ID :
207531
Fri, 09/16/2011 - 11:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/207531
The shortlink copeid
Pro-Pyongyang activities surge in cyberspace
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- Pro-North Korea activities mushroomed in cyberspace over the past three years in South Korea where the penetration rate of Internet connection is one of the highest levels in the world, a police report showed Friday.
Police took 82 cases to court last year for illegally posting materials praising the North's communist regime on the Internet, according to the National Police Agency report submitted to Yoo Jeong-bok, a lawmaker from the ruling Grand National Party.
The latest figure marks a 16-fold increase from just five cases that were subject to court decisions in 2007.
The corresponding figures were 32 in 2009 and 82 last year, according to the report.
Police crack down on Internet users who extol or propagandize the leader or the political system of North Korea, which is by law defined as a national enemy since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
The sharp growth is mainly attributable to the recent emergence of easier Internet communication tools like social network services in addition to blogs and Internet Web sites, which were previously used often for the pro-North activities.
A total of 80,449 postings were deleted by authorities for violation of the law banning such activities, showing substantially sharp growth compared with only 1,434 posted in 2007, the report noted.
"Pro-North activities surely seem to have mushroomed in cyberspace in the recent two-three years due to the North's torpedoing of the Cheonan and shelling of the border island of Yeonpyeong," a police official said.
Police took 82 cases to court last year for illegally posting materials praising the North's communist regime on the Internet, according to the National Police Agency report submitted to Yoo Jeong-bok, a lawmaker from the ruling Grand National Party.
The latest figure marks a 16-fold increase from just five cases that were subject to court decisions in 2007.
The corresponding figures were 32 in 2009 and 82 last year, according to the report.
Police crack down on Internet users who extol or propagandize the leader or the political system of North Korea, which is by law defined as a national enemy since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
The sharp growth is mainly attributable to the recent emergence of easier Internet communication tools like social network services in addition to blogs and Internet Web sites, which were previously used often for the pro-North activities.
A total of 80,449 postings were deleted by authorities for violation of the law banning such activities, showing substantially sharp growth compared with only 1,434 posted in 2007, the report noted.
"Pro-North activities surely seem to have mushroomed in cyberspace in the recent two-three years due to the North's torpedoing of the Cheonan and shelling of the border island of Yeonpyeong," a police official said.
