Koreans launch Internet campaign against U.S., French networks over dog meat reports
Koreans at home and abroad launched a mass Internet campaign against American and French television networks over their allegedly distorted reports on dog meat Saturday, forcing the networks' Web sites to shut down sporadically or deny access for the day.
The campaign, led by the South Korea-based Internet group "Anti-Japan", aimed to shut down the Internet services of the United States' Warner Bros. (WB) 11 (www.wpix.com) and France Television 2 (www.francetv.fr).
When the campaigners from Korea, the United States, France, Brazil and China simultaneously accessed the two Web sites nonstop, WB 11 froze sporadically, including a five-minute shut down at around 1 p.m. Korean time.
FT-2 blocked its site to protesters by installing a new inaccessible front page on its Web site for the day.
Korean protesters attacked the two Web sites four times from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in four-hour intervals, organizers said.
"This cyber campaign is our protest against the two television networks, which have damaged Korea's position in international society by false reports," a member of Anti-Japan said.
The Internet campaign was eagerly joined by a Korean students association in New York, the Korean-language Han Weekly in Paris, and a Koreans' association in Brazil.
Last November, WB11 aired a program titled, "Man Bites Dog," which claimed Korean restaurant owners in New York were secretly selling dog meat to their customers. The meat was later revealed to be coyote or goat meat, and the incident angered the Korean community in the United States.
WB11 sent an official letter to a Korean-American group on Jan 15, saying that the network regrets that some intolerant viewers misinterpreted the report.
The French television broadcast a program on Korea on Nov. 22, in which reporters dressed up in Chinese clothes, and held Japanese menus. They satirized Korea's dog-eating culture, asserting that Korean students brought dog meat for lunch.
After the show was broadcasted, the South Korean Embassy in Paris France sent an official letter to the network.
It said, "We are concerned about the possible collision between Koreans and French citizens due to the program, which excessively lampooned the dog-eating habit in a theatrical way, even though it lacked full knowledge of Korean eating culture."
Netizens Launch Cyber Attacks Against US, French TV Homepages
By Soh Ji-young Staff Reporter
South Korean netizens made a massive cyber attack against U.S. and French media firms Saturday in retaliation for their recent reports accused of distorting dog meat consumption in Korea.
The online assault succeeded in temporarily overloading one of the targets _ the website of Warner Bros. (WB) at www.wpix.com.
But the other target _ the website of French state television channels France 2 and France 3 (www.francetv.fr) _ was reportedly not affected by the protest, as it had prepared measures to block the action in advance.
Operators of a local Internet community (www.antijap.wo.ro) organized the online action, which was held four times, once every four hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m on Jan. 19.
By logging onto the targeted sites simultaneously, netizens attempted to paralyze operations of the websites of WB-11 and the French state television company, which infuriated many Koreans with their recent reports on the eating of dog meat. Last November, WB-11 aired a program titled, ``Man Bites Dog,'' which falsely claimed Korean restaurant owners in New York were secretly selling dog meat to their customers. The French channel, meanwhile, recently broadcasted a piece which ridiculed Koreans' eating of dog meat and was full of misleading information on Korea, such as a claim that Korean students eat dog meat for lunch.
The temporary surges in online traffic made the WB-11 website shut down on a number of occasions, with several system disorders occurring.
(続き) But the homepage of the French channels was said to have functioned normally, as its operators blocked netizens from flooding their site by installing a ``read-only'' front page. ``The cyber rally signifies our protest against the tarnishing of South Korea's image in the international community from the distorted coverage of those channels,'' organizers of the rally said.
While the cyber protest was conceived by many to be a ``gallant action'' which defended the nation's traditional culture from biased views, others were quick to point out that it is not addressing the most pressing task at hand _ correcting foreigners' perception of eating dog meat.
``With all due respect, I believe that the webmaster and the members of this site are following an incorrect strategy to respond to Western criticism,'' read a message posted on the English bulletin board that was opened recently by the Internet community which initiated the cyber rally.
``Instead of wasting your efforts on overloading WB's website, you should better spend your energy trying to explain to the West that (1) in general, Koreans don't value dogs as much as the West; (2) Korean dog owners do not eat their dogs,'' it said.
The netizen advised Koreans to enhance foreigners' understanding of Korea's culinary practices by posting messages on the Internet boards of major western media firms.
``While, this strategy might take time, it is much more constructive than practicing bad Internet manners,'' the message read.