When I read this item in the backend submission queue, I must admit that I thought it was a fake, and I must say that I'm still not confident enough about this one. A Korean company held a press event today during which it launched its Tmax Window operating system. Built on in-house technology, they claim it has 100% compatibility with Windows software. Update: A lot more information in this article.
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Member since:2005-11-22
At the moment, not many people in Korea are aware of open source software. In Korea, it is even hard to meet someone knows what Linux is or what F/OSS or Open Source is. So it is not to be seen as a cultural thing but as that OSS is not within their radar yet.
As I was born in Korea as a Korean and lived there for half my life (~15 years), and still contact various Koreans occasionally in Korea, in here(NZ) and on line. I am very confident in Korean and its culture arguably more than English and Western culture. Thank you if you have mentioned that you have Korean relatives as you are quite confident with Korean culture and/or mental processes. But sometimes I correct for spellings and grammars and such for Koreans in Korea or who had higher education in Korea. Thank you. 
Member since:
2006-06-02
Unfortunately, I don't read Korean. I do not doubt what you say but on the other hand, my experience of how Korean mental processes and thought patterns translate into language indicates that Koreans do leave lots of things in quite an ambiguous state, in regards to terms of reference (I have had Korean relatives for 12 years now). It may be the case here, it's a possibility, rather than that they 'do not know what they are talking about'.
Personally, I would wait for any kind of independent evaluation.
In your favour though, it would not be the first time that Korean-produced software has used open-source elements without acknowledgement:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_KMPlayer#Controversy
Abiding by formal laws in Korea is not culturally always seen as a positive trait (and after decades in the past of military and authoritarian government, this view is not entirely without justification), so I would also hang fire about calling this a scam, or something 'illegal'. Again, I would want independent verification by an outside body.