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An Internet cafe voluntarily shut down and made a public apology for having led a months-long campaign to cast doubt over the school records of popular singer Tablo.
The website, “Sangjinse,” short for “the world where common sense is the truth” in Korean, is one of two online communities that orchestrated what police called “smear campaigns” against the hip-hop singer for more than three months. Another Tablo-bashing site, “Tajinyo” is still operating.
Sangjinse cafe managers said in a statement that their way of raising questions over Tablo’s academic record was “problematic,” expressing hope that the voluntary shutdown will be seen as a gesture of apology to the singer and his family.
“We have reached the conclusion that we need to make an apology over defamatory remarks against Tablo and his family members,” Sangjinse said in the statement. “We have no other choice but to respect the results of the police investigation. We hope the shutdown of this cafe will help heal their wounds.”
The apology means that the months-long attacks on Tablo, the leader of Epik High whose Korean name is Lee Seon-woong, are winding down after the announcement of the outcome of a police investigation into allegations that he fabricated Stanford University diplomas.
It came about two weeks after police confirmed that Tablo is a graduate of the prestigious U.S. school.
While making its apology, Sangjinse begged the musician to drop his lawsuit against 22 Internet users.
The move also came at a time when an alleged fake fund raising scandal hit the website’s leaders hard. The scandal was brought to the surface after a manager of the site, whose ID was “mooneo” or small octopus in English, posted an article, Tuesday, to launch a fund raising campaign to help the accused bloggers.
The manager asked members to wire money to his private bank account, resulting in a strong backlash from some members. The article was immediately removed, but the manager in question has remained silent over the case.
Few see the apology as whole-hearted.
“It’s no more than just running away,” said one blogger. “They should take proper responsibility. Where is your dauntless attitude?” another posted.
Another blogger wrote, “Don’t run away to avoid being arrested.”
Despite police confirmation, members of another online cafe, Tajinyo, is still attacking Tablo.
“I don’t care about the website shutting down. We will continue to make our way,” a Tablo-bashing blogger said in an article on Tajinyo.
The latest scandal created a great stir in a society where a good academic background is regarded as a surefire ticket to success.
In a recent Cabinet meeting, President Lee Myung-bak described the scandal as a “witch hunt,” asking secretaries to come up with countermeasures to prevent the repetition of such an incident.
타블로 때리는 웹사이트 내려
힙합 가수 타블로가 스탠퍼드대 졸업생이 아니라며 때리기 운동을 펼쳤던 웹사이트가 그에게 루머를 퍼뜨린 수 십 명의 블로거들 상대로 낸 소를 취하해 줄 것을 탄원하면서 목요일 그 같은 행위에 후회를 한다며 자발적으로 문을 닫았다.
이는 경찰이 에픽하이 밴드 리더인 타블로(본명 이선웅)가 미국의 이 명문 대 졸업생이라고 확인을 해 준 지 2주 만에 나온 것이다.
“상진세”라는 이 웹사이트는 2만 여 회원을 두고 수개월 동안 이 가수를 상대로 소위 경찰이 말하는 “비방운동”을 총지휘했다. 아직도 열려있는 또 하나의 이 같은 웹사이트는 “타진요”이다.
상진세 지도부는 성명에서 타블로의 학력 관련 문제를 제기한 방법이 “문제가 있었음을 인정하고 이 가수와 가족에게 사죄하는 표시로 웹사이트 자진 폐쇄를 했다고 밝혔다.
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