By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Keywords ``suicide methods'' and other words related to suicide will be, in principle, banned from input for online communities, blogs and other communal cyber spaces, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said Monday.
To counter growing group suicides in the nation, the ministry will join hands with police, telecommunication authorities, civic groups and portals to ban keywords related to suicide and block access to Web sites.
Among the banned words are ``suicide,'' ``suicide methods,'' ``group suicide,'' and other terms pertaining to suicide.
Postings containing information about suicide will be deleted and the operators of online cafes on the subject could be prosecuted. The prosecution recently arrested a Web site operator of an online suicide information cafe.
Rental car dealers, charcoal brisket sellers as well as hotel and inn managers are encouraged to report any ``suspicious groups of people'' they notice to local police.
Those who report such activities will be rewarded. Newspapers and other media outlets are also requested to ``refrain from describing the methods and locations of sites'' to prevent further copycat suicides.
The move comes as the number of such crimes has increased dramatically since actor Ahn Jae-hwan reportedly killed himself using charcoal briquettes last September. More than 11 cases of ``joint suicide'' have been reported since then, killing 11 and leaving six in critical care.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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