Sudden Closure of Cyworld
Users Who Couldn't Backup Photos and Posts Express Strong Complaints
Normalization Unlikely
Measures Needed to Protect Users
Cyworld image
[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Cyworld, known as the ancestor of SNS and called the '1st generation national SNS,' has suddenly closed down, raising deep concerns about the loss of records such as photos and writings.
Regardless of CEO Jeon Je-wan's stated intention of 'no intention to close,' if there is no suitable buyer or investor and financial difficulties continue, the service will inevitably proceed toward termination.
Difficult to find server maintenance plan... 'Normalization' uncertain
According to the industry on the 6th, the Ministry of Science and ICT completed an on-site investigation at Cyworld's office located in Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul the day before and internally concluded that the company's management problems are serious. A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "Although they stated no intention to close, there is no personnel to maintain the server, so we are looking for a solution." They are also considering supporting the server to preserve records, but there is no legal basis, and since the content contains sensitive personal information, transferring it to a third party institution is also difficult.
Users of Cyworld are also becoming increasingly anxious. Reactions include, "I can no longer find photos of deceased family members," "I could learn about the whereabouts of people I had forgotten through 'People Finder,' which is disappointing," and "All my memories from my 20s are gone." A petition posted in April titled "Please help me back up Cyworld photos" gathered 1,036 participants, and on the 3rd of this month, a new petition titled "Please help resuscitate Cyworld" was also posted.
There is also a sense of responsibility that the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission, the relevant authorities, should have devised a solution. This is because Cyworld's access blocking has not been a one-time issue. In October last year, when the homepage was inaccessible and the domain expiration date was known to be November of the same year, users' protests surged. Access errors also occurred in April. However, under the Telecommunications Business Act, there are limited means to regulate value-added communication service providers, so it is analyzed that the government has no proper means to respond.
Launched in 1999, popular as 'national SNS'... fades into history due to financial difficulties
Cyworld Logo
Launched in 1999, Cyworld was acquired by SK Communications in 2003 and spun off 11 years later in 2014. Until 2010, it was a popular 'national SNS' with monthly active users (MAU) reaching 20 million. Afterwards, it began to suffer financial difficulties as it fell behind overseas SNS platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. From 2015, it ended guestbook, onechon reviews, and messaging services and attempted to reorganize into a mobile 'Cyhome' focused on photo albums and diaries, but failed to overcome financial difficulties.
In 2017, it received a 5 billion KRW investment from a venture startup investment corporation within Samsung, but again failed to produce significant results and effectively proceeded toward closure. In October last year, it was inaccessible without any separate notice, and rumors of closure arose as the domain expiration date was known to be November of the same year. At that time, Cyworld decided to extend the domain for one year to allow users to back up their data, but eventually filed for closure after six months.
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