Why is Korea still 'loyal' to Internet Explorer?

Korea's loyalty to Internet Explorer for 27 years surprised many people.

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According to The New York Times, Korea is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Internet access is rarely limited, except that you have to use an outdated web browser. 

With Google Chrome, Koreans cannot make online payments as corporate customers of one of the country's largest foreign banks. If they use Apple's Safari, they also can't apply for artist sponsorship through the National Arts and Culture website. The same is true for Mozilla's Firefox when a visitor who is an owner of a child care facility wishes to register on the website of the Department of Health and Welfare.

To overcome this, Microsoft's Internet Explorer or a similar browser becomes the irreplaceable choice. 

When Microsoft "killed" Internet Explorer (IE) on June 15, the corporation said it would redirect users to the newer Edge browser. But in Korea, Internet Explorer still exists, even considered an indispensable browser because it is related to the government and many banks.

Korea's loyalty to Internet Explorer over the past 27 years has many people questioning why a country known for its broadband and innovative devices is "stuck" in a browser. insecure web that has been forgotten by the world.  

Most websites in Korea work in all browsers. In which, Google Chrome accounts for 54% of web browsing in the country. Although Internet Explorer accounted for less than 1%, but soon after Microsoft announced the death of this browser, Korea struggled to find an alternative solution.

In May, the Korean branch of the British bank Standard Chartered announced the switch to using the Edge browser in "IE mode" to access the online banking platform "Straight2Bank". Many government websites also warn that users may experience some disruption if they don't switch to Edge.

Naver, one of Korea's largest Internet companies, has introduced a new feature of the Whale browser, allowing users to access websites that require Internet Explorer. According to Kim Hyo, head of Naver's Whale team, this makes Microsoft's statement of "death" of IE no longer so "shocking".

However, it was not until the Microsoft browser disappeared that the man realized that many websites were still unable to use the new mode. He thinks that recreating Internet Explorer-related web pages is a difficult task.

According to The New York Times, South Korea's reliance on Internet Explorer dates back to the 1990s, when the country became a pioneer in adopting the Internet for banking and shopping. To secure online transactions, the government passed a law in 1999 that required encrypted digital certificates to be signed by customers. In addition, identity verification also requires the software to be connected to the browser.

To do this, the Korean government has authorized five companies to issue digital certificates called ActiveX. At that time, this feature could only work on Internet Explorer. This has made Internet Explorer a popular browser throughout the country, even accounting for 99% of the market share in Korea in the period 2004-2009.

"We became the only browser that existed in the market," said James Kim, Microsoft's Korea director from 2009-2015. He said Microsoft has no intention of monopolizing the market, but in fact, many websites cannot function without Internet Explorer.

So, Microsoft's "unique" position was maintained throughout the early 2000s. This is so serious that Koreans don't seem to know any other browser than Internet Explorer. This dependence only disappeared when smartphones and other tech giants like Apple and Google appeared.

By 2010, the Korean government required websites to provide ActiveX certificates for three other browsers. Of course, this change is not easy, especially when banks and businesses are so used to the old browser system.

In 2015, Microsoft released the Edge browser to replace Internet Explorer, and stopped supporting ActiveX. Not long after that, Chrome browser also overtook IE and became the most popular browser in Korea. 

In 2020, the government passed a law that eliminated digital certificates like ActiveX from browsers. That same year, Microsoft started discontinuing Internet Explorer support and announced it would be dying soon.