[Opinion] Presidential Secretary in Charge of Internet

Many have heard candlelight protesters shouting “2MB OUT.” On one hand, 2MB stands for President Lee Myung-bak. On the other, it stands for two megabytes, a very slow computing speed. Protesters intentionally use the term to compare Lee’s dreadful judgment on beef negotiation and candlelight vigils to memory capacity. Interestingly, however, the term 2MB was not coined by a leftist organization. In the run-up to the presidential election, the Grand National Party created a video clip in which Lee said, “2MB feels sorry for you, people.” This proves how seriously the ruling party does not understand Internet culture.

A few days ago, a video clip entitled “Born Ultimatum,” which parodied the famous Hollywood movie “Bourne Ultimatum,” starring Matt Damon, was a smash hit. The video clip shows how netizens communicate on the Internet. It is really hard to stop from laughing while watching this clever, bitter video. Moreover, it was a high school student who argued that Lee should be impeached and obtained signatures from a whopping 1.3 million netizens on Agora, a bulletin board of Daum, one of the nation’s largest portal sites.

Certainly, Lee seems to be more shocked by the power of the Internet than anyone else. At the opening of the OECD Ministerial Meeting on “The Future of the Internet Economy,” Lee said, “The power of the Internet could be turned into poison, not medicine, unless trust is guaranteed.” The statement seemed to reflect Lee’s own aching experience. Even though former President Roh Moo-hyun was adept at arousing public sentiment on the Internet, Lee doesn’t know how to deal with the technology.

As a part of his personnel reshuffling, Lee will appoint a presidential secretary in charge of the Internet. Kim Cheol-gyun, former vice president of Daum Communications and president of Open IPTV, has been unofficially chosen for the position. The National Police Agency, whose Web site crashed due to attacks of angry netizens, is also considering establishing a new team in charge of analysis of Internet information to garner a better understanding of public sentiment on the Internet and deal with information distortions. Though belated, it is fortunate that the government is finally coming to understand the significance of the Internet. However, the government should remember that the Internet is only a conversation channel and that both heavy dependence and regulations may backfire. When all is said and done, the driving force behind the Internet has always been people.

Editorial Writer Jeong Seong-hee (shchung@donga.com)