# 4-2 Korea

:::info
This section includes information partially from participants at the “Facing the Ocean Meet & Hack 2023”.

Facing the Ocean (FtO) is a community of civic hackers living in the West Pacific Ocean region, including Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, etc. The “Facing the Ocean Meet & Hack” is a series of hackathon events organized by the FtO community since 2019.
“FtO Jeju 2023” is organized by g0v international, a g0v project focused on international connection, Code for Korea, and Code for Japan.
:::

## Introduction to Korean Civic Tech Communities

### (1) Code for Korea

> Image from [Code for Korea](https://codefor.kr/)

One of Korea’s civic tech communities, Code for Korea, is composed of Korean volunteer citizens who came together to address social issues with digital technology. These issues encompass climate change, government open data, labor safety, social events, political donations, and more. Code for Korea was founded in February 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 17 citizens developed the “Public Mask” app, and more than 200 civic hackers helped sort out Covid-19 related public data. The community consists of volunteers with diverse interests in civic tech, including engineers, designers, journalists, lawyers, planners, and social activists, who collaborate to operate the community and work on projects.

Code for Korea hosts “Meet & Hack (hackathon)” approximately once a month, both online and offline, allowing community members to share and collaborate on projects.

> Code for Korea website: https://codefor.kr/

### (2) NullFull (널채움)

> Image from [NullFull](https://nullfull.kr)

NullFull has been an active civic tech community since 2016, holding meetings every Monday. Participants include developers, social activists, designers, data analysts, and system engineers. Here are some of the projects that this community has developed:
- Creating a map of restaurants parliament members prefer based on publicly available data from annual expenditure financial reports.
- Assisting consumers in examining if a product comes from one of the “notorious” food companies by scanning product barcodes and uploading them to a website.
- Establishing a system that allows voters to directly email parliamentary candidates, requesting amendments to current criminal laws for higher penalties against sex offenders.
- Improving lower-quality data visualizations in the media and remaking them through NullFull.

> NullFull Website: https://nullfull.kr

### (3) Semicolon Community

Originating from the “Korea Code Fair,” an initiative established by the Korean Ministry of Science and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. Community members are students from middle school and high school who come from all over the country. They manage their platform with real-time communication through instant messaging tools.

What makes this community special is not only their enthusiasm for civic tech but also the fact that it includes high school students from various fields of software engineering. Here are some of the projects initiated by this community:

- **Virus (유바이러스):** Following the COVID-19 pandemic, this platform provides data on domestic and international cases, including predictions, the travel routes of infected individuals, and more.
- **Mask Finder (마스크찾아줌):** Building on the previous project, the community developed this service to provide data on public mask inventory. It’s worth noting that a key factor to make this success was collaboration with the South Korean government, which provided an API for mask data.

## 2. Sharing Experiences of Civic Tech Projects in Korea

### (1) Map of Gazettes

> Image from [Map of Gazettes](https://gongbo.codefor.kr/)

Map of Gazettes, a project from Code for Korea, was initiated during the open data day in 2022. It involved 15 citizen hackers who voluntarily collected 243 public messages from local governments, including those published in PDF and DOC formats. The project also involved evaluating the level of digitization of public messages from various local governments. For instance, the Busan Electronic Gazette doesn’t upload the entire gazette in PDF format; instead, it provides documents for each item in the gazette, along with metadata such as document type and publishing organization, allowing the public to search using this metadata.

However, due to the significant variation in public messages among local governments, assessing the level of digitization was often challenging. After successfully collecting the data, this project received funding sponsorship from the National Information Society Agency (NIA) of Korea. Participants in the project noted that there was no direct collaboration with the government. They suggested that it would be beneficial for both parties if there were opportunities for direct communication with government officials to bring a greater impact.

> Project website: https://gongbo.codefor.kr/

### (2) Terrorless Platform (테러리스, terrorless)

> Image from [terrorless](https://terrorless.01ab.net/)

Operated by the 01ab team which consists of four university students, the Terrorless Platform was developed in response to public anxiety caused by random murder incidents in Korea in 2023. This project provides real-time updates on terrorist threats, links to relevant news articles, and information about the suspects in a map format. It not only allows communities to access information but also provides a platform for the public to report potential threats, contributing to public safety.

The project was quickly adopted by the public and integrated into daily life. The website received over 50,000 visitors on the first day of its launch, highlighting the immediate relevance and value that the project provides. In the face of declining social security in Korea, the team aimed to ease the increasing social anxiety, especially about online threats.

> Project website: https://terrorless.01ab.net/

## 3. Experiences in Collaborating with the Government

Korean civic tech participants pointed out that the relationship between the government and civic tech projects should be an equal partnership rather than an employment relationship. When government officials view project partners as employees, it can require a significant amount of communication, including some officials asking for detailed information on how the budget is being spent, such as the current location of purchased items.

The Korean government is very cautious about budget and considers it a key factor in major decisions, including specific ways to use budget, personnel hiring, and the organization’s ethical and credit reputation. However, the expectations of civic tech projects/communities go beyond just budget. They include the power of the government on decision-making, and a willingness to provide continuous support. Sometimes, when there is a turnover in government, the budget may be reduced and officials often perceive it as the end of a project. However, a project with a budget cut can have different management. Citizens should also pay attention to the sustainability of these projects.

Korean civic tech participants believe that, regardless Korean civic tech participants believe that, regardless of the budget size, civic tech projects/communities need to focus more on connecting people and communities and finding their autonomy to avoid the impact of budget fluctuations on the entire project.

Additionally, it is essential to support government officials in understanding civic tech and recognizing the benefits of collaboration. Civic tech participants from South Korea shared that there is always a certain level of competition between governments. They want to outperform other countries or local governments and are interested in replicating successful experiences from other regions. Therefore, they need relevant cases, regulations, policies, and other data to serve as benchmarks. Government officials may have limited technical understanding so it is crucial to provide experiences and cases rather than just codes and technical details. Moreover, designing education and training for civil servants in civic tech is vital. This may require communicators and teaching materials to bridge the gap between civic tech and government. Another consideration is to issue “Civic Tech Collaboration” certificates to government officials. In the collaboration process, understanding and achieving the government’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are also essential since KPIs are a common language for both sides. Government officials may not have strong personal preferences for the goals of civic tech projects. They may prioritize metrics such as media coverage and other quantifiable factors and this does not conflict with the project’s objectives. Additionally, some South Korean government officials may come forward to learn more about the civic tech projects/communities, and they return to their organizations to share their experiences internally. Maintaining a balanced relationship between both sides is crucial as being overly close is not always beneficial.