South Korea has extensive internet filtering policies in place to restrict access to political, gambling, piracy, and pornography sites. The National Security Law allows up to 7 years imprisonment for openly approving of North Korea and is used to justify much of the filtering. While South Korea has high internet connectivity, citizens face arrest for violating filtering laws and minor's access is restricted through age verification requirements. However, independent testing found little actual blocking of sensitive content outside of North Korea-related sites and some gambling and piracy sites.

1. By Michelle SchroederInternet Filtering in South Korea

2. BackgroundSouth Korea was established in 1948Openly approving North Korean government is illegal and a lot of internet filtering pertains to thisThousands of South Koreans since South Korea has been established have been arrested under the anti-communist National Security LawInvestigations and arrests are still happening today even though South Korea and North Korea are trying to get along.

3. BackgroundMore than 89 percent of South Korean households have Internet access, making South Korea the most connected countryThere are over 30,000 internet cafesThree South Korean internet service providers control nearly 85% of the internet marketThe largest is KorNet which provides about half of the ADSL lines, which then makes KorNet the largest ADSL supplier in the world.

4. Internet FilteringSouth Korean filters many areas such as political content related to North Korea, gambling sites, pirated software, pornography sites, and so onSouth Korea has state ethic guidelinesThis is where most South Korean search engines require users to verify they are at least 19 years old before allowing access to porn sites

5. Legal and Regulatory FrameworksThe NSL is the primary regulation governing Internet speech in South KoreaNSL was designed to prevent communist ideology and pro-North Korean sentimentThis statute provides up to years of imprisonmentISPs are responsible for policing content on their networksThere is a government list of around 120,000 sites in which the ISPs are required to filter

6. Legal and Regulatory FrameworksInternet access facilities such as Internet Cafes and public libraries are required to install internet filtering softwareThe Youth Protection Act of 1997 made ISPs officially responsible for policing the internetUnder this act, homosexual content is considered “harmful and obscene”In 2003 this homosexual content provision was removed because of outcries

7. ONI Testing ResultsThe testing revealed that South Korea filters content related to North Korea, a handful of sites dedicated to gambling, and two sites devoted to pirated softwareONI’s test suggested that there is little blocking of sensitive content in South KoreaONI’s testing registered no blocks on pornography sites and homosexual contentMinor’s access is restricted though by requiring age identification

8. ConclusionSouth Korea is the most connected country, yet the citizens of this country are not able to have access to unfiltered internetCitizens of South Korea are often held liable and arrested for going against South Korean internet filtering laws