The December 2024 martial law in Korea: more context

 The short lived declaration of martial law in Korea by President Yun earlier this month (December 2024) shocked everyone and resonated strongly with the nation's political history during the latter half of the 20th century.  My own shock was based partly on personal experience.  I taught English at Kangwon National University when Park Chung Hee, was president.   The Fall semester of 1972 was shortened and came to an abrupt end when President Park imposed his Yushin "revitalizing reforms" to strengthen the military control over government.  I still recall the day in October 1972 when I saw the military enter campuses, including a half tracked armored vehicle clanking up the road to enter the Songshim Women's University (now the campus of Hallym University in Chuncheon).

On my return to the U.S. following Peace Corps service, I completed the Ph.D. in communication at Stanford and began a teaching career at the U. of Texas in Austin.  That was where I was located in the Fall of 1979 when President Park Chung Hee was assassinated by the chief of his CIA.  After the assassination general Chun Doo Hwan took power in a staged military coup that culminated in the Kwangju pro-democracy uprising in the Spring of 1980.

During the 1980s, opposition to military government grew and demonstrations by students and activists steadily increased until there was a breakthrough in June of 1987. (the famous June 29 declaration televised address by Roh Tae Woo, who would later be elected President)  As it happened, I had been awarded a senior Fulbright grant to teach and conduct research at Yonsei University in the 1985-86 academic year.  The anti-military government demonstrations at Yonsei University were quite active in the Spring of 1986 and I personally witnessed quite a bit of the violence and smelled a lot of tear gas.

For more of the historical context of martial law in Korea during the latter half of the 20th century, see this Canadian Journal of Communication article that I wrote along with Sogang University Professor Kim Hak Soo.

The future of generative AI in Korea

 During the past several semesters, including Spring 2004, I've been teaching an undergraduate course entitled Modern Digital Technologies and Innovation (EST 204 at Stonybrook University).  Not surprisingly, the public introduction of generative AI with the release of chatGPT in the Fall of 2022 had a big impact on my approach to this class.  I've been encouraging students to explore the possibilities of generative AI for both good and bad.  The "emergent properties" sometimes generated by AI models may sometimes be good, but may also on occasion be hallucinations that may have various adverse impacts. 

The rapid spread of generative AI clearly suggests that there is an urgent need to train large numbers of students in what we may call generative AI literacy.  In my class, students work in small teams of 5-6 students each.  They are asked to select one of the sustainable development goals and to use generative AI and the design thinking process to develop solutions to help achieve the goal. 

The massive electric power requirements to implement generative AI on a large scale using silicon chip based computing and large data centers suggests that we are only at the beginning of a process that may eventually revolutionize the role of technology in sustainable development.  The human brain, although it runs on significantly less power, has far more capabilities than even the largest and latest AI models.

South Korea harnessed the digital network revolution for national development faster and more effectively than any other country in the world.  However, it did so with relatively more emphasis on hardware and exports than on software and services.  The arrival of the generative AI era suggests that future developments will depend largely on AI generated software and services across all sectors of society, industry and government.  In future posts I will try to break down some of the issues and possibilities.