The Korea Times documents the disturbing increase in censorship of writing about North Korea, with the police forcing website operators to remove 42,787 pro-North Korean comments. This may be due to an increase in North Korean government attempts to enter the online debate, but some point to the general anti-Net sentiment of the Lee administration.
Oh Chang-ik, director of the Citizens Solidarity for Human Rights, defined the sudden surge of censorship as “post trauma” of the Lee administration following nationwide candlelight vigils against U.S. beef imports in 2008.
This is one of the risks when “the Internet” is characterized as the medium of choice of one political group over another. Lee’s predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, was seen as the Net-enabled President; the Lee administration has been far more sceptical of online publications, and concerned about their affects on local and international politics. Such an increase in control can’t be good for the freedom of the Korean press online.