South Korea has emerged as a world leader in IT and communications. It boasts some of the fastest growing technology businesses and a much envied broadband network.

Now a $400m (£248m) programme, funded by its government, is trying to convince the rest of the planet that the likes of Samsung are just the tip of the iceberg.

The Korean IT Promotion Agency is overseeing the project, called iPark, through offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, China, Japan, Tokyo and now London.

Its aim is to work with governments and local IT companies, such as systems integrators and resellers, to sell advanced hardware, software and services that have already been proven in Korea.

iPark London is responsible for the European arm of the initiative. The organisation's role is to help Korean vendors find markets, ensuring that they are able to support customers with products that are relevant to a European audience.

"We are a matchmaker," explained Jay H Yoon, managing director of iPark London. "Korean companies can get a good feel from us of what is selling here."

Yoon explained that he hopes to generate more than $30m (£19m) of revenue for Korean technology providers in Europe by the end of 2003.

The benefit to UK companies is early access to technologies that are considered leading edge in this country, but have been installed and tested in Korea's hi-tech economy.

The government in Seoul provided $1.5bn (£930m) of funding for the development of a high-capacity broadband infrastructure in South Korea.

This positive investment in IT means that 75 per cent of households have a PC, all schools have broadband access, and more than 10 million of the country's 14 million households are connected to the high-speed network. That's more than several European countries put together.

Third-generation mobile networks are commonplace, and the broadband infrastructure has already started migration from ADSL technology to Very High Data Digital Subscriber Line which provides up to 20Mbps bandwidth, enough for television broadcasts.

And when Roh Moo-hyun won last month's presidential election, part of his success was attributed to his campaign team's IT systems sending text messages to 800,000 citizens on polling day encouraging them to vote for Moo-hyun.

More than 300 Korean IT companies plan to launch in the UK and Europe this year. Their role models are international successes Samsung and LG Electronics, but the range of products and skills will appeal to businesses as well as consumers.

IT directors looking for new ideas to gain a competitive edge for their business in our sluggish economy would be well advised to consider what iPark has to offer.

UK companies can approach iPark to find out how their Korean counterparts have used new technology, according to business development manager Jim O'Reilly.

"We can provide a single point of contact, and it's possible we could fund meetings between UK users and their Korean equivalents," he said.

There is a broad range of products available, such as security, biometrics, e-business software, application development services and mobile technology.

Wireless internet software supplier Widerthan.com, for example, which helps companies make money from mobile content, claims to have increased average revenue per user by up to 40 per cent in some cases.

Harex Infotech's products allow phone users to simply point their mobile at a receiver and pay for goods and services electronically.

In South Korea, the product is being used as a credit card, an electronic wallet, and for traffic payment schemes, such as toll bridges.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is also talking to iPark about reciprocal opportunities for UK vendors, and is closely following the development of South Korea's technology industry.

A DTI-sponsored report by Brunel University in September concluded that the UK has a lot to learn from Seoul's interventionist policies.

IT users now have the opportunity to find out for themselves how such a technology driven society could improve their own business.

SOUTH KOREA'S VITAL STATISTICS

• 48 million people
• 10 million houses with broadband connections
• 24 million internet users
• 28 million mobile phone users
• $1.5bn of government funding for broadband rollout
• $1bn of government loans to stimulate telecoms competition
• Free IT training
• All 10,400 schools have broadband access
• 87.5 per cent of government purchasing is online
• Two-thirds of stock trades are carried out on the internet

Source: iPark London