Do Korean bloggers have free speech??

They are cracked down on, or any of reasonable size (all naver, cyworld, etc). Lee Myung Bak has a very large number of people he pays small money to in order to check what's going on and reply appropriately to internet media. Although it is officially illegal to do this in Korea, he is by no means the only one that does it. Many of the stars do this also in order to bolster their image, fight against bad rumours (which are usually true) and even attack other actors / actresses.

The thing you have to understand about in Korea is that everyone has a national ID number that is used for absolutely everything. I believe the last remaining website in which you didn't need this number to make an ID was yahoo.co.kr, but that is no longer the case. Most places in order to even reply to topics you need to use your number (100% of the time), address, confirmed phone number (occasionally) etc. Therefore, whatever people say on the internet allows them to be tracked down. I remember one ocassion a girl wrote something about what really happened to Roh Moo Hyun on cyworld.com , the information was deleted almost minutes later and she received a direct message from cyworld asking her not to post such information.

Anyway, it goes on and on, but in order to answer your question, yes, bloggers are in exactly the same boat. I have heard rumours of the Korean public forming a group to raise capital in order to take Lee Myung Bak on in court but the government is blocking it. Things are getting a little crazy now that Lee Myung Bak is trying to have a movement passed quickly in parliament that 'would allow the government to have control over what any media company publishes in Korea'. Wouldn't that be just great ....

Here is a link to a paper containing information about what I mentioned last. I'll have to look later for some English report on it, they are very very hard to find due to what is fed out from Korea to the world.

http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/oxford/DB151207

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/business/worldbusiness/21seoul.html?_r=1 <-- LMB cleared by 'special prosecutor' and interviewed inside a restaurant!!!

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_385304.html Notice "Critics said state prosecutors turned the Roh investigation into a national circus by leaking details to the media about humiliating allegations before they had secured evidence." This is what LMB was doing to bring him down, they didn't have any evidence and look at how all of the English reporting media companies are still focusing on the $6million.

Truth about Roh Moo Hyun! (This is the post AskaKorean keeps deleting)

The following post was continously deleted by AskaKorean.

1. After Roh Moo Hyun fell (apparently) from the cliff they (the body guards) picked him up and rushed him to a vehicle to get him to hospital. The nearest hospital in Masan was about 30 minutes away and was their initial destination. The medical team at Masan were prepared to take him in though after 15 minutes they (the body guards) changed their minds and selected a hosptital 2-3 hours away. He was DOA or close to it.

2. The resident doctor, the only professional to see his dead body and the injuries miraculously committed suicide for no apparent reason 2 days ago.

3. The body guards are in hiding (fact), probably fearing for their lives(assumption).

4. The 'official' police investigation began after his body was cremated.

5. LMB was caught smirking Roh Moo Hyun's funeral (just thought I'd throw that one in there)

6. The vast majority of Roh Moo Hyun's righteous acts have been, for the most part, hidden from the media.

7. There were signs of a struggle on the cliff top (e.g jacket was found crumpled well back from the edge of the cliff etc.)

8. From the 6 million dollars of apparent black money we see continuously reported by the English speaking media, 5 million was money given to Roh Moo Hyun's older brother of which Roh Moo Hyun had no knowledge of. He had also asked his brother not to have any business dealings that associated with Roh Moo Hyun's presidency, he wanted no part of it. The other $900,000 was a loan given to Roh Moo Hyun's wife by a friend who had known the family for 20 years. There are contract papers and everything. Roh Moo Hyun did not know of this 'loan' until February this year.

9. The reason the $900,000 loan was taken out by his wife was for them to buy a house, yes, they did not own any house.

10. Roh Moo Hyun could have become a judge in Korea earning a very good living, but opted to help poor people who could not afford legal representation for free as the alternative (before he became president).

And the list goes on and on.

This is typical, LMB was caught admitting on video while giving a lecture to university students about him being the one to begin an internet banking company called BBK in 2001 (or 2002, can't remember). The company went under for major fraud over serious dollars and of course the court dropped the charges for no apparent reason. The other director/s went to jail. This hard evidence (a video I have seen and is still on youtube.) surfaced a week or so before LMB was elected.

Just as a final note, ONE of the things that Roh Moo Hyun did when president that no other president ever did before, was block the standard 6 billion dollar extra bonus payment that usually goes to government workers and instead used it towards regional development, social security and welfare etc.etc. For doing this the whole goverment was outraged (the money is taken by the government out of greed, not necessity).

http://www.seoprise.com/board/view.php?table=seoprise_12&uid=48343 is one link if you like. Can use google translate or something because it's in Korean.

Hope this helps a few people understand a little further.