58 Individuals Arrested for Posting 230,000 'Anti-Impeachment' Messages on Constitutional Court Website Using Macro Programs

[Financial News] Fifty-eight individuals, including a man in his 30s, have been apprehended by police for repeatedly posting anti-impeachment messages on the Constitutional Court of Korea’s website using macro programs, causing disruptions to information processing.
The Cyber Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) announced on the 11th that it had booked a total of 58 people, including Mr. A (male, 38), who distributed macro programs to mass-post anti-impeachment messages on the Constitutional Court of Korea’s website, on charges of violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (ICNA), and referred them without detention.
According to the police, from March 9 to 10, Mr. A posted a message titled 'End Anti-Impeachment Posts on the Constitutional Court Free Board with a Click' along with a macro program link on the People Power Party Gallery on DC Inside. Investigations revealed that he used this program to automatically register approximately 44,000 posts on the Constitutional Court of Korea’s free board.
Afterwards, 57 additional individuals executed the program via the macro link posted by Mr. A, resulting in about 190,000 more posts being repeatedly uploaded in a short period. This led to temporary suspension of access to the Constitutional Court of Korea’s website bulletin board and disruptions to information processing.
The police became aware of the website access disruptions at the Constitutional Court of Korea through media reports on March 10 and launched an investigation. By tracing the posts, they identified Mr. A as the original distributor, booked him, and secured the macro source code through a search of his residence. They also analyzed over 230,000 posts on the Constitutional Court of Korea’s website to identify 57 additional macro program users.
The police plan to intensify crackdowns on all forms of misconduct involving illegal automation programs such as macros and to strengthen ongoing monitoring. They also intend to cooperate with relevant agencies to hold those criminally responsible for everyday fraudulent activities, such as ticket scalping and product transactions, that exploit macro programs.
An official from the SMPA stated, "Acts that disrupt systems or interfere with information processing using macro programs are serious crimes that undermine fairness and trust," adding, "We will treat these not as simple violations of basic order, but as crimes that damage social trust as a whole, and will respond strictly."
jyseo@fnnews.com Seo Ji-yoon Reporter