In a surprising move for a country that prides itself on being a leader in all things Internet, the South Korean government recently banned a large number of foreign and domestic websites. The banned sites include numerous blogs from around the world, from such common blogging sites as blogs.com, typepad.com and blogspot.com.

The reason given for the censorship is to prevent the trading and viewing of video clips showing the recent beheading of South Korean national Kim Sun-il in Iraq. Video clips of non-Koreans recently beheaded however, remain available and are not subject to these restrictions. One wonders what Korean reaction would be if another country allowed the open trading of the Kim Sun-il clip, while banning one featuring the suffering of their own national . . .

This heavy-handed attempt by a government, one ironically lead by a former human rights lawyer, to stifle the ability to read and access websites from around the planet sounds more like a policy directive from North Korea, than one from the supposedly free and democratic South.

To express your opinion on this issue please visit the online message board of the Blue House, the home of Korea's president:

http://www.president.go.kr/

Thank you,

Concerned Netizen

For another story on problems with Internet access in Korea please head to: E-Korea: Hype versus Reality.