South Korea — a.k.a., the Korea that’s NOT supposed to make a list like this — and Hojuland have been included in Reporters Without Borders list of Enemies of the Internet:
It’s not surprising that as access to the Internet expands, more and more dictators and tyrants will try to suppress it. But what’s troubling about this year’s report is the inclusion of two democratic countries: Australia and South Korea.
Both countries were included in the report’s Under Surveillance list – a sub group of the main Enemies list.
Daehanminguk, mansei!
Why did Korea make the list, you ask?
Among the countries “under surveillance” are several democracies: Australia, because of the upcoming implementation of a highly developed Internet filtering system, and South Korea, where draconian laws are creating too many specific restrictions on Web users by challenging their anonymity and promoting selfcensorship.
You can download the report here (.pdf). If you’ve been following the news, little of it will come as a surprise, and to be fair to the government, it’s not just the state that promotes selfcensorship in Korea.
Still, it’s aggravating when a country blessed with an Internet infrastructure second-to-none manages to parlay that gift into something like this. It’s kind of like reading news that Iran is suffering oil shortages — you scratch your head wondering how that’s even possible, and yet here we are.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a fairly complicated issue and can not be explained in a few sentences but, yes, the current administration is engaged in changing the way media is regulated and not in a good way.
I will post more on this later.
If you don’t like it, I’m sure the “Worker’s Paradise” to the north could use your wisdom to update their policies…
Nice logic there setnaffa.
You can add New Zealand to that list as well, the great Kiwi firewall goes live today – http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1003/S00159.htm
Also the link to the report is:
http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Internet_enemies.pdf
You know, some dumbass (=gyopo) has been very critical
of Australia and Australian culture as of late.
Well while perusing YouTube it occurred to me: Midnight Oil.
(‘Nuff said; forever.)
What has Korea produced in its “5000 years” that = Midnight Oil?
Now, what is this about an Aussie Firewall?
Isn’t the S Korean Internet completely violating the Korea – EU FTA by not allowing anyone onto S Korean sites besides citizens and registered residents? Why can’t I post a comment on Korean sites from Berlin if I want? How can there be a free trade agreement that allows this?
Some people don’t like my way of thinking about Korea. That’s fair. We probably disagree on whether or nor Dubya was as dangerous as Stalin, Whether Marijuana should be legalized, and whether ESL classes actually count as “teaching”…
Be that as it may, the mere fact that the 2MB administration isn’t following the dictates of your conscience, dear expats, just doesn’t move me. There are SO MANY differences between the US and ROK legal systems that it is pointless to debate them. It’s their frigging country and they’re entitled to run it any way they choose.
My hyperbole was intended to point out that the country with which South Korea is still at war has a somewhat stricter set of rules–use the Internet or any other commo system to
show the current living conditionsdenigrate the DPRK and they will kill you.You know that. And yet you worry about needing to be a legal resident of Korea. Your petty complaints about not being able to watch the pr0n of your choice just does not cut the mustard in the real world…
“so there”
Setnaffa some people do more than watch porn online.
“It’s their frigging country and they’re entitled to run it any way they choose.”
So you agree the whole notion of “free trade” agreements with Korea is a waste of time at best and harmful at worst. (?)
@8
Ah, of course! I can’t imagine why I’d never considered this perspective before!
Excuse me just a moment – I have to go call Amnesty International to let them know that their work is no longer necessary.
I believe the RWB report has nothing about expats, and with the exception of blocking North Korean sites, none of the regulations have anything to do with North Korea.
Well I’m not a lawyer but I wonder if a case couldn’t be made that the citizen or resident only requirement on so many SK sites violates the technical barriers to trade section as well as Section 7 on e-commerce in the EU-Korea FTA.
Here’s the text of the EU-Korea FTA: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2009/october/tradoc_145166.pdf
And here’s the current text of KORUS FTA:
http://www.ustr.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/agreements/fta/korus/asset_upload_file816_12714.pdf
Both have e-commerce sections that seem, from my reading at least, to contradict the current policies. So is it possible to petition somehow?
