An ongoing controversy in Korea over a NEIS, a major initiative to overhaul Korean education infrastructure's aging information systems.  Two national organization of teachers are fighting each other over ideological grounds, primarily privacy, with the government caught in the middle.  Neither group is willing to accept the government's decision forcing Vice Education Minister to flip-flop several times with no end in sight.

What I find interesting here is that two major groups emerged, both highly dependent on the Web and mobile networks for organization and communication.  The two groups are not likely to merge at any time and, even if they do, another oppositional group is likely to emerge.

I wonder if divergent events like this, caused by polarization, have been considered appropriately in Joi's vision of Emergent Democracy?  I mean, a lame duck government caught in the tides of power-struggle between competing social groups is not exactly my dream of a New Democracy.

Here are some NEIS related news in English:

• Rally peacefully, government warns
• Still fighting, teachers file complaint against minister
• After flip-flops, minister OKs divisive database
• Database dispute grows into ideological war

Here is an interesting little article related to polarization of social structures: Divided We Stand???  The article also mentions a paper (PDF) written by Ron Burt.  Here is a kicker quote from Ron:

"[A tightly closed network] amplifies predispositions, creating a structural arthritis in which people cannot learn what they do not already know."