By ROBERT NEFF
Marmot’s Hole Guest Blogger
The Korea Times had an article today entitled ???Foreigners Excluded From Korean Sites.???? Although I was familiar with the subject already, I read it just to see what the writer had to say. It was pretty much what I expected until I got about half-way through it, and suddenly the article was no longer about foreigners, but instead the ???Dark Side of Internet Superpower.???? Obviously this should have been two different articles, and it isn?????t the first part of the article that I am concerned about ??? it is the second part.
What exactly is cyber-terrorism? Yesterday we read in the paper that a male university student was in the library and couldn?????t concentrate because another male student and his girl friend were talking too loud. He complained to them that he couldn?????t study and they took it offensively and a fight started. As a course of action, the student that couldn?????t study (and probably lost the fight) posted it on the school?????s internet bulletin board. The male student and his girl friend were severely chastised by their fellow students and they eventually quit the prestigious university because of the harassment they suffered.
Today we can read about, and I will quote the article:
???Another negative side effect is cyber terror, of which power was amply demonstrated earlier this month by Web surfers????? relentless onslaught on a girl who did not clean up her pet?????s excrement on the subway.
Somebody in the subway took a picture and posted it on the Internet earlier this month and the Internet has turned what could have ended just as a personal rebuke into a national bashing.
She might not be able to lead a normal life because some Web surfers revealed her name, age, and school after seeing the picture at many Web sites.????
Was this cyber terror? I am a pet owner, and I believe that as a pet owner it is my responsibility to ensure that my pet does not intrude on other people?????s rights and freedoms. It is my responsibility to clean up after my pet. It is illegal to bring pets on the subway partially for that reason ??? sanitation and health concerns. Many people might be allergic to the animal, others might have a phobia, and many might not appreciate stepping or sitting in dog excrement. Did the people go too far in their complaints of this student?????s obvious disregard to others rights? I don?????t think so.
In my opinion, Korea is a social society ??? what I mean by that is that people are very concerned about what others see and think about them. Peer pressure is very powerful here. Obviously the students had no respect for those around them, and when their names and pictures were up-loaded on the net, they suffered a backlash from people who are tired of this type of behavior.
Who are the victims?
13 Comments
For a society that never had a problem telling me, “You’re fat!”, get touchy when folks point the finger at them . . .
typical korean style to put the blame on someone other than the person responsible. you make your bed, you sleep in it.
If you train your dog to shit on those ubiquitous pieces of advertisement littering Korea, we wouldn’t have any problems!
Robert, this sort of thing is subject to abuse, as you point out but, in Korea, there is a serious lack of attention to many ongoing problems, i.e., illegal advertising, banners, noise, etc. where many of the perpetrators sneak around, trying to be unknown. Perhaps the use of the internet to make them more known is a good idea since the government does not have the will to police anything.
What is cuber-terrorism? Exactly! Cyber-terrorism is a nifty term coined by military eunichs with gay tendencies assigned to useless higher staffs who had too much time on their hands. It was taken up with a vengeance by defense contractors interested in increasing corporate profits, who by linking net security with that latest buzzword “terrorism”, ensured that their latest projects would lumped with “war on terrorism” initiatives, and thus slip under resource mananger’s radar. When off duty, these same eunichs tend to wear penguin suits, sip frothy alcoholic concoctions, and hang with similarly neutered military lawyers who draft up complex and tediously nuanced rules of engagement for use by high school educated squad leaders whose backsides they are not worthy to pimple. Pity to see that the term has bled over into the civilian sphere. Similar to “narco-terrorism”, except in this latter case the bad guys used real terror methods.
“Korea is a social society ?€“ what I mean by that is that people are very concerned about what others see and think about them.” Well, yes and no. It seems in the past people were only concerned with the opinions of people they knew, who were their peers or above them in status, and now this is dissolving with the advent of Internet, Western culture, and of course President Bush.
But I doubt that heckling somebody online will make anyone considerate or well behaved.
It all sounds like a total overreaction to very minor events. Gee, that never happens in Korea, does it?
Sure, these people made some social faux pas, and deserved some kind of rebuke, but to be harrassed to no end at school and at home, probably by nutbars and losers?
I think it is a problem, cause it is the same idiot rumor mill that always goes over the top when any perceived wrong is posted on the net. It’s in the same vein as the over the top nationalism. This kind of thing just invites more total irrationalism.
I think Snow is pretty much right regarding possible overreaction.
It is a serious matter though. The person who posts the “event” on the bulletin board may well be a vindictive, spiteful person who just doesn’t like the target for whatever reason.
There’s a reason the article refered to the SNU incident as a “kangaroo court”. Did the fight even take place? If it did, was it really just about noise in the library? How can anyone know? Was any evidence presented other than the posters version of events? Was the resultant “lynching” warranted? I suspect probably not.
You can call it cyber terrorism (a bit strong in my opinion), cyber lynching, or whatever you want. The fact remains that it is at best irresponsible behaviour, and at worst malicious and harmful.
“In my opinion, Korea is a social society…”
What society isn’t social?
As for dog excrement, here is what I wrote for the Seattle Times a while back:
Here’s the Real Poop on Civic-Minded Seattle (Seattle Times)
What can I say? One of the reasons I love Seattle is that it’s very “Asian” (architecture, food, etc.). One of the reasons I hate Seattle is that it’s very “Asian” (parking on sidewalks, dog poop, etc.).
[...] n a piece on Dog Poop Girl today, much of it based on the WaPo story. Robert Neff offered his own thoughts on the incident [...]
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