Actually I don’t think the Korean intent is to keep non-Koreans off of Korea the global hub’s “World Wide” Web, but that it’s an almost accidental casualty of the anonymity laws. Does that sound right? When people brush this topic off they say, “Now what the hell do you have to do on Korean sites anyway?” which doesn’t make sense of course. But I’d think this would affect some kyopos. Just imagine if only US citizens and residents could log on to American sites… how ridiculous… so anyway who do I write? I guess the EU trade commission and also Reporters Without Borders?
Currently, America is sponsoring an international treaty negotiation with Korea and Canada called “Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement” (ACTA) wherein the draft text is modeled on the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement. Though some thought the FTA between America and Korea was dying, ACTA actually breathes new life into it in a back-handed way.
There was a closed-door ACTA treaty meeting here in Seoul, back in October too. Though this treaty is reputedly about IP and copyright issues, it could effectively allow the government to shutdown internet users in Korea (including foreigners) for any number of reasons, cutting them off from the internet. It could also be used to justify having a filtering system on the Korean intranet that would be beyond the control of the judiciary (no courts involved, no opposition).
The fun fact about this treaty is that it seems to originate with media companies in America that produce movies and recordings. Basically, American companies are trying to control international IP law and enforcement through the guise of trade treaties. There is some local backing for this treaty in Korea from some small bodies such as one that represents Korean Copyright for composers in Korea but this treaty is more so a means for government to impose control over the flow of information without going through any due process whatsoever.
One should note that there have been increasing complaints by “conservatives” in Korea about the “liberal judiciary” and especially so since when LMB’s team arrested “Minerva”, it was the judiciary that let him go, throwing out the specious arguments made by prosecutors.
My meger understanding of this treaty is that the ACTA/America connection is more about how American companies attempt to influence foreign copyright issues and is also about the ongoing Mad Cow backlash that has been going on. I am very sure there is much more going on than this too.
I can’t imagine another democratic country having as much internet censorship as Korea does. Besides the obvious porn sites they block, they also prohibit access to travel portals that offer discount hotel rates in SE Asia, a well known Cebu expat bulletin board and two sites that are solely about scuba diving locations in the Philippines. Thank goodness for proxies. And those are just the ones I know from sites that I have bookmarked. I’m sure there are many others. My ISP even blocked the online site for the Manila Bulletin newspaper when they ran some articles that were negative of Korea. Imagine if the US blocked access to online Korean news outlets every time they ran a story that was critical of the US.
To say they can do what they want and if you don’t like it go to North Korea is the same kind of ignorant “fuzzy logic” that has plagued this still backwards Republic for decades. If you have aspirations to be taken seriously as a world player and want to sit at the grown up’s table, then start behaving like an adult. The internet censorship that exists in Korea indicates to me that they are not yet ready to be considered an enlightened democracy or society. The Minerva fiasco and removing privacy protections to post on popular websites in Korea is further evidence of this.
And to reiterate, we’re talking about democracies here. Comparing the Draconian censorship Korea does to what is done in non-democracies is apples and oranges. We expect non-democracies to be ignorant, obtrusive and limit the freedom of their citizens. For Korea to be attempting the same is shocking, disturbing and disappointing.
Maekchu or MaekJu?
Anyway, I’m not sure if it is the government always blocking things. It seems some internet providers block sites that others don’t. At my school LG telecom seems to block all sorts of things, at my house (Hello D internet) I don’t get blocked.
So are these companies acting independently to block stuff or are they following government rules or site lists?
There doesn’t seem to be any feedback mechanism to question a block.
Only reason these bands consisting of greasy hippies and/or drugged-out geezers from the more backward English-speaking countries are famous world-wide is because they sing in English. Well, not even that famous, since I sure as hell haven’t heard of “Midnight Oil.” Then again, I don’t keep track of bands that went of fashion 15 years ago, especially ones filled with hippies that should be in a nursing home.
Midnight Oil, Vegemite, Kangaroos, Boomerangs fuck ya! Australia hwaiting!
Have you considered that it may be your school blocking those sites not LG.
My company blocks all sorts of sites, not out of censorship per se,but security risk sites, and popular sites distracting the workers.
Also, currently (per Reuters) Google will pull out of China — unless Chinese hell freezes over.
You must log in to post a comment.
{ 5 trackbacks }