SEOUL,KOREA- On the evening of June 24^th, the Korea IT Specialist Association held a ceremony to celebrate the 27th IT Workers Day abroad a cruise ship on the Han River.

The participants included representatives from the Ministry of Future Creating and Science, the Korea IT Specialist Association, the Korea Software Industry Association, as well as a variety of IT companies and IT specialists.  The 27th IT Workers Day was established to commemorate the introduction of Korea’s first computer to the Economic Planning Board in June, 1967. The Korea IT Specialist Association has been holding the annual ceremony since 1987, the 20th anniversary of the introduction of Korea’s first computer.

 Lawmaker Kim Yeong-hwan praised efforts and contributions from past and present IT workers. Kim emphasized that the nation should continue to invest in the IT industry in order to contribute to the national economy and enhance the morale of Korea’s citizens. Kim went on to forecast that Korea would be unable to achieve the success of the future creative economy without the promotion of the software industry. While stressing the importance of nurturing software engineers, Kim said that Korea should invigorate its IT ecosystem and actively support computer engineers. 

 Park Il-jun, an official at the Ministry of Future Creating and Science pointed out that Korea should rethink whether or not Korea is currently an IT and software power. The Ministry of Future Creating and Science will play a key role in accomplishing the future creating economy promised by President Park Geun-hye. Park emphasized the fact that the IT industry is a key export industry for Korea as it recorded a trade surplus of US$35 billion despite the global economic slump. Park added that the Korean software industry still had a long way to go, but the Korean IT industry has a bright future as some companies are growing after the recent revision of related laws.

 “It is essential to combine science, technology and ICT in order to promote the future creating economy. The key factor in this equation is software,” said Cho Seong-gap, chairman of the Korea IT Specialist Association in his congratulatory message. “The combined value of Korea’s five biggest industries stands only at US$60 billion to 70 billion but the global software market is worth a whopping US$1.1 trillion,” Cho continued. “It is regrettable that Korea is not actively investing in such a big market.”  

 “A Second Miracle in the Han River” will be realized through the promotion of the software industry, Cho added. After Cho’s speech, plaques were awarded to 11 IT sector workers who had put their utmost efforts into the development of IT technology and the promotion of the IT industry in Korea. “I will do my best to contribute to the development of ICT for the nation through hardware and software convergence,” said Oh Kyung-soo, president of Lotte Information and Communication on behalf of the winners.

The ceremony was concluded with Chairman Cho’s reading a statement on behalf of the heads of nine organizations. The statement suggested the benefits of enhancing the status of IT workers for the future creating economy and overall happiness of people, nurturing human resources and elevating the positions of developers, expanding business activities by female IT workers and improving various systems available for them, contributing to the expansion of economic activities by senior citizens, active participation in the growth of the national economy through ICT and science, and technology convergence and carrying out duties as IT workers.