SEOUL, Korea - Google Korea plans to introduce an age-verification system to its search engine, which will "restrict adult-themed searches to those 19 years of age and older," the company stated.
"Users will be asked to verify their age when searching for any of about 700 words in Korean judged to be adult and supplied to the portal by the Korean government," said Lois Kim, a spokeswoman for the company in Seoul.
Users will have to enter their names and national resident registration numbers, which will be checked against a database to verify the user—or, at least, the person whose data has been entered—is old enough. The system will be combined with a localized version of the SafeSearch system, which already has been used on Google's English-language search engine.
Increasing demand of Internet access shows the technical evolution in Korea. The rapidly growing broadband service in Korea not only has brought the citizens close to all-new innovations, but also produced numerous problems. Although the free flow of contents is believed to be crucial, the Korean government has taken some measures to deal with Internet content that is illegal or is unsuitable for minors. Google Korea has discussed regulating certain aspects of online life by restricting access to some websites, such as those related to North Korea.
Google is becoming more active in South Korea and recently began hiring people to work at a new research and development center planned for Seoul. The company plans to launch the system in September. Similar systems are in use by all of Korea's major Internet search portals.
