Most Koreans want to see the ActiveX software program scrapped, citing difficulty making online transactions

April 7, 2014 Leave a comment

Poll finds no love lost with ActiveX

Mar 24,2014

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Most Koreans want to see the ActiveX software program scrapped, citing difficulty making online transactions, according to a survey by the Federation of Korean Industries.
The federation, a lobbying group for the country’s conglomerates, said yesterday that it surveyed 700 people nationwide and 78.6 percent of the respondents said they wanted the use of the ActiveX software to be discontinued, while only 6.7 percent opposed the idea.
ActiveX from Microsoft is a plug-in software framework that allows users to see various files and data on the Internet. To run certain programs using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, it must be installed.
However, although ActiveX has become an integral part of the country’s online environment, it has been troublesome for users of different browsers like Chrome and Safari, and mobile platforms.
ActiveX was one of the hot topics in a deregulation forum last Thursday at the Blue House after a federation official said the program prevents Chinese customers – especially fans of Korean TV dramas – from making purchases at local online shopping malls.
President Park Geun-hye also acknowledged that online authentication certificates, which are based on ActiveX, are an obstacle for local online shopping malls trying to attract foreign customers. Currently, those who want to purchase products costing more than 300,000 won ($277) at a local online shopping mall must use an online authentication certificate service.
The federation’s survey showed that 84.1 percent of respondents want the development of a new system that doesn’t require ActiveX, and 88 percent said they had experienced difficulties with the program.
The survey showed that 79.1 percent of respondents cited online transactions as the biggest problem with ActiveX, while 71.7 percent said they had difficulties with banking transactions.
Other top complaints included difficulty registering at local websites and for online government services, and transactions involving foreign websites.
The lobbying group said that despite the advanced IT infrastructure of Korea, the country’s online shopping sector compared to GDP is only a fifth to a seventh that of the United States, Japan and China.
“ActiveX is becoming a barrier to creative distribution,” Yoo Hwan-ik, who heads the federation’s industrial research division, said in a statement. “If this problem is corrected, Korea can reduce its 720 billion won deficit in the international e-commerce field and boost local online market.”
With the president’s message, industry insiders speculate changes involving the online authentication certificate environment could speed up.
Choi Moon-ki, the minister of science, ICT and future planning, said in the ministry’s workshop on Saturday that it will provide an online environment and online authentication certificate without ActiveX. The ministry is expected to work closely with the Financial Supervisory Service and Financial Services Commission to find solution for ActiveX problem.
Meanwhile, following Thursday’s forum on red tape, other ministries also are coming up with ideas to ease business-related regulations or scrap them entirely.
Seo Seung-hwan, minister of land, transport and maritime affairs, also held a workshop on Saturday to discuss deregulation related to areas for which the ministry is responsible.
“For the deregulation movement to be successful, what’s important is to change the attitude of public servants,” Seo said during the ministry’s workshop, which ran more than two hours. “Even if it is a large-scale improvement, we need to find solutions to minimize the discomfort by considering the point of view of all Koreans.”
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime affairs on Thursday listened to complaints regarding regulations on car tune-ups and real estate.
BY JOO KYUNG-DON [kjoo@joongang.co.kr]

 

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Kee Koon Boon (“KB”) is the co-founder and director of HERO Investment Management which provides specialized fund management and investment advisory services to the ARCHEA Asia HERO Innovators Fund (www.heroinnovator.com), the only Asian SMID-cap tech-focused fund in the industry. KB is an internationally featured investor rooted in the principles of value investing for over a decade as a fund manager and analyst in the Asian capital markets who started his career at a boutique hedge fund in Singapore where he was with the firm since 2002 and was also part of the core investment committee in significantly outperforming the index in the 10-year-plus-old flagship Asian fund. He was also the portfolio manager for Asia-Pacific equities at Korea’s largest mutual fund company. Prior to setting up the H.E.R.O. Innovators Fund, KB was the Chief Investment Officer & CEO of a Singapore Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) where he is responsible for listed Asian equity investments. KB had taught accounting at the Singapore Management University (SMU) as a faculty member and also pioneered the 15-week course on Accounting Fraud in Asia as an official module at SMU. KB remains grateful and honored to be invited by Singapore’s financial regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to present to their top management team about implementing a world’s first fact-based forward-looking fraud detection framework to bring about benefits for the capital markets in Singapore and for the public and investment community. KB also served the community in sharing his insights in writing articles about value investing and corporate governance in the media that include Business Times, Straits Times, Jakarta Post, Manual of Ideas, Investopedia, TedXWallStreet. He had also presented in top investment, banking and finance conferences in America, Italy, Sydney, Cape Town, HK, China. He has trained CEOs, entrepreneurs, CFOs, management executives in business strategy & business model innovation in Singapore, HK and China.

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