DEATH OF K-POP STAR AND ONLINE COMMENTS

[Anchor Lead]

K-pop star Goo Ha-ra has died, another apparent victim of malicious online attacks. The 28 year old was known to have been suffering from severe depression, and with increasing celebrity deaths, calls are growing for more effective measures to stamp out vicious comments.

[Pkg]

An article on singer Goo Ha-ra posted on one of the largest web portal sites in Korea. Even when the story is about the K-pop star's depression, hateful comments are easily found. The same article posted on another Internet portal. Here, a notice indicates readers cannot leave comments anymore and that the reply message function has been suspended. Twitter has also introduced an option for those wanting to hide select replies. Users can hide malicious comments so others can't see them.

[Soundbite] PROF. SEONG DONG-GYU(CHUNG-ANG UNIVERSITY) : "There must be active efforts to develop a system that can minimize the side effects of using social media and web portals."

Foreign media outlets that operate websites have stricter regulations. New York Times allows leaving comments for 10% of all its news stories and messages can be written only within a 24 hour window. CNN and BBC don't operate comments sections and instead receive reader opinions. They believe if such services can't be properly managed, it should not be made available. Over in the UK, the Guardian also restricts comments posted to news articles. The decision follows the result of an analysis conducted on 70 million comments. Many of them were attacks against women and black communities. In Korea, calls for re-introducing real name-based Internet use resurfaced at the presidential petition website. This rule was abolished in 2012 as the court found it unconstitutional for violating freedom of expression. Some are urging management agencies of celebrities to take legal action when their entertainers suffer online abuse.

[Soundbite] KIM HEON-SIK(CULTURAL CRITIC) : "Management agencies failing to fulfill their duties has led to more psychological pressure on celebrities, pushing them to make such unfortunate decisions."

An overhaul of the online news reporting system also appears to be necessary as many articles are directly taken from celebrities' personal social media pages.