"Chinese International Students Are 100% Potential Spies"...A Child Reads It Aloud as Tourist Spots Turn Into Outlets for Hate

Hate spreads even to palace gates, 2,100 banners verified nationwide
Endlessly multiplying "hate banners"
1,800 complaints filed in Seoul...guidelines reach their limits
Officials at their wits' end over threats to "sue if you take them down"

"Chinese international students are 100% potential spies."

Last weekend near Gyeongbokgung Station in Seoul, Ms. Kang (42), who was out visiting the palace with her child, was taken aback when the child read aloud the phrase written on a banner. Looking around, she saw that this area, crowded with family visitors and foreign tourists, had been hung with a banner bearing a hate-filled slogan. Kang said, "Not long ago, my child asked me, 'What is a spy?' and I was at a loss for words," adding, "Even tourist spots have become outlets for hatred," as she shook her head.

Despite police investigations..."2,100 banners distributed in January alone"

A political party banner disparaging students from a specific country is hanging near Gyeongbokgung Station in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by reader

Reckless political banners are turning many parts of the city center into "showrooms of hate." Administrative authorities are cracking down, but the situation resembles "infinite proliferation," with new banners going up as soon as old ones are taken down.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 10th, a total of 21,247 political party banners were removed nationwide in the third quarter of last year. During the same period, 9,682 related civil complaints were filed. In particular, 3,870 banners were removed in Seoul alone, and complaints there reached 1,869 cases. Although the Ministry of the Interior and Safety prepared guidelines after President Lee Jaemyung ordered measures against "vulgar banners" in November last year, banners are "multiplying" faster than they can be taken down.

Recruitment notice for "Patriotic Banner Installation Volunteer" posted on an online community. It states that volunteers are needed to install banners at traffic light height using ladders. Screenshot from an online community.

A significant portion of the recent hate banners that have taken over downtown areas are reportedly being installed by a private organization that claims to be "patriotic." Through YouTube and online surveys, it is recruiting volunteers nationwide who have ladders. According to internal installation verification photos posted by this group on an online community, more than 2,100 banners were distributed across the country in January alone.

The group’s organized banner installations are outpacing the authorities' crackdowns. On an online community, a "tale of exploits" was shared, boasting that "four female volunteers installed 23 banners overnight." They are effectively exploiting the Outdoor Advertising Act, which allows political party banners to be posted for 15 days without separate notification, using it as a channel to pour out hate speech.

"If we take them down, they sue; if we don't, citizens complain"...Administrative capacity drained

On the 2nd, a banner reading 'Chinese Interference, Rigged Election' was displayed in front of a roadside building in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Jongno-gu

The frontline district offices in Seoul, where banner distribution is concentrated, are essentially "battlefields." One district official said, "It takes at least several days to remove just one banner, including legal review and notification to the party, but they change the wording and put up dozens of banners in a single night," adding, "Enforcement cannot keep up with the speed of their spread."

Seongdong-gu recently responded by swiftly removing, before the posting period ended, a banner near a school route used by children that read "Chinese intervention, fraudulent election," judging the wording to be "racial discrimination." Dongdaemun-gu also forcibly removed a total of 120 illegal political party banners from the implementation of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety guidelines through the end of January this year. However, it is reported that the group has since threatened lawsuits and criminal complaints against six Seoul districts that recently carried out removals.

As a result, in Seocho-gu, 208 cases were handled between last September and this January on formal grounds such as violation of the posting period, but not a single case was addressed on the basis of content. Administrative capacity has been exhausted in a situation where taking banners down draws criticism for "infringing on freedom of expression," while leaving them up brings accusations of "dereliction of duty."

Experts say the problems lie in the illegal practice of "lending names" and in a lax legal framework that tolerates "hate." Hong Sungsoo, a professor at Sookmyung Women's University School of Law, pointed out, "Banners are a medium that are exposed to an unspecified number of people without giving them the right to opt out," and stressed, "We need clear legal standards to screen out hate speech."

Some also argue that, rather than relying on relatively weak guidelines, effectiveness must be enhanced by strengthening penalties. Several amendment bills to the Outdoor Advertising Act that would tighten regulations on political party banners are currently pending in the National Assembly. Lee Byunghoon, a professor in the Department of Sociology at Chung-Ang University, emphasized, "Reckless hate speech via banners amplifies social conflict and destroys the values of the community," adding, "We must go beyond guidelines and respond with strong penalties such as fines."