[Column] Digital Information Digitization Reaches 71.4%, Challenges in the First Year of the Digital Inclusion Act

This January 22, 「the Digital Inclusion Act」 went into effect. It was, in effect, the launch of Korea’s first digital rights law for a super-aged society in which there are 10.51 million people aged 65 and over (20.3%). Yet the scene at the kiosk remains the same: older adults turn away, and others give up on mobile banking in neighborhoods where local branches have disappeared. The information gap is hardening into a new form of social exclusion.

◆ Usage in the 60% range, Victims of Voice Phishing at 30.6%

According to the 「2024 Survey on Actual Conditions of Digital Information Gaps」 by the National Information Society Agency (NIA), the overall level of digital information digitization among older adults is only 71.4% of the general public. Access has caught up to 96.2%, but capability sits at 60.8%, and usage remains at 66.1%. In particular, the competency score for people in their 70s and above is 26.85 points—just one-fifth of the score for those in their 20s (139.85 points).

Smartphone ownership has risen to 73.0%, but the gap between having and using still does not narrow. The gap directly translates into economic harm. According to the National Police Agency, among 16,765 voice-phishing victims in the first half of 2025, 5,131 (30.6%) were aged 60 or older, the highest across all age groups. The amount lost in the first quarter was 311.6 billion won, 2.2 times that of the same period the previous year.

◆ Blind Spots in Current Policies

Since 2020, the government has invested more than 250 billion won in the 「Digital Learning Centers」 program cumulatively, and in 2026 it will operate 69 hubs of an “AI Digital Learning Center.” However, short-term programs centered on group lectures place a heavy burden on older people whose cognitive and physical functions have declined, and for elderly residents in rural and fishing communities with mobility difficulties, even reaching the training venue is itself hard.

Kiosk accessibility has been introduced in part through amendments to the 「Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities」, but inspection and enforcement remain insufficient. The 「Digital Inclusion Act」 also sets out only the big picture; specific obligation standards are left to subordinate regulations.

◆ Japan’s Digital Agency, the EU’s Digital Decade, and the UK’s Digital Champion

In Japan, since the Digital Agency was launched in 2021, the government-wide “Digital Utilization Support Promotion Project,” led by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, has been rolled out nationwide. Using mobile phone shops and public community centers as well as post offices as hubs, it runs one-on-one counseling and on-site training lectures in parallel, offering free smartphone basics and online administration classes.

In the European Union, the 「Digital Decade」 set out that by 2030, 80% of adults should secure basic digital skills, and it allocated 26.3 billion euros (about 38 trillion won) for 2021–2027.

In the UK, working with the nonprofit organization Age UK, the country standardized one-on-one mentoring through a volunteer network centered on libraries and community centers. All three of these cases move beyond one-time training and place greater weight on reachability and guaranteeing rights.

◆ Obligations, Reach, and Rights—A Step-by-Step Roadmap

First, for the short term (2026–2027), subordinate regulations under the 「Digital Inclusion Act」 should clearly codify obligation standards for kiosk, app, and public service designs that are friendly to older adults, and those workplaces that fail to comply should be issued corrective orders and administrative fines. To secure effectiveness, requirements such as font size, reading speed, and time limits must be set as specific numeric values.

Second, for the mid term (2027–2028), expand AI Digital Learning Centers to more than 200 locations, and for older adults with mobility difficulties, institutionalize on-site training so that visiting one-on-one education is guaranteed as a right. Making post offices, bank branches, and senior centers into hubs can raise the rate of reach.

Third, for the long term (2029 and beyond), grant “the legal right to offline equivalent access” for administrative and financial services, and impose an obligation for alternative service counters on financial institutions that close their branches. The digital divide in a super-aged society is not a matter of individual lack of learning—it is a design flaw in the social infrastructure. If the first year of the 「Digital Inclusion Act」 is not to become mere slogan, policy should shift from charitable education to a rights-based inclusion framework.