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No. of police requests to delete pro-NK content leaps 45-fold

No. of police requests to delete pro-NK content leaps 45-fold

Posted September. 17, 2011 03:43,   

한국어

The number of police requests for the deletion of Internet content praising North Korea has increased 45-fold over the past two years, the National Police Agency said Friday.

In a report to ruling Grand National Party Rep. Park Dae-hae, police said they asked the Korea Communications Commission, South Korea`s watchdog for broadcast and Internet content, or website operators to delete 80,449 online postings last year, a huge jump from 1,793 in 2008 and 14,430 in 2009.

Most of the postings reiterated the North`s claims on the sinking of the South Korean naval corvette Cheonan last year and denunciation of the South for undermining inter-Korean relations.

The police agency said it made deletion requests for online content that continued to spread arguments by the North`s state-controlled media or praise North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The sharp increase in the number of deletion requests is attributable to a surge in online postings speaking for the North after the Cheonan sinking and Seoul`s crackdown on pro-Pyongyang content under the incumbent Lee Myung-bak administration.

The number of such postings increased sharply when the North was trying to sway opinions of South Koreans favoring Pyongyang`s position at a time when the communist country was cornered by the international community for the ship sinking.

"Another reason is that police can now crack down on online postings, which were once left untouched due to limited resources," said a police official.



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