(Park Yong-keun, ykpark@chosun.com )
The National Statistics Office announced Monday in 'Korea Seen Within the World by Statistics' that the number of Internet users per 100 persons had increased, but that the country had fallen to 5th place. The previous year, Korea beat the US. and Canada, to get third place, but was behind Singapore in second. The number of Internet users in Singapore jumped within the past year, showing signs of heated competition between the two countries for the "IT foothold" of Northeast Asia.
Korea also entered the top ten for the first time in four years for the number of personal computers per 100 people. Korea holds a record for 32 for every 100 (7th place). This is another boom since 1998. However, there is still a large IT gap, as developed countries have more than 50 computers for every 100 people.
Also, shipbuilding construction in Korea is the largest in the international market at 32.4 percent, followed by Japan 32.3 percent. Automobile production (2.946 million) takes up 5.2 percent of the international market in which the US (11.427 million) and Japan (9.777 million) hold more than 37.4 percent.
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