PRESIDENT OF CYBERSPACE

The South Korean presidential election in December 2002 marked
another significant advancement in the country's ongoing process of
democratisation, which began in the mid-1980s. Newly elected
president Roh Moo-hyun enjoyed widespread popular support
encouraged by volunteers organising themselves using the internet
other new technologies. The main supporters' group called itself
Nosamo, which literally means 'people who love Roh Moo-hyun'.

Roh's opponent, Lee Hoe-chang, had long enjoyed solid support
from most of the conservative newspapers that dominate the nation's
media. However, Nosamo's active campaign successfully attracted
media attention and turned public support towards Roh Moo-hyun.

Alternative information channels on the web, such as Ohmynews and
Pressian, proved to be an effective counter balance to mainstream
journalism.

On polling day, Nosamo members and young supporters of Roh
launched an extensive mobile phone campaign encouraging their
friends to come out and cast votes. It was widely accepted, after the
election, that Roh's victory owed much to the use of new media.

In Korea, online communities began in the early 1990s, before
widespread use of the internet, through PC networks developed by
service providers. This community culture migrated to the internet,
and now hundreds of thousands of cyber communities are thriving in
every field. Politics is no exception: political activists, non-
governmental organisations, media, politicians, and just ordinary
people talk and talk and talk online. They build groups, they curse
some politicians and bureaucrats, and they know that they are not
alone anymore.

full