Described as a "nightlife hub" and a place to avoid for summer vacations...
Signs of organized manipulation
County: "Serious damage to regional image, filing criminal charges"
Yangyang County in Gangwon Province has announced a firm response to malicious rumors and false information being spread through social networking services (SNS) and online communities.
On July 11, Yonhap News reported, citing a statement from Yangyang County, that posts repeating certain sentence structures have been circulating online repeatedly in recent years.
Since several years ago, posts describing Yangyang?known for its developed surfing culture?as a "hub of nightlife" and containing phrases such as "reasons you shouldn't visit Yangyang" and "avoid people who have been to Yangyang" have been uploaded and deleted repeatedly on SNS.
In addition, there have been indications of organized manipulation, such as abnormal spikes in the number of views and recommendations for these posts. The county has determined that this is not simply the spread of rumors, but rather an intentional attempt to manipulate public opinion.
This issue came to light after local residents and business owners filed consecutive reports with the county office, stating that "customers are decreasing and livelihoods are threatened due to rumors that do not reflect reality." It has been revealed that the authors of these problematic posts repeatedly delete their posts after a certain period and either close or abandon their accounts.
The county pointed out that such false information is spreading rapidly online without fact-checking, causing serious damage to the region's image. In particular, the sharp decline in tourist numbers has pushed major tourism-related businesses?such as surf shops, restaurants, and accommodations?to the brink of closure, resulting in a significant blow to the local economy as a whole.
Yangyang County stated that it can no longer tolerate this situation and plans to file criminal charges for defamation and obstruction of business against those who spread false information. Legal review has already been completed, and the county intends to submit a formal complaint to investigative authorities soon.
Additionally, the county announced that it will strengthen its own monitoring system to prevent similar incidents online from recurring, and that it will take strong and proactive action against the spread of false information.
A county official emphasized, "Given that our region relies on the tourism industry, online rumors are not merely a matter of image damage but directly threaten the livelihoods of our residents. We will ensure that those who spread false information are held legally accountable."
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