For Stronger Cooperation with U.S.

MIC Minister Rho holds rounds of talks with Sec. of Commerce Gutierrez: New MIC Minister-designate Yoo Young-hwan travels to Spain

Information and Communication Minister Rho Jun-hyong met with a number of U.S. government officials during his tour of the United States including Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Chairman Kevin Martin of the Federal Communication Commission(FCC).
Minister Rho discussed the issues related to expanding the bilateral cooperation between Korea and the United States, especially in IT policies after the free trade agreement between the two countries comes into effect.
Rho invited Secretary Gutierrez to the 2008 OECD IT Ministerial Meeting scheduled for June 17-18 in Seoul as a keynote speaker and Secretary Gutierrez replied that he appreciated the invitation and looks forward to visit Korea.
Minister Rho said he would like to see the exchange in IT products and services between Korea and the U.S. expand and build more closer cooperative relations, especially, in the area of RFID and the construction of Ubiquitous society.
Secretary Gutierrez said the FTA with Korea is the largest one that the U.S. concluded after the NAFTA and the two countries should continue to strengthen the partnership in the IT sector and strategic cooperation. He also agreed on the need for common standardization in the RFID sector and expressed his interest in the expansion of Korea's broadband supply situation.
In a meeting with FCC Chairman Martin, Rho exchanged in-depth opinions on the intellectual property rights for user created contents(UCC) and the auction system of band waves.
Minister Rho told the FCC chairman that the legislation of laws related to the integration of broadcasting and communication organizations and IPTV and other fusion services are being discussed at legislature in Korea. He listened to the FCC chairman's explanation on the FCC's positions on various issues in the broadcasting and communications sectors, including Britain's OFCOM as a model to separate the regulatory organizations.
Minister Rho traveled to Boston from Washington and visited the media lab at the MIT and iRobot Co.
and returned home on July 15.
In Barcelona, Spain:
In the meantime, MIC Vice Minister Yoo Young-hwan called on Chairman Rinaldo Rodriguez of the CMT in Barcelona, Spain, and discussed various subjects related to the regulations on Mobile Virtual Network Operator and IPTV policies of Spain and Europe on regulations on IPTV. The vice minister has now been designated as MIC Minister.
At the meeting, Chairman Rodriguez expressed a surprise for Korea's high IT development, calling for expanded exchange visits of IT experts of Korea and Spain, for a meaningful dialogue on regulatory policies on high-speed Internet and communication services.
In Catalonia, Spain:
Vice Minister Yoo traveled to Catalonia, Spain, to meet with Juan Puigcercos, minister of administration for Catalonia, and signed an MOU to help the Catalonia state government and the Korea IT International Cooperation Agency in conducting a feasibility study on WiBro and discussed the cooperation between Korea and the Spanish state on cooperation on WiBro.
Under the MOU, the KIICA will set up a committee jointly with the information society research office of Catalonia and deal with the exchange of information by holding various events including the seminars. KIICA will also provide technology support to Catalonia to build WiBro if the WiBro technologies provided by KIICA is applicable.
Catalonia has experimented with some 100 Fixed Wimax on a trial basis and has decided to set up WiBro since it is a mobile Fixed Wimax. The Spanish state also agreed with Korea to make joint advances into other parts of the world including Europe, South America and Asia.
Catalonia has 7.13 million population with per capita GDP of $31,000 with excellent workforce and low consumer prices. It has been rapidly becoming a center of Spain's economy and the ICT industry acting as a trading window for countries in South America and Europe. nw

MIC Minister Rho Jun-hyong shakes hands with U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez before holding talks on measures to increase bilateral cooperation in the area of the IT technologies and products when the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement comes in effect may be in 2009.