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 Prosecutors last month launched a cyber investigation team after
President Park Geun-hye spoke out against online rumors that she
said "crossed the line" and were deepening divisions in society.
But that has sown confusion and fear of snooping among users and
providers of online services.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Chung Hong-won tried to reassure the
public about online privacy, saying the government would only seek
monitoring rights in special circumstances, such an investigation of
murder, human trafficking or insurrection.
"(He) emphasized that the government has been steadfast in ensuring
freedom of expression and other basic privacy rights and will
continue to do so," Chung's office said in a statement.
Authorities insist they have no intention or ability to conduct
large-scale surveillance of the public but South Korean messaging
app KakaoTalk said it had lost users because of the fears about
surveillance.
A rival German app, Telegram, which does not have servers in South
Korea, added more than two million Korean users in the two weeks
through to Oct. 11, according to market researcher Rankey.com.
Telegram rushed out a Korean-language version in response to the
surge in business.
"The defection to a foreign app reflects hostility toward the
government," said Sohn Dong-young, a media professor at Hanyang
University.
Daum Communications Corp, KakaoTalk's operator, said on Monday it
had stopped complying with monitoring warrants since Oct. 7 to
protect KakaoTalk user privacy.
It also shortened the time it keeps data on servers and would
introduce privacy modes, making it nearly impossible for third
parties to see user conversations, it said.
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"We will introduce real-time monitoring devices if that becomes a
legal responsibility of operators," Daum co-chief executive Sirgoo
Lee said at a parliamentary hearing on Thursday. "But today this
decision is for the operators to make, and we have no intention of
doing so."
South Korea is a vibrant democracy but until 1987 it was an
authoritarian state, with tight restrictions on freedom of
expression and widespread surveillance.
That history makes South Koreans especially sensitive to any
encroachment on freedom of speech, said Sung Dong-kyoo, a professor
at Chung-Ang University's department of mass communication and
journalism.
"We have rapidly transitioned from being a tightly controlled
society, and react more sensitively about ensuring the protection of
privacy," Sung said.
In a poll of 500 South Koreans released on Thursday by Realmeter,
43.5 percent said they agreed with Daum's stance not to comply with
monitoring warrants because protection of private information was
important, while 30 percent disagreed, saying it was an obstruction
of justice.
(Editing by Tony Munroe and Robert Birsel)
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