Eighteen years old and alone is how the Korean teen who crossed the border to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) must have felt. We can only presume.
The teen, identified only by the surname Kim, traveled first to Turkey to voluntarily cross the border into Syria. There is no hard evidence that he has joined ISIS yet.
But a day before the trip that began on Jan. 8 in Seoul, the teen wrote on his Facebook page, “I want to leave this country and my family. I want to start a new life.”
Korean teens, like their global peers, have their share of problems and dilemmas. The middle-school dropout ― among the estimated 70,000 dropouts nationwide ― is said to have spent much of his time at home on the computer. Yet it has not dawned on the country with world’s highest Internet penetration, until now, that ISIS’s social-media-driven recruitment might reach here. Statistics have shown that about 15,000 foreigners from some 80 countries have so far been recruited. Last year, a captured jihadist fighter told his Iraqi captors that ISIS members consisted of people from around the world, including Korea.
Seoul police’s investigation of Kim’s computer showed that he extensively searched the Internet using the words “Turkey,” “Syria” and “Islam” last year. The police also found 47 photos related to ISIS. He used the ID “sunni mujahideen” for his Twitter account, and used Surespot to exchange messages with someone in Turkey last month, the police said.
On Wednesday, the nation’s communications watchdog, the Korea Communication Commission (KCC), said it is inspecting online material and will shut down access to content on SNS sites that influence people to carry out terrorist acts or join terrorist groups. The Korean law governing communications allows the government to ban the circulation of any “information, including racism, genocide, terrorism and others, that can significantly threaten international peace and order.”
As there are reports of increasing followers on Kim’s twitter account asking advice on how to join ISIS, this measure may well be necessary. Lawmakers can start discussing in earnest an anti-terror bill that will allow shuttering of ISIS-related sites. Parents should work with schools and communities to reach out to difficult teens, to address their possible sense of isolation under heavy schoolwork and worries about their future. The government should also be on alert and work with corresponding nations to enable Kim’s return and deter any possible second and third Kims.