[JoongAng Ilbo , Opinion, Editorials, October 4 2008] A law for Choi Jin-sil

The Internet is inundated with insults, defamations and groundless rumors. This must be corrected. Actress Choi Jin-sil’s suicide reconfirms the urgency of the task. It is said that Choi suffered from depression after her divorce. Added to her burden were recent rumors in cyberspace that linked her to Ahn Jae-hwan, another actor who also recently committed suicide. It is reported that the night before she died, Choi cried and told her mother she was disappointed with people and asked why they made up rumors that she was a loan shark. After her death, even more rumors sprang up, such as, “She probably committed suicide because she was afraid the rumors would turn out to be true.”

Recently, an increasing number of people are targets of insulting remarks and rumors on the Internet. Singer Yuni and actress Jung Da-bin committed suicide in January and February, last year. It was revealed that they were also the targets of ill-intended Internet remarks. The case was the same with a high school student who appeared in a TV program in June 2007 as an example of someone who successfully lost weight. Later, a picture of her with a popular boy band was released and the band’s fans attacked and insulted her. In the end, she chose to kill herself.