By Hojin Choi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – On October 13, Lee Sirgoo, the co-CEO of a South Korean company “Daum Kakao,” held a press conference in Seoul, South Korea. He bowed in apology and said that “we stopped accepting prosecution warrants to monitor our users’ private conversations from October 7, and hereby announce that we will continue to do so.” He said that the company will make privacy the top priority of its business when there is discord between privacy and law and added that “if our decision is a violation of the law, I, as the head of Daum Kakao, will bear any responsibilities.” What’s happening in Korea?

The Daum Kakao is a company that operates Kakao Talk messenger application. The Kakao Talk is a dominant application in South Korea with 35 million users out of 50 million of the country’s total population. Most cell phone users now communicate with each other through Kakao Talk rather than mere text messaging, and the term “Ka Talk” has already become synonymous with “sending message via phone.”

The controversial issue arose when the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, announced in late September that she was cracking down on the spread of baseless and insulting rumors about the president’s personal life. She complained that such rumors in SNS and on websites are socially divisive and destructive.

South Korean Prosecutor’s Office reacted to the president’s anger immediately. Within two days of the president’s comments, the office held a meeting with social media companies, such as Daum Kakao, Naver, and Nate, and also with other government offices like the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, police departments, and the Korea Communications Commission. As a result, the office officially announced that they will “preemptively respond” to spreading false information over the web by “constant monitoring” the SNS and messenger services. About seven days later, the office launched a special team for the task under the Prosecutors’ Office.

The public erupted into a fury and obvious anxiety. Even worse, a newspaper allegedly introduced a case in which the Daum Kakao recently handed to the Prosecutor’s Office the information of three thousand people’s messages and profiles in relation to an investigation on only one person. The company and the office both denied the article, but the company admitted that the Prosecutor’s Office and the nation’s information bureau regularly request information (conversations between users) through warrants.

Based on a long history of distrust of governmental authority since the nation’s military dictatorship, the public started leaving the Kakao Talk and seeking for a “digital asylum.” So far, over 400,000 users have deserted the service, and, within a week, 1.5 million Koreans newly joined a German messenger application, Telegram. This application has no server in Korea and its functions are focused on privacy security. Accordingly, the app encrypts conversations between users and also has a function that automatically deletes the messages a moment after users read them. Now, the forerunner company of Daum Kakao, Daum Communications, is also suffering in the stock market as well as losing its users. The stock fell by over 20% in just three days.

Considering these side effects, the company made the decision not to obey law enforcement by ignoring warrants and compliance requests. The co-CEO of Daum Kakao, Lee Sirgoo, announced regrets that “Daum Kakao failed to understand such anxiety of users of Kakao Talk, bringing the issue to the current state.” He also announced further efforts to regain users’ trust by promoting privacy protections. The company will form an “Information Protection Advisory Committee” composed of outside professionals and modify its message-storage policy, such as reducing from 7 to 2-3 days of keeping users’ conversations in its server and encrypting them.

For more information please see:

YONHAP NEWS – Daum Kakao apologizes over security controversy – 13 October 2014

The Wall Street Journal – Maker of Korean Chat App to Ignore Legal Demands for Users’ Messages – 13 October 2014

Gadgets – Korea’s Kakao Talk Vows to Protect User Privacy – 13 October 2014

BBC – Why South Koreans are fleeing the country’s biggest social network – 9 October 2014

BBC – akao Talk says ‘no’ to South Korean government demands – 14 October 2014

Malaymail – Privacy before law, vows South Korea’s Kakao Talk – 14 October 2014

By Hojin Choi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HONG KONG, China – “The Umbrella Revolution” has not ended. The number of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, which once dropped down to few hundreds, is re-growing as the meeting between the government and the protest leaders has been cancelled. Reportedly, the number is now estimated at tens of thousands, and tension is elevating with worry that violent clashes will soon ensue.

