According to IBLS.com, the Korean government has made a provision to the Information Network and Privacy Protection Act that targets senders of spam email that is commercial in nature. Consistent with its effort to protect minors from being exposed to obscene and violent materials online, the Korean government states that the provision requires senders to label those materials as such.
Under this new provision, the sender must disclose their name, contact information (e.g. email/ mailing address, telephone number), the purpose/content of the transmitted materials (i.e. "advertising materials"), as well as an opt-out procedure in both Korean and English.
"Adult advertisements" are defined as materials that (1) contain "lewd and lascivious" materials aimed toward minors; (2) encourage minors to commit crime; (3) encourage violence and drug use among minors; and (4) materials that are deemed harmful under the Korean Child Protection Act, etc.
The sender's duty to label such emails is waived if one can show proof of the recipient's consent and the time at which such consent had been provided. The sender shall, first, receive a warning and then be fined up to 5,000,000 Korean won (approx. $5,300 US) thereafter.
The INPPA sets out the minimum procedural requirements for lawful online transmissions in Korea, whereby transmissions of advertised materials against recipients' refusals to accept are strictly prohibited. Although these rules are applicable to unsolicited commercial emails via the Internet, they were intended to apply to all modes of telecommunication—such as cellular phones, faxes, etc.
Since 1999, the Korean government has made continuing efforts to curb the increase in spam email and since has been monitoring the effectiveness of the implementation of additional provisions.
