More than 50% of the country's 48 million population live in apartment buildings and now some 50,000 households are living in cyber apartments, a relatively new concept in housing, characterized by built-in broadband services, home automation, as well as online neighborhood systems. Local builders are scrambling to wire homes with the Internet to provide a state-of-the-art living environment fit for busy, modern day Koreans.
In the past, Korea's population was concentrated around the city, and builders developing apartment towers were blamed for this phenomenon, but in the Internet age, that same problem turns out to be a blessing, because it is easier to provide built-in broadband and software services to these large complexes.
Three months ago, Kim Jeong-hoi and her family moved into a 'Cyber Village,' and their new home came with free broadband web access, in addition to various automation functions controlled by remote on a web pad, a portable touch-screen computer that doubles as a TV. With this system everything from grocery shopping, dry cleaning to neighborhood watch and town meetings are carried out online.
Kim said, "Living in the Cyber Village is really convenient because I can take care of many chores online, and also use the Internet apartment bulletin as a way of communicating with neighbors. It saves me a lot of time and energy."
The digital complexes are a great hit, prompting local builders to link homes to area networks for tailored services as well as to launch their own portals for apartment residents. Today, the futuristic idea of cyber living is becoming a reality and more and more Korean homeowners are looking for the latest technology in their homes to provide convenience at the click of a mouse.
(Arirang TV)