The Hong Kong Chief Secretary announced on Saturday that the government cancelled the meeting scheduled for Sunday. He said the government would not have any conversation unless the students accept the legal framework of the 2017 election announced by Beijing. There seems to be no way to reach an agreement between the two groups, the government and the student-led protesters, because Beijing’s decision on the 2017 election was the main trigger of the mass protest. The student leaders made it clear that they cannot disperse unless the Hong Kong government at least agrees to represent their views to Beijing.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who has been pressured by the protesters to resign, said the protesters are making “impossible” demands. This is because, according to Leung, there is “almost zero chance” that Beijing will revoke its earlier decision about the 2017 election. A Chinese state-run newspaper editorial described the protesters demand as “arrogant and ignorant.”

Beijing wants to nominate pro-Beijing candidates chosen by the Communist Party, but the Hong Kong people want an open and democratic nomination by the public. Leung also added that the police might have to use the least level of force since the protests have “spun out of control.” The current Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Leung, was elected by a small number of voters, about 1,200 who were mostly pro-Beijing.

The current situation in Hong Kong is becoming acute. Once, the protest seemed to be over when the protesters let government officials return back to their work places. This was to partially accept the government’s request. A few hundred students remained to continue the protest while police forces kept a distance not to provoke them. However, after the meeting was canceled, the number of protesters rose back to tens of thousands. According to Bloomberg and CNN, the police moved barricades out of the street. This was understood to be a gesture signaling to protesters that the police would be ready to take any immediate action as needed.

Conflicts between pro-democracy and pro-Beijing protesters have been alleviated to a degree. Accordingly, the pro-Beijing group gathered at several places opposite the “Occupy Central” movement. CNN reported on Monday that police had to stand between the two groups as they clashed when the pro-Beijing group attempted to remove barricades reinstated by the pro-democratic protesters. The pro-Beijing groups gave a deadline to clear the streets, the end of Tuesday, to both the students and the police, or they will clear the area by themselves.

For more information please see:

CNN – Scuffles as protest opponents try to tear down Hong Kong barricades – 13 October 2014

The Washington Post – Hong Kong chief says protesters are making ‘impossible’ demands – 12 October 2014

Bloomberg – Hong Kong Police Remove Some Barricades to Shrink Protest Site – 12 October 2014

The New York Times – Police Move on Barricades; Hong Kong Leader Rejects Protesters’ Appeal – 12 October 2014

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Managing Editor, Impunity Watch

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded today to Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai, a fierce advocate for girl’s education in Pakistan and around the world. At 17 years old Malala Yousafzai is the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and Pakistan’s first Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Malala first came to attention in 2009 when she wrote an anonymous blog for BBC Urdu about life under Taliban rule in north-west Pakistan. Two years ago she was shot by Taliban gunmen for her advocacy while she was boarding her school bus in the Swat Valley.After recovering from life-saving surgery, she has taken her campaign for the right to education for all peoples, regardless of gender, to the international stage, giving a speech last year at the United Nations. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated Malala Yousafzai, calling her the Pride of Pakistan. “Her achievement is unparalleled and unequalled. Girls and boys of the world should take the lead from her struggle and commitment,” he said in a statement.

Young students in Malala’s home region were thrilled with Friday’s announcement “There are not many people in this world — in fact, no one — who is as brave as Malala,” said Badrai Khan, 19, a college student from Swat, Malala’s home region. “This award is an achievement for all girl students of Pakistan.” Khan said”Tomorrow, when I go to school, I’ll be a different, more confident girl, thanks to Malala and this recognition.”

Malala Yousafzai learned that she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while she was in chemistry class in England on Friday morning, she said. She wasn’t expecting to get the award. “I’m proud that I’m the first Pakistani and the first young woman or the first young person getting this award.” Malala has stated that she is happy to have been given the opportunity to go to school, thanking her father for not clipping her wings and allowing her to have the same opportunities as boys in her community.

