[panacea]

"Also, South Korea has REALLY bad security. For example, if you want to use some form of online banking you must use an ActiveX control with IE."

I've heard about that, and that it's a major impediment to the adoption of new browsers, but I'm wondering how that gels with the (uncomfortable/awkward?) zeitgeist of Samsung.

I was under the impression that Japan went 'mobile first' years ago and their phones have been their touchpoint (no pun intended) to the internet from before the iPhone launched and that desktop PCs weren't a big thing.

Are SK residents using their Life Companions* tethered to a PC to do their day-to-day banking on a PC? Akin to iTunes?

*http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxys4/

[yeonhoyoon]

We need to use IE for most banking/online shopping sites. So the market share of Windows/IE in Korea is higher than other parts of the world.

Most people have Windows/IE installed together with their preferred OS/browser, myself included.

For mobile banking the situation's a little bit better but it is cumbersome nonetheless.

I think the payment system in S. Korea has a lot of potential for disruption, but the current regulatory laws force the businesses to use ActiveX.

[jessaustin]

...the current regulatory laws force the businesses to use ActiveX.

Wow. Here I was thinking CFAA was a bad law.