[deaux]

I agree with some of them. Others need much more nuance.

> - External map providers were iced out of hte market until this past year

This was a positive for literally every Korean resident and only a negative for Google shareholders and a few tourists who had to download a local maps app. Boohoo, politicians doing things benefiting their people.

> - You need a phone number to sign up for literally anything.

The reality is that this also has many upsides. Admitting this doesn't do well on HN though. The truth is that it's a defensible tradeoff, you can disagree with it but pretending it's clear-cut is ignorant.

> - the de-facto document format are crappy hancom formats

In 2026 nobody uses these except for when dealing with government institutions. Saying they're de facto for Korea as a whole is wild generalization.

[Glyptodon]

I don't get the phone number thing - why is needing a $20 burner phone to post on a forum or blog a positive?

[deaux]

A burner phone is a device, it doesn't come with a phone number. Phone numbers are all real-identity-tied, so what they really mean is _identity verification_ through phone number. Everyone on HN knows the downsides of that, but there's clear upsides too. It prevents most of the digital "This is why we can't have nice things". The US is on the path towards the worst of both worlds, services still require you to do identity verification but it involves sending your government ID and face video to Thiel-affiliated Persona.