Ⅰ. Introduction
She came home at midnight on October 2nd after she had drunk soju with her manager, Mr. Park, during the afternoon of October 1st. She had her last conversation with her mother at home. She wept and cried: "I'm disappointed by people. I don't know why they torment me with rumors about things like private loans." Soon she entered the bathroom in her bedroom and locked the door. Her mother knocked on the door, but she said, "Please go to bed first." At around 12:30 a.m., her mother went to her grandson's bedroom and slept. Her mother woke up at about 4:00 a.m. and found that the light was still shining in the bathroom. Her mother knocked on the door but was only answered by a hollow silence. Since there was no answer after she knocked on the door for about half an hour, her mother called a key smith and opend the door. The cold dead body of her daughter was hanging in the bathroom.
This woman is Choi Jin-sil, a leading Korean actress. She ended her life at the age of 40 years. She had two children - a son and a daughter. All koreans, especially her fans, felt a great shock, as it was a sudden and astonishing accident. What made her so desperate and pained? Her suicide has prompted us to look back on our society. In this Cover Story, you will find out more about online gossip, rumors and distrust.
Ⅱ. Main
1.Emergence of Malicious Replies
Malicious replies emerged from the active online community. They first started with some gossip about somebody - speaking ill of someone behind that person's back - on the Internet. Netizens replied by writing their spiteful opinions on an Internet board about entertainers or some people whom they hated. This phenomenon developed rapidly, with Netizens reproaching some people unconditionally through their replies.
2.The Rise of Malicious Replies, and Some Efforts
People began to think about malicious replies after entertainers who were severely damaged by them started an active movement. Some entertainers accused Netizens of writing malicious rumors, and some of them even stopped using the Internet. Online gossip became a huge cancer, which we cannot bear at all. However, some efforts to overcome malicious replies are on the rise. The Sunfull Declaration Campaign (SDC) is leading a movement to write "Sunfulls," favorable replies. Most portal sites are subscribing to this campaign, especially Cyworld, the website of personal mini homepages, which is participating actively in this movement to promote good replies. Also, Offline efforts are on the rise. Some elementary, middle and high schools of Korea are holding campaigns against malicious rumors and on promoting netiquette. Schools in Jeju established a room for favorable replies and let students participate in the campaign by giving grades for volunteer work. This is at least as hopeful as the efforts of "Sunfull."
3. Damaging Minorities
Minority groups and females are the ones who can defend themselves the least from rumors. Females, homosexuals and various minority groups are especially vulnerable. Choi Jin-sil and Kim Ji-hoo are typical examples of people who suffered from malicious replies. Great pain is inflicted on homosexuals, especially. Their vulnerability to malicious replies has resulted in notable suicides: transgender Jang Chae-won and gay entertainer Kim Ji-hoo committed suicide. They suffered from Netizens' spiteful attacks through their personal mini hompages and other means after they spoke out publicly about their sexual tastes.
These cases do not only exist in the entertainment world. We can easily find them occurring around us. For example, women who are raped are more afraid of rumors than men who committed sexual violence and a girl who has a lesbian sister is afraid of being ostracized by the community because of the bitter rumors. Similarly, some students who are suffering from economic hardship are left out in the cold by their classmates-for the same reason, because of rumors. Likewise, our society behaves too conservatively to the minorities. The minorities have grown up trying to read others' minds, therefore, they have weak self-esteem. It is natural that the rumors and malicious replies are fatal to the minorities.
4.Rumors and the a Distrustful Society.
One trait of Korean society is that once a rumor is started it spreads unceasingly. For instance, "Entertainer's X-File," which was about unfounded rumors about entertainers' private lives, spread fast and rumors that President Lee Myung-bak sold Dokdo to japan spread during the candlelight vigil. Korean trot singer Na Hoon-a's scandal was also based on just a rumor. Baseless gossips are appearing continually, but we do not recognize this and cannot perceive our faults.
Rumors usually appear when a society has insufficient sharing information and tends to have one-way communication. This is why there were all sorts of false rumors in the time then the military held absolute authority. In those days, the press was all blocked up and people were under surveilance. People gave vent to their pent-up anger through rumors. A new era has come, but rumors are still spread in this society. In fact, gossips are spreading rumors faster and wider using the Internet as their foothold.
Some people claim that the reason why rumors spread so fast despite the flood of media and information is because our society is distrustful. According to them, we still have distrustful minds as a legacy of our autocratic period. That is, we can see a remnant of those times in the current society.
Other suggest that of the problem stems from education problems. Rumors are produced and spread because the present education system cannot teach analytical ability, analysis, judgment and a sense of morality. Korean society tends to accept rumors easily as truth compared with other advanced Wester countries. If people have their own independent criteria to judge social phenomena, they do not easily believe rumors to be truth. However, in Korean society, one's criteria tend to be influenced by the environment rather than by the individual.
5. The Unilateral Gigantism of Portal Sites.
Korea is famous for its high rate of Internet use. Huge portal sites lead to a great amount of Internet use. When a certain rumor is spread out through these giant portal sites, the rumor spreads rapidly. As a various Internet media came out with insufficient press standard, many of them just report rumors without examining the facts. Because competition for news flashes and quick announcements between portal sites is severe, they tend to concentrate on entertainment news. In this situation, a strong system has been set up to amplify rumors. This peculiar Internet system seems to be compounded by online culture and Korean social trend. That is, Korea is the place where rumors can spread easily. If you access the internet and search portal sites such as Naver, Daum, and so on, you will easily come to understand this situation.
☆ Hot Issue ☆
Cyber Contempt?
After the suicide of Choi Jin-sil, the Korean government issued a new cyber law as a countermeasure, Cyber Contempt. It is the so called Law of Choi Jin-sil. the ruling party and the opposition party argued for and against Cyber Contempt and the real-name Internet system. With the law of Cyber Contempt, there has been an increase in the number of committee members who decide on the matters of defamation of character or violation of another's rights. This committee's authority is now strengthened, and they can handle a case within 24 hours so that a person who is damaged by online writings can request temporary management of the problem, including the measure of deleting in the writing.
There are some people who have positive views about Cyber Contempt but there are also some people who are against it. According to the critics, the digital network is an organic phenomenon, so it will not be efficient to restrict it through the judgement of a few specialists. Which would be more efficient, having many people inspect a lot of writing or verifying problems through a few people? Speculative news stories and rumors appear continuously because the government has not provided us with sufficient information and detailed plans.
Ⅲ. Conclusion
1. Two Prescriptions: Punishment and Healing.
Celebrity suicides, which give us a great shock, must be stopped. Our efforts are needed to protect against that kind of tragedy. Improving our healing abilities will be one solution. That is, raising the level of netizens' abilities can cure the problem of malicious replies on the Internet and false rumors. It will be impossible to achieve this suddenly, of course, but we have to refine ourselves and become mature nation. Also, punishment has to taken against people who drive others to commit suicide by writing malicious replies. However, punishment should be an alternative method, with improving our healing abilities the main focus.
2. Our Attitude
Let's joing "writing Sunfull" on the Internet by searching and visiting SDC's homepage. You can learn about efforts against malicious replies through "Sunfull." Of course, there is another course we can take besides visiting the homepage. We can carry out it by using the Internet. Let's think again and consider carefully before writing thoughtless replies. We have to have a sense of responsibility in our own writings. Let's be university students who can become models for younger students and juniors. The malicious replies and rumors are not irrelevant to us. you may write spiteful replies thinking they are fun. However, keep in mind that they can affect you in turn.
By Hwang Hyun-mo CP Reporter
catplease@cnu.ac.kr