K-pop deaths renew focus on cyber bullying of young stars and lack of punishment
- The deaths of K-pop stars Goo Hara and Sulli, both subjects of vicious online attacks, have brought cyber bullying in South Korea into sharp focus
- Member of parliament Park Sun-sook wants it possible for anyone to ask web portals to take down malicious or blatantly false comments
The apparent suicide of a second K-pop artist in six weeks has cast renewed focus in South Korea on cyber bullying of vulnerable young stars, and how it mostly goes unpunished.
South Korean police consider cyber violence a serious crime and have an active programme educating the public how not to fall prey to online attacks, or to become the perpetrator.
Charges laid are steadily on the rise with nearly 150,000 cases last year, but they form just a tiny part of what goes on and there is no good recourse for the victims in a country once touted as one of the most wired on earth, police say.
“It’s rather simple with physical violence, as the victim can go see a doctor, but with cyber violence, there is no cure,” says Jeon Min-su, a cybercrime investigator with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
