Go Public, Spurn The Mobile
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday October 21, 1998
South Korean women have sounded a battle cry over what they claim is a high-tech scourge of social harmony - the ubiquitous mobile phone.
A community group of housewives is urging Koreans to shun them in favour of public phones. They say mobile phones take millions of dollars out of the country in payments for imported technology.
The Association of Korean Housewives Clubs launched a nationwide petition yesterday urging people to reduce mobile phone use to help the country climb from an economic trough. They handed out booklets on Seoul streets warning young people of the expense of owning a mobile phone.
But cost is not the only problem. The women have struck a public chord with their protests at the lack of etiquette among mobile phone owners. Almost any public event is likely to be interrupted by the chiming of mobile phones, which are rarely turned off.
This can quickly become an electronic chorus, as South Korea has the world's seventh-highest rate of mobile phone ownership, with 12 million subscribers. Mobile phones are something of a status symbol among the young.
"Noise pollution is spreading to every part of society," said columnist Park Moo-jong in yesterday's Korea Times. "Many of the guilty parties who are not respectful enough to switch their electronic devices to vibrator mode are youths."
The housewives club secretary, Ms Im In-sook, says research shows using mobile phones while walking or driving can be dangerous. She adds that the swank accessories can bankrupt teenagers who often fall behind in monthly subscriptions.
Pointing out that a minute on a mobile phone costs up to 450 won (55c) while the same call will cost only 50 won from a public phone, Ms Im said: "Housewives should take the lead in stopping conspicuous consumption in telecommunications."
More than half of 2,000 people surveyed by the housewives said they struggled to pay phone subscription fees.
Ms Im's club is one of thousands of civic groups in Korea which campaign against social trends deemed deleterious to social harmony. Other campaigns have waged war against imported cigarettes, littering and rude behaviour towards foreigners.
© 1998 Sydney Morning Herald
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