Chinese Support Considered National Flag Misuse? Expert Says "Seems Too Excessive... Macro Is Not Illegal"

"100% Macro Blocking Impossible... Autonomy Needed"
"Macro Not Illegal but Measures Required"

The ruling party is escalating suspicions of public opinion manipulation on the portal site 'Daum's' Hangzhou Asian Games football cheering page. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has already ordered the launch of an inter-ministerial task force (TF), and Lee Dong-gwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, emphasized the need to revise related systems, stating, "If left unattended, it will immediately become a national disgrace."

However, Kim Seung-joo, a professor at Korea University's Graduate School of Information Security and an expert in information security, pointed out that labeling this as public opinion manipulation is excessive.

During the men's football match between Korea and China at the Hangzhou Asian Games held on the 1st, the cheering page on the portal site Daum showed that 93% of the 'click cheers' were for the Chinese team, sparking controversy over manipulation. On the 3rd, Park Sung-joong, a member of the People Power Party, revealed at a press conference that during the quarterfinal match, 93% of the 'click cheers' on the cheering page were for the Chinese team, raising allegations of 'involvement by public opinion manipulation forces.'

On the 2nd, Park Sung-joong, a member of the People Power Party, shared a screenshot of the support page for the men's soccer quarterfinal match of the Hangzhou Asian Games on the portal site 'Daum' via Facebook.
[Image source=Park's Facebook]

According to an internal analysis released by Kakao, which operates the Daum service, on the 1st during the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games men's football quarterfinal between Korea and China, it appears that the number of clicks was manipulated using macros (automation).

Kakao stated, "We have identified this as an unusual phenomenon created by two IPs using macro programs during late-night hours when user activity is low." Kakao regards this incident as a serious obstruction of business and plans to request a police investigation.

However, Professor Kim Seung-joo of Korea University's Graduate School of Information Security criticized, "As Kakao also announced, it seems true that there was click manipulation using macros, but directly linking that itself to national disgrace or public opinion manipulation is excessive."

Regarding concerns that similar acts could be rampant in the political field during election seasons and cause problems, Professor Kim said, "Such concerns are certainly understandable," and added, "It also makes sense to devise countermeasures to some extent."

At the same time, he pointed out that macros themselves cannot be completely blocked. Professor Kim said, "For example, some portal sites have comments, simple click cheers, and various forms of opinion expression. But demanding that all macro attacks be blocked in all these areas is actually harsh."

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is attending the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 4th, making remarks related to strengthening public safety.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

He noted that it is practically impossible to block macros 100%. While the Information and Communications Network Act allows punishment if normal services are disrupted, using macros itself is not illegal.

Professor Kim said, "It is impossible to block macros 100%. It's the same as saying 'we will block hacking 100%.'" He added, "Macro prevention technology only makes existing macro techniques more difficult; it cannot block all macros. Among the various services provided by portal sites, enhanced macro prevention measures should be applied to very important parts, while allowing some degree of autonomy in others."

Professor Kim stated that the truth behind the click manipulation cannot yet be determined. When asked whether it was an organized manipulation or an individual's prank, he replied, "It cannot be judged based on the currently disclosed data. It could have been done by China or North Korea, or by an individual living in Korea pretending to be Chinese by deliberately falsifying their IP address. Many scenarios are possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.