South Korean news portals Naver, Daum suspend comment section due to cyberbullying that took K-pop stars' lives

Starting mid-March, South Korean web portal Naver will temporarily remove the comment feature on entertainment news articles, and disable the 'related search term' service.

Their decision was made known in a statement posted on their official blog yesterday (Feb 19).

Daum, another major news channel, similarly removed its comment feature for entertainment news pages last October. The 'related search' function was also removed, as well as the display of realtime trending searches on its webpage.

While Naver sought to preserve its original two-way communication with readers, they "became increasingly concerned when [they] considered the unique case of celebrities, who are the subject of a large amount of attention."

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The company said they are increasingly concerned about the violation of celebrities' personal rights online. As they provide a space in their entertainment articles allowing readers to leave comments that range from celebrities' work to their private lives, they feel responsible for said violation.

Two K-pop stars, Sulli and Goo Hara, committed suicide within a span of six weeks in October and November respectively last year. Both had been targets of cyberbullying, and their deaths brought into focus the issue of cyberbullying in South Korea.

Although cyber violence is considered a serious crime in South Korea, the number of charges laid are only a small fraction of actual cases out there and there is no good recourse for victims.

Goo Hara had been targeted by abusive comments despite being a victim of blackmail and revenge porn by her ex-boyfriend. She had attempted suicide back in May 2019.

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Though she had just made a comeback with a promotional tour in November last year, her body was discovered a few days after.

Prior to her suicide in October, Sulli spoke out strongly against cyberbullying. In one of her last public appearances, she was in a television programme alongside other Korean stars to share her experience with malicious online comments.

In the wake of her death, fans flocked to the presidential Blue House to file a petition calling for websites, such as Naver and Daum, to adopt the use of a real-name online comment system.

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