Cyber-Bullying: The Daniel Lee Case Study...Cyber-Bullying: The Daniel Lee Case Study In May 2010, Daniel Lee was targeted by users of an online forum “TaiJinYo” in a targeted

Cyber-Bullying: The Daniel Lee Case Study

In May 2010, Daniel Lee was targeted by users of an online forum “TaiJinYo” in a targeted cyber-bullying campaign. Under the ringleader, Whatbecomes, TaiJinYosingle-handedly pushed into the media an elaborate conspiracy regarding his attendance and graduation from Stanford University in a country where such a scandal is unforgivable. The rising pop star, who was part of the successful Korean pop group Epik High, slowly started to fall from grace as his peers and fans began to turn on him.

Executive Summary

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Legal Definition of Cyber-Bullying in South KoreaAccording to the National Conference of State Legislators, cyber-bullying is defined as:

“The willful and repeated use of cell phones, computers, and other electronic communication devices to harass and threaten others. Instant messaging, chat rooms, e-mails, and messages posted on websites are the most common methods…”

Cyber-bullying takes many shapes and forms, however, the classification of the behavior that TaiJinYo group took towards Daniel Lee began to seep beyond his daily life and into those of his loved ones. In South Korea, cyber-bullying has grown into an issue that needs to be addressed regularly. According to a survey conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute, which can be seen below in Figure 1, over a quarter of the surveyed teenagers in South Korea experienced cyber-bullying online. The most startling fact in this study shows that the main method of cyber-bullying was done through leaking private information online. Depending on what is leaked, the bully could be sited for committing a serious crime.



Practical Investigation of Cyber-Bullying in South Korea

What makes cyber-bullying such a serious issue for South Korea is that it is not just limited to teenagers. Adult cyber-bullying is a monumental issue as well. South Korea has had many high-profile celebrities commit suicide due to cyber-bullying in the last decade. An issue that exists in other countries but limited to mostly the youth, is widespread throughout all the age groups in South Korea. In just two years, from 2007 to 2008, South Korea lost three high profile celebrities to suicide caused by cyber-bullying determined by the authorities:

Choi Jin-sil – October 2008Heo Yun aka U;Nee (formerly Lee Hye-Ryeon) – January 2007Jeong Da-Bin – February 2007

The month after Choi Jin-sil committed suicide, there was a 70% spike increase in sympathetic suicides nationwide amounting to 1,700 people in South Korea.3 The suicide rate in South Korea is already within the top 3 highest in the world, which is abnormal for a country of 50 million people.4 The subject of Sewook Seo’s investigation, Daniel Lee, could have been one of them.

LIFARS Employee Engagement

LIFARS senior forensics examiner Sewook Seo began his investigation into the crimes against Daniel Lee in August 2010. Despite the amount of evidence collected, this was defined as a case of cyber-bullying. The investigation began based on multiple forgery accusation findings. This is due to the string of actual legitimate degree forgeries at the time happening in South Korea. After Seo interrogated Daniel Lee for eight hours, it was clear to him that the forgery accusation held no truth. Seo realized he should focus on the defamation investigation that would help Daniel Lee reclaim his life from the iron grip of cyber-bullying.

Seo eventually found the identity of Daniel Lee’s main attacker online. Whom was a 56-year-old male living in Chicago named Eungsuk Kim. The attacker went by the screen name of “Whatbecomes” on TaiJinYo. User Whatbecomes was the primary aggressor against Daniel Lee and the reason so many rallied against him with false accusations. Upon being exposed, Eungsuk Kim released an apology that apparently was not enough. Eleven people were charged for their participation in the online attack in addition to an extradition request filed in the United States for Eungsuk Kim as a result in his role in the cyber-bullying attack. Though Kim was never extradited, he continued his attacks on Lee even after being charged for a short time.



Statement from Sewook Seo

Daniel was almost about to commit suicide himself when I finished my interrogation of him in the police station office. I was trying to persuade him not to do so and thought that this kind of serious cyber-bullying almost equals to cyber murder for him. I realized anyone can be a target of cyber-bullying and a victim of cybercrime after TaiJinYo started to post pictures of the police detective and prosecutor who are in charge of this case and dually threatened the law enforcement online.

I cooperated with the FBI and Interpol with this case since cyber criminals would be arrested from all over the world for this case, I also realized there were no physical jurisdictions in cyber spaces, that is why cybercrime investigations are difficult compared to offline crime cases. We did digital forensics and documented a motion for all evidence traced to his x-originating IP from the email header where we could identify the head of criminal group. We found that the assailant was stealing someone’s resident registration number. The Korean government concluded with an extradition treaty with the US government for the criminals, however we are still waiting for an extradition for this case from the US.

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Presented Solutions & Results

LIFARS is the global leader in Digital Forensics and Cyber Resiliency Services. Our experience spans two decades working on high profile events often in coordination with Law Enforcement Agencies around the world. Our methodology derives directly and indirectly from our experience working with and for US Intelligence Agencies, Interpol, Europol and NATO.

We are solely dedicated to Cyber Resiliency and thus pay close attention to all aspects of our client's engagement experience while providing a strategic and integrated array of services to minimize risk, disruption and maximize the benefits from your cybersecurityinvestments.

Why LIFARS?

To solve a problem such as cyber-bullying is difficult as the internet’s strength is also its weakness. Anonymity is a tough subject to tackle as there needs to be a balance between the user’s right to privacy and situations where they are willing to give that up due to their actions. For South Korea, the message to stop cyber-bullying is broadcasted nationwide. Movies have been made on the topic as well as many advertisements released by both the private and public sectors; designed so that viewers could understand just how serious their actions could be. One such movie being “Social phobia” directed by Hong Seok-jae, which was released in 2015.

According to the Wall Street Journal, South Korea might even be considering the development of other, more direct methods at combating cyber-bullying. In 2014, the ministry of education experimented with the creation of an alert system that notifies parents when their children receive a text message containing inappropriate words. Cyber-bullying is an issue that is plaguing the people of South Korea and it needs to end.

References1. https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff_koreanrapper/2. https://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2014/03/28/korea-to-teens-no-more-swearing-on-smartphones/3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/17/AR2010041702781.html4. http://www.businessinsider.com/world-suicide-rate-map-2014-45. http://www.nypi.re.kr/data/custom/web/eng/2014%20NYPI%20Annual%20Report.pdf6. https://cyberbullying.org/research/map/south-korea

Cyber-Bullying: The Daniel Lee Case Study...Cyber-Bullying: The Daniel Lee Case Study In May 2010, Daniel Lee was targeted by users of an online forum “TaiJinYo” in a targeted

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