Indonesia takes Korea as model
Foreign minister sees e-gov’t system as efficiency-booster
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Raden Mohammad Marty Muliana Natalegawa
By Nam Hyun-woo
“I believe Korea is the clearest example for Indonesia to learn from the experiences of utilizing cyberspace for constructive purposes,” the minister said in an interview on the sidelines of Seoul Conference on Cyberspace 2013.
As one of the keynote speakers of the conference, he said that pursuing openness and security at the same time in cyberspace ― the main theme of the conference ― is possible and Korea is heading toward the convergence of the two different values.
He cited traditional gates in Jeju Island as a precise analogy. The gate blockades a house entrance with three logs and shows signs on whether the master is absent or present depending on their positions.
“The gate may be open, but at the same time, provides protection. It was a very nice analogy of the Korean view on cyberspace and I thought that was the right way,” he said.
Natalegawa pointed out that was possible because of people’s morality and which can also inform the need for pursuing an open and secure cyberspace.
He said the term cyberspace is by definition open-ended, but at the same time, it has to have some level of regulation. “Otherwise, cyberspace will be an anarchical space where anything goes,” he said.
As a developing country, Indonesia knows that cyberspace can create a digital divide, he said. On the other hand, he said, cyberspace can empower the country by massively eliminating some of the unnecessary costs of production.
He agreed that cyber crime is one of the most challenging issues facing participants in the conference, adding that preventive measures should be the key to tackling it.
“Approaches against conditions conducive to the proliferation of crimes online would be similar to those that we carry out against any criminal conducts,” he said. “There must be preventive and deterring measures.”
Citing a joint statement signed between the two countries’ leaders during Korean President Park Geun-hye’s trip to the Southeast Asian country, he mentioned the “e-government system” that Korea aims to transfer its know-how to Indonesia.
“Introducing e-government into our system is a simultaneous way of ensuring greater efficiency or effectiveness, and at the same time, addressing the issue of transparency.”
He expects such bilateralism to deepen further.
“Indonesia and Korea enjoy a strategic partnership. When we are promoting bilateral relations, we are also promoting the region’s prosperities, peace and stability, given the importance of Korea in Northeast Asia and that of Indonesia in Southeast Asia,” he said.