KKP(Korea Knowledge Portal) is the web site designed to manage and promote the circulation of the digitalized national knowledge and information to South Korean people established by government agency in 2002. Coming this April 1, the national knowledge database and professional information resources will be formally available as governmental service to its people.

South Korean internet users surpassed to more than 30 million by end of last year. Of those users, 73% are high-speed broadband users, 90% have their own e-mail address and more than 45% use some kind of messenger service. For them, internet is being used as not just for source of information but also as a communication medium and financial management tools among other various ways.

Due to their highly developed broadband environment and internet culture, South Korea has raised itself one step above others, especially in internet search engine service portals like Naver, Daum, Empas and Yahoo Korea.

Services by Private database portals lack in public confidence
Ever since 2003, major South-Korean search engine portals like Naver, Daum, Yahoo Korea and Empas are heavily relying on providing information databases that were created by active participants on their sites. But in turn this kind of concept also led to fast adaptation of so called web 2.0 services.

However, these kinds of database information compiled by its users have less merit. Precisely, accuracy or authenticity and fairness of search results could not be confirmed since it was mostly provided by its users and not by professional agencies.

The active participant created search engines were ideal to Korean internet search market due to lack of information resource database in developmental stages in the beginning. But presently, rivalry between South-Korean portals has resulted in closed minded, non-sharing of UCC (User Created Content) database between them.

National Knowledge Portal operating on a governmental level
South Korean government has kept operating its KKP to 8th year since its opening in 1999. A main communication infrastructure established to provide digitized information (rather than analog medium) on technological science, cultural data and intelligence information on a national level.

KKP (www.knowledge.go.kr) maintains its rigidly selected information and provides highly valuable services. Its resource links (10 selected fields) provide from a simple article to professional thesis and to furnish all sorts of information as a free service. But starting this year, it will link its services to existing private sector’s search databases like by Empas, Naver, Paran and Nate.com to help improve
quality of their operations.

Through overhauling and system upgrades, KKP will provide much improved services to South Koreans. One of the main upgrades is faster speed response for search criteria. They have accomplished to link nine professional resource institutions with 718 sub links in search databases and has dropped existing meta search system and integrated to consolidated meta-data database system. Thus cutting 20 seconds search response time to mere 3 seconds.

And it further improved its system by classifying search category to 10 directories like transportation, laws, economy etc. Especially areas related to professional knowledge and information will be provided to public by newly organized national knowledge professional forum. The forum will promote and encourage development of more active memberships in this sector.

National DB site open to everyone for easy access
Main mission for South Korean government is to provide an easy channel to its vast information resource databases (totaling 250 million) thru KKP for the public to access. However, forming uniform link to numerous agencies to obtain trustworthy resources and further improve the response time still remains as challenging problems. But one thing for sure, it has shown how a government can cope with unreliable information or commercializing of private search engines and able to furnish shortcuts to promote more informative society.

KKP has on going plans to further strengthen its national information database networks by increasing present 718 resource agencies up to 2000 using MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). These networks include KOIL (Korea IT Learning) an overseas operation, which runs over 140 agencies of its own. Currently, it will only be available as a link but eventually will be included as KKP’s network of national database system. These strategic plans are to prepare for any need of supportive actions that may arise when exporting I.T. services to any developing countries in the future for long term.

According to Kwon Soon Jin (Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity & Promotion) who has the full responsibility of running the KKP added, “There is much to improve but we are aiming to be No.1 in the world in providing information library that can be both beneficial and same time interesting. We plan to further strengthen our appeal and royal services and continue to proceed with further unification of metadata operations to set a benchmark of standard to foreign countries and hope to boast about that just in time for visit to South Korea from Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of world wide web) in year 2007”.