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All-seeing eyes, CCTV

Posted August. 22, 2014 01:50,   

한국어

The National Forensic Service (NFS) will soon announce the investigation results on the CCTV footage that may tell whether Kim Soo-chang, the former chief of Jeju District Prosecutors’ Office, committed lewd action on the roadside. The CCTV footages that the police and the media have obtained show that a person suspected as the former chief prosecutor is standing with his flyers open. The NFS will figure out whether the person in the footage was Kim by comparing the height and strides of the person with those of Kim.

The final days of Yoo Byeong-eon, the late CEO of Semo group, is now reproduced through CCTV. According to a video clip released by the police, a man suspected to be Yoo, walking on the street at 3 a.m. on May 28, was recorded by CCTV installed at the adjacent restaurant. Another CCTV in a parking lot close to the restaurant captured that the same person hurriedly turned around after seeing a police bus at 11 a.m. on the next day. These CCTVs are five minutes away from the plum field in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, where the dead body of Yoo was found. These video footages strongly buttress the scenario that Yoo died a natural death.

These days, drivers do not have to raise their voices over minor collision. Black box for vehicles tells everything about what happened during the collision. Google Glass can be called black box for people. If a person wears the glass, it allows to take pictures and to record real-time video clips. The direction for a destination or text messages can be popped up on the glass screen. Just a glance to a person’s face can tell the individuals’ personal information on the side. There are more than 10,000 people around the world who tried Google Glass on a trial.

Novelist George Orwell created a fictional character Big Brother, a greatly powered authority that puts citizens under constant surveillance. The present day’s Big Brother is CCTV. As witnessed in the case of Kim, CCTV has many advantages. Great help to catch criminals, great effect to prevent crimes. Only the existence of CCTV is effective to reduce violent crimes. It is not too much to say that CCTV is the best cop. However, the advent of surveillance society will inevitably fringe on individual’s privacy. Despite that fact, people want to have CCTVs around. Does it mean their insecurity over safety overweighs the infringement on personal privacy?