phone. She describes the sensation as becoming non-existent. Yet it also gave her an opportunity to reflect. Though I cannot function without my phone, I found it good for the soul, she says.