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S. Korea bans access to 139 ISIS-related online postings

April 1, 2015

Shown is a screen capture from the Twitter account of a South Korean teenager believed to have sneaked into Syria from Turkey recently to join the militant Muslim group Islamic State. (Yonhap file photo)

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s communications watchdog said Wednesday it has banned local access to 139 online postings related to the Islamic State (IS) over the past two months, following rising concerns after a South Korean teenager reportedly went to Syria to join the terrorist group.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission said 44 of the postings were about IS recruitment, while others included explicit videos and photos of the terrorist group killing Japanese hostages.

The watchdog also banned access to 21 postings which glorified crimes conducted by the group, or that supported the South Korean teen who disappeared in January while he was in Turkey, possibly to cross into Syria and join the extremists’ organization.

Identified only by his surname Kim, the 18-year-old disappeared on Jan. 10 during a trip to the southern Turkish town of Kilis. Kim is said to have accessed links related to the IS and used SNS to keep in contact with a friend who may have connected him to the militant group.

The watchdog added that it will continue its special surveillance on illegal IS-related contents online indefinitely.