[JoongAng Ilbo , National, Social affairs, October 4 2008] Choi suicide sparks debate about Internet slander law

GNP would make Internet users give their real names

With the recent suicide of actress Choi Jin-sil, there is growing public sentiment that penalties against those who post malicious or defamatory comments on the Internet should be strengthened.

Politicians, entertainers and Internet users have entered the debate over whether to introduce laws to regulate slander in cyberspace.

“In the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of entertainers and ordinary people who take their own lives because of malicious Internet postings. There needs to be legal restraint against those making such postings,” an Internet user wrote on one portal.