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Ex-Daum Kakao head Lee Sirgoo indicted

November 4, 2015
Daum Kakao CEO Lee Sir-goo enters the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency office Wednesday to be questioned over allegations the company has been negligent in detecting child pornography on its social networking service. (Yonhap)

Daum Kakao CEO Lee Sir-goo enters the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency office Wednesday to be questioned over allegations the company has been negligent in detecting child pornography on its social networking service. (Yonhap)

By Kim Rahn

Prosecutors indicted former head of Daum Kakao, Lee Sir-goo, without physical detention on charges of negligence in allowing child pornography to be shared on the company’s social networking service, Wednesday.

According to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, Lee failed to block such content from being distributed on Kakao Group, a mobile app designed for messaging among groups of people, when he headed Kakao Corp. before the company merged with Daum Communications.

The relevant law states that mobile service operators must take appropriate measures to detect and prevent child pornography. Violators can face up to three years in prison or up to a 20 million won (US$17,612) fine.

This is the first time the prosecution has indicted an online service provider head on charges of violating the Juvenile Sex Protection Law.

Lee was questioned about the allegations by police in December and by the prosecution in September.