The Nobel Peace Prize was also awarded to India’s Kailash Satyarthi. Both Nobel Laureates were cited by the Norwegian Nobel Committee “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.” According to the Nobel Committee, Satyarthi has been known to participate in peaceful protests and demonstrations calling for an end to child exploitation. At the age of 26 he gave up a career in electrical engineering to devote his life to advocating for children, even raiding factories where child workers were held captive. In 1994 Satyarthi started a program called “Rugmark,” now known as GoodWeave International, in which rugs are certified and labeled to be child-labor free. Satyarthi started the program because of the high level of child exportation in the rug industry, children have been historically expatiated in several countries around the world where rugs are woven.

In 2004 Satyarthi said his home and office have been attacked, but he said the danger is worth it. “If I was not fighting against child labor, I don’t know what else I could do. It was always in my heart, I could not live without that,” he said at the time. “It’s really a kind of spiritual feeling which is difficult to explain,” Satyarthi said. “And the smiles come on the face of the children when they realize that they are free.”

The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee commented on the theme of child rights that is the focus of the work of this year’s Nobel laureates, both from historically divided region. He explained that “children must go to school, not be financially exploited.”

For more information please see:

ABC News – 5 Things to Know About Nobel Prize Winner Kailash Satyarthi – 10 October 2014
BBC News – Malala and Kailash Satyarthi Win Nobel Peace Prize – 10 October 2014
CNN International – Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi Share Nobel Peace Prize – 10 October 2014
USA Today – Malala’s Nobel Is ‘For All Girl Students Of Pakistan’ – 10 October 2010

By Hojin Choi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HONG KONG, China – Monday morning was the deadline that Hong Kong authorities gave to the pro-democracy protesters to clear streets. The number of protesters has dwindled down to a few hundred, and they allowed government workers back to return to their offices after a weeklong occupation of the streets. The workers went to the government complex through a small path that student protesters created.

Even though the protesters have not fully accepted the city’s request to disperse, as they let the government officials back in the building, the police force is trying not to provoke the protesters by keeping a distance.

The situation in Hong Kong seems to be turning into a stalemate. The student leaders of the protesters have different opinions about whether or not they will continue the protest. However, it appears that they at least agreed to strategically arrange the group, allowing the civil servants to enter the government buildings.

Some protesters have remained on the streets, defying the deadline. These protesters have said that they will not disperse unless the government makes a meaningful change and accepts their demands: promoting democracy in Hong Kong.

 

Schools in Hong Kong also re-opened on Monday. They had been closed since September 29, but students and teachers have resumed their work and study. Interestingly, elementary schools decided to remain closed for safety reasons. During the protest week, 30 to 40 bank branches in Hong Kong had closed, but now the number has been reduced to about seven.

According to the protest organizers, there was a conversation between the protest leaders and the government representatives on Sunday, but they failed to reach an agreement. They decided to continue their talks on Monday hoping to have a conversation with mutual respect.A protester sleeping in front of barricades (Getty Images)

Lester Shum, the Deputy Secretary General for the Students’ Federation, said that the dialogue must be ongoing and the student leaders must be treated equally. He added that actual political reforms in Hong Kong must be derived from the conversation. Those are the conditions for continuing to talk with the government.

The main requests of the protesters are resignation of current Hong Kong Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying, and a democratic election to be held in 2017. Previously, Beijing announced it would appoint only pro-Beijing candidates for the election. Beijing worried about spreading the demand of democracy over to Mainland China since it is also facing similar issues in Tibet and Xinjiang. The Chinese government declared the protest in Hong Kong illegal, but left resolution of the issue to the discretion of the Hong Kong government.

For more information, please see:

The Washington Post – As authorities’ deadline passes, Hong Kong protest turns into stalemate – 5 October 2014

Reuters – WRAPUP 3-Hong Kong democracy protests fade, face test of stamina – 6 October 2014

The Washington Post – Hong Kong protests appear to be headed into a smaller but durable holding pattern – 6 October 2014

The Guardian – Hong Kong protest numbers dwindle as exhaustion sets in – 6 October 2014