Tag Archives: political

Law trying to be passed to force linking identity to all online comments

Posted by on January 21, 2009 1 comment

onlineidentity

Source: Koreality

I read an article recently about how China has plans to force all gamers to provide their real names “in order to prevent over-gaming.”  When I heard that I wasn’t surprised given that China is a communist nation where privacy is something given and taken everyday.

What I was suprised is that the current administration in Korea is trying to force all netziens (internet users) to register with their real name on ANY comment site and register on ANY site that has more than 100,000 users (rather than the current 300,000).  Sites will also be required to have a system to delete comments that receive complaints within 24 hours.

The reason used to enact a policy like this include an apparently huge problem of “Internet bullying” and prevention of cyber-terrorism.  A recent celebrity suicide is blamed on Internet bullying and many other people have fallen victom recently which has brought this issue to light.

This brings up the question again of what is freedom and what freedoms should we be entitles to.  A system like this can be very dangerous because of how open it inherently is.  What exactly is a “malicious post” and how do they determine if they should delete it?

One problem that I have run into is that many Korean websites require users to input their citizen id (probably to comply with the policy listed above).  Well, that becomes a problem for a foreigner like me who doesn’t have one.  Do you know how many American websites force you to use your social security number?  That’d be a big zero.  I have been able to sign up for the big ones, like Cyworld and NateOn, which have systems for foreigners but the problem still exists.  I’ve read other articles about how this problem is trying to be fixed, but with policies like this I can only imagine it’ll get worse before it gets better for us.

Korean Blogger Arrested For “Malicious Rumors”

Posted by on January 18, 2009 No comments

chosun-ilbo
Picture courtesy of Chosun Ilbo

Source: Korea Beat

A blogger in South Korea, only known as “Minerva,” was recently arrested for posting ”malicious rumors” saying that the economy would collapse.  I won’t argue about whether he should have wrote what he did, but that brings up an interesting question.  What is free speech?  Are we allowed to write what we want on the Internet?  Where do we draw the line?

I have found the word “freedom” is defined different in Korea and in America (not saying one is better than the other).  I tend to defend a persons’ right to post his thoughts (malicious or otherwise).

Overseas Koreans to get right to vote

Posted by on January 18, 2009 No comments

voting

Source: The Korea Herald

In 1972,President Park Chung-hee of South Korea stripped overseas Koreans the right to vote in domestic elections because they generally opposed him (quite a disturbing political move).  Overseas Koreans are finally going to get the opportunity to vote and have a say in Koreans politics again.  The political parties are currently fighting over the regulations on who actually will be able to vote.  Since overseas Koreans are generally more older and conservative, the Grand National Party is trying to let all overseas Koreans vote while the Democratic party wants more of a wave, gradually letting bigger numbers vote starting with the most temporary-overseas Koreans vote.

Part of the controversy is that the number of votes that have decided elections in the past have been around a million votes.  If all Koreans overseas can vote, that will add a potential 3 million votes.  The Democratic party wants to cut that number down to 1.1 million.

After being passed, those who fall under the new law will be able to vote in the Korean 2012 general elections.