When the Korean developmental state meets the data economy

The transformation of South Korea from a developmental state to a regulatory one, influenced by democratization and globalization, has seen a recent shift. Since the mid-2010s, South Korea has witnessed a resurgence of the developmental state model, primarily to maintain its competitiveness in the digital economy. This shift is marked by adopting comprehensive national data policies, focusing on developing data industries and services nationwide and facilitating the integration and application of both public and private data. Central to these efforts are several strategic plans. The "Big Data Master Plan for Smart Country Realization" (2012) aims to manage public data and stimulate private sector engagement. The "Big Data Service Activation Strategy" addresses the need for improved infrastructure, skilled professionals, and robust data platforms. The "New Internet Industry Promotion Plan" (2013) targets enhancements in data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud technologies, while the "Data Industry Revitalization Strategy" (2018) provides a comprehensive support system for the data life cycle. Three data platforms were established to foster a data ecosystem where public and private data are interlinked. (1) The AI Training Dataset Project builds datasets from sources such as images, video, text, and voice used to train models when developing AI and discloses them through the AI Hub. (2) The Big Data Platform Project is designed to engage the public and private sectors to collaboratively build the big data platforms that collect and disclose the data necessary for each industry, and to build the centers that continuously provide data to these platforms. It also serves as the foundation for the data to be traded as a product with economic value. (3) The Open Government Data Platform is aimed at discovering and disclosing high-value public data that companies can use. The government also established a three-tiered data governance structure. The establishment of the Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution in 2016 directs national data policies and coordinates projects and issues emphasizing data, network (5G), and AI. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) develop policies and launch new projects, supported by the National Information Society Agency (NIA), a specialized policy and technology supporting public agency. Legal frameworks complement these efforts. For example, the "Act on Promotion of the Provision and Use of Public Data" and the revised "Framework Act on Intelligent Informatization" (2020) establish legal grounds for data management, support, and security. The "Data Framework Act" (2021) recognizes data as a tradable asset, setting a foundation for data trading and professional data trader training. The author concludes that Korea's data policy is government-initiated, risk-taking, and focused on social and industrial innovation. The government acts as a creator, supporter, and leader in the data cycle, taking risks to advance the data economy and aiming for societal and industrial innovation. Like in the 1960s-70s, the Korean state plays a crucial role as an initiator and coordinator in promoting the data economy in the era of disruptive technology.