The real “poor man’s Arpanet”? A conversation about Unix networks with Kilnam Chon, godfather of the Asian Internet

Abstract

Chon is an archetypal figure of Internet pioneer – and more specifically of “Global connector”, as he is acknowledged in the Internet Hall of Fame. He is a computer scientist who, thanks to an exemplary international academic trajectory and good socio-professional and political connections, got an early taste of Internet technologies. He played a leading role when South Korea joined the global race in technological innovation, and is generally considered key to the entrance of the Internet on the Asian continent. I wanted to discuss with Chon about the hypothesis that himself and his peers from South Korea and Asia got a kickstart from Unix culture and did initially follow UUCP routes, in close connection with their Internet pioneering.