[Opinion] Untact and Future Society

Professor Seoyonggu, Department of Business Administration, Sookmyung Women's University

Over the past five months, Korean society has rapidly evolved into a 'contactless (untact) society.' It seems not all countries are moving forward at the same pace. While countries like China and Germany, which have sufficient information and communication technology (IT) and related infrastructure, are advancing toward the future alongside us, countries such as Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, and Japan, where infrastructure and mindset are not yet prepared, remain stuck in the past lifestyle of a 'contact society.'

Untact is a newly coined term that stands opposite to 'contact,' which involves face-to-face interaction between people, and encompasses transactions and activities centered on contactless services. As the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a pandemic affecting the entire globe, untact can now be interpreted as a survival strategy and a future-oriented lifestyle for people worldwide. Let us examine three future visions that the untact society will bring about.

First, the future society is an 'untact society.' The year 2020 will be recorded as the inaugural year marking the beginning of the future society. Although the calendar shows that the 21st century began 20 years ago, it can be considered that the true 21st century starts this year. There is a classic book regarded as a cornerstone of all future science fiction (SF) movies and novels: Aldous Huxley’s controversial 1932 work, Brave New World. It depicts a world where science has advanced to the point that people are born not through male-female contact but in laboratories. In that world, humans are controlled not only in birth but also in their leisure time. All services are provided precisely tailored to individuals. Bonds such as 'family love' or 'friendship' disappear, and customized humans are produced in five grades based on IQ in laboratories, living happily. When feeling down, they take a virtual drug called 'soma' to experience immediate pleasure. Because the drug soma, akin to a narcotic, dominates people’s minds, everyone can be happy. Although somewhat extreme, such a future has already begun.

Second, due to the elusive nature of the COVID-19 virus, consumers have begun to prioritize 'safety' and 'healthcare' above all else in their lives. Consumers are demanding untact services and experiences. Therefore, game companies, IT platforms, and e-commerce businesses designed fundamentally around untact are making significant advances, and 'last mile delivery,' meaning delivery to the doorstep or early morning delivery, has emerged as a core competitive edge for companies. It is no surprise that the market signals the passing of the 20th century and the true beginning of the 21st century. Offline stores, where customers have disappeared, must respond to the untact world through real-time live commerce. Live commerce is currently the fastest-growing new retail channel. It is a fusion of TV home shopping and YouTube, where store employees or shopping hosts recommend products in real time and perform proxy tasting, sampling, trying on, and fitting. Consumers in their teens to thirties are already enthusiastic about this. Only companies that create the untact experiences consumers desire can sustain growth.

Third, Korea’s soft power in the future will grow to the world’s highest level. Thanks to the success of the so-called 'K-quarantine,' evaluations from foreigners as well as self-assessments by Koreans themselves show the highest level of positivity in history. This is not an event-like achievement such as defeating Germany 2-0 in the World Cup. Korea is expected to gain the image of an advanced country that first enters the future society evolving into an untact world after COVID-19. Along with physical infrastructure such as 5G, internet work environments, the world’s number one e-commerce market environment, and parcel logistics capable of early morning delivery, Korea also possesses the 'ppalli ppalli' (hurry hurry) culture and DNA that quickly adapts to change. Most importantly, there are 10 million millennials who are familiar with online lectures and social networking services (SNS) and capable of creating the world’s best digital content. They will lead Korea and the world into the future untact society.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.