Police Trace Online Rumormongers
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Police began a hunt for rumormongers on the Internet as false information on mad cow disease and government policies is being spread online.
The information is coming from adolescents who share such rumors through cell phone text messages and online communities.
Last Friday, many students received a text message that said: ``First victim of mad cow disease found on May 2. This is not a rumor, but reality. Come to the rally at Cheonggye Plaza at 7 p.m. tomorrow.'' The sender was unidentified.
Another item of gossip was the planned closure of schools on May 17 so that middle and high school students across the country could rally against imports of U.S. beef. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology officially denied any truth to it. Some online rumors claimed that mad cow disease can be contracted through tap water or the air.
Unconfirmed allegations are going beyond the American beef issue. Some government policies have become the subject of rumors, with one story alleging that the administration had abandoned its territorial rights to the Dokdo islets to Japan. Japan has claimed Dokdo, Korea's easternmost islets, as its territory.
The Dokdo rumor was first shared Sunday through cell phones, and is now spreading on the Internet. A government official said the story was nonsense, and the authorities are investigating the source of the allegations.
Another rumor was that President Lee will implement his campaign pledge to require Internet users to pay fees in accordance with the time and the amount of data they use. The Broadcasting and Communications Commission denied it, saying Lee has never had such a pledge and the commission is not considering it either.
According to some online stories, Jeong Do-jeon, one of founding members of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), foretold that fortune will desert the country if Sungnyemun was burnt down, and that the people of Seoul should evacuate the capital as the country will decline. Sungnyemun, the National Treasure No. 1, was destroyed down in February in an arson attack. Of course, Jeong did not make such prophecy, according to historical documents.
Under the law, those deliberately spreading false rumors face up to five years of jail term or a 50 million won fine.
President Lee Myung-bak seems to have become the biggest victim of a series of rumors on the Internet. Lee Dong-kwan, spokesman of the presidential office, lamented the circulation of groundless gossip in cyber world. He said Korea can only become an advanced country when its income grows, adding that a mature society will emerge when healthy public opinion prevails.
He said many portal sites post biased views of specific politicians as if they were news. The spokesman said fundamental measures were necessary to quell biased and groundless gossip on the Internet.