War Against Pornography Starts

By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Portal Web sites or peer-to-peer program managers will be obliged to screen out pornographic material while those uploading such video clips with IP addresses overseas will be censored.

Also, more surveillance cameras will be installed at schools to watch over possible sexual assaults and the government will provide software blocking such lewd material online, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Wednesday.

The plan is part of the government's projects to fight against lewd material on television, the internet and elsewhere in order to prevent children from accessing sexually explicit content that sometimes leads to sex crimes.

The government is cracking down on online pornography distributors with 3,300 experts investigating user-created clips and other video material by the end of the month. Also, more counselors will be placed at schools to talk about sexual problems with the students from July.

The education authorities said more than 234 billion won of budget will be allotted for the plan.

The Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs focused on cable television providers, widely criticized for airing sexually explicit programs nearly all day long. The so-called ``Youth Protection Timeline'' where TV stations cannot air lewd programs will be expanded from 6a.m. to midnight throughout the week, from the current 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

The ministry's suggestion in revising the Youth Protection Law is based on research results indicating more than 38.4 percent of programs aired between 10 p.m. and midnight in 2007 were inappropriate for children to watch.

However, according to a Korean Broadcasting Institute's research, 34 percent of viewers at that time were under age people. Moreover, 18.5 percent between midnight and 2 a.m. were young people. This shows that simply placing warning signs at the beginning of the programs may not be an effective method of prevention.

The government's strong measures came after offenders of recent gang rapes among elementary school students in Daegu testified that they received information from pornography online and erotic films on cable television. A separate research by the health ministry in 2007 also said 88 percent of teens who have watched pornography said they got the material online.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr