Dog poop girl

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The famous image.

Dog poop girl
Hangul:	개똥녀
Hanja:	개똥女
Revised Romanization:	Gaettongnyeo
McCune-Reischauer:	Kaetongnyŏ

"Dog Poop Girl" is the English-translated name, given by South Korean bloggers, for a woman who refused to clean up when her dog defecated on the floor of a subway car.

Another subway rider offered the woman a tissue, which she promptly used to clean the dog off. When other passengers suggested she clean up the mess, she ignored the requests and departed the subway at the next stop.

1 Public reaction to the incident
2 Concerns
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Public reaction to the incident

Unfortunately for the young woman, another commuter took a photograph of her and her dog^[1], and posted it on a popular Korean website. Soon, Internet vigilantes began closely examining the picture for any clue as to the woman's identity, and within days, she had been identified and much of her personal information was exposed on the Internet in an attempt to punish her for the offense. The photo quickly became one of the most popular image searches on popular Korean web portals.

The story received mainstream attention when it was widely reported in South Korean media, and was discussed in Korean communities in the United States as well. The public humiliation led the woman to quit her university, according to reports^[2]. The woman also received many death threats.

[edit] Concerns

The reaction by Korean netizens to the incident prompted several Korean newspapers to run editorials voicing concern over Internet vigilantism. One paper said that the woman was the victim of a "cyber-posse, tracking down norm violators and branding them with digital Scarlet Letters." Another called it an "Internet witch-hunt," and went on to say that "[t]he Internet is turning the whole society into a kangaroo court."

The implications for personal privacy were also raised. Some said that posting the woman's picture was acceptable, but that posting her personal information was inappropriate. Others said that her face should have been obscured in the widely circulated picture, in order to protect her identity.