Forego mobile phone, face ire of friends and colleagues

Posted on : 2007-05-15 15:49 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
But trading mobile phone for pager has brought freedom, savings, says prof

A 45-year-old professor, who gave his last name, Lee, threw out his mobile phone in March. Lee, who teaches politics at a private university in South Gyeongsang Province, said, "I didn’t want to bind myself to a phone." He bought a pager so that people could keep in touch with him.

Of course, those trying to contact him directly were at first not pleased with Lee’s technological devolution. Whenever he failed to receive a call from or make a call to a friend or a colleague, they asked Lee, "How can you live without a mobile phone?!" Lee also initially felt lonely, his world devoid of the steady ring of his phone.

However, the ‘withdrawal symptoms’ eased in about a month’s time. Life without a mobile phone has let Lee focus on reading books or writing papers. In addition, it has made it easier for him to implement his pledge of not making dinner appointments more than three times a week. He also saves the money that used to go toward mobile phone bills, which had been about 70,000-80,000 won (US$75-85) per month. His pager costs him 8,500 won per month.

"I’m very satisfied because I’m not bound [to the phone] and I save money," Lee said.

The unique minority that chooses not to use a mobile phone, however, continues to decline in membership. According to the Ministry of Information and Communication, the mobile phone using population in South Korea topped 41 million in March - out of a total population of 48.4 million. This marks an increase of 1 million mobile phone users since last November, when the mobile phone population surpassed 40 million. If one were to leave out those under 9 years of age, men serving their mandatory military service term, and prisoners, there is nearly one mobile phone per person.

The number of pager subscribers is also sharply falling. According to Real Telecom, which operates a pager service, the number of subscribers fell to 7,287 this month, compared to 10,157 a year ago.

Asked why there were still pager users in an era of mobile phones, Han Jin-sik, an executive of Real Telecom, echoed phoneless Lee’s sentiments: "Our customers have a sense of aversion to mobile phones and are against being tied down to them."

This dwindling minority of mild Luddites has tried to forge a community, but to little avail: phoneless citizens started an Internet club in March 2004, but despite some 3,300 registered users, there are few visitors to the page.


Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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