Investor Presentaiton
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South Korea
a crackdown on the spread of "groundless rumors" online about the incident and
charged an individual with libel for criticizing military action before the sinking. 83 In
addition, Defense Ministry personnel brought prominent bloggers, Twitter users, and
reporters to view the wreckage in an attempt to combat skepticism.84 South Korean
military leaders warned of the potential for cyber attacks from the North during the
country's hosting of the G20 Summit in early November 2010.85 A similar crackdown
was launched following the November 2010 North Korean shelling of the South
Korean island of Yeonpyeong, with the Supreme Prosecutors Office launching inves-
tigations into online rumors and arresting several individuals.86 The National Police
Agency's cybercrime team also expanded their crackdown on online posts sympathetic
to North Korea, forcing Web site operators to delete 42,787 messages between January
and June 2010.87
Surveillance
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The South Korean constitution guarantees that the privacy of citizens (Article 17) and
the privacy of their correspondence (Article 18) shall not be violated.88 While most
scholars believe that Article 17 forms the basis of a right to privacy, the Supreme
Court has also held that together with Article 10, guaranteeing human dignity and
the right to pursue happiness, "these constitutional provisions not only guarantee the
right to be let alone, which protects personal activity from invasion by others and
public exposure, but also an active right to self-control over his or her personal infor-
mation in a highly informatized modern society.'
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Internet service providers are generally directed to gather the minimum amount of
information necessary and are restricted from disclosing personal information beyond
the scope of notification or collecting certain personal information, such as "political
ideology, religion, and medical records," that would likely infringe upon the user's
privacy without consent." However, these protections do not apply where special
provisions apply or other laws specify otherwise.
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Real-name registration requirements have been a part of the South Korean Internet
landscape since 2003, when the MIC sought the cooperation of four major Web portals
(Yahoo Korea, Daum Communications, NHN, and NeoWiz) in developing real-name
systems for their users. While implicating deeper privacy concerns, the purported
goal of real-name measures is to reduce abusive behavior on the Internet. A number
of prominent cases (such as the suicides of a number of actresses) have made this a
major issue for the Korean public.⁹3
In 2004 election laws began requiring individuals who post comments on Web sites
and message boards in support of, or in opposition to, a candidate to disclose their
real names. In 2005 the government implemented a rule that required e-mail or
chat-service account holders to provide detailed information, including name, address,
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