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Big Brother was watching when a Cheong Wa Dae official¡¯s wife left her apartment for the last time before she was murdered recently, courtesy of closed-circuit television installed at the couple¡¯s apartment building. The footage allowed police to pinpoint the husband as the likeliest suspect. Today as Koreans go about their daily lives, CCTV cameras follow nearly their every move.
Lee (32) leaves his home in Seoul¡¯s Gangnam for Myeongdong at 8 a.m. ever workday. A CCTV camera in an elevator in his apartment building watches him adjust his tie, the first moment of his day when he is caught on camera. Two more cameras are set up along the fence in front of the apartment complex, monitoring him as he walks out.
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From left, pictures taken of Lee by a CCTV camera inside an elevator at 8 a.m., in a hallway at his company at 9 a.m., at a convenience store at 12:50 p.m., and on the way to the parking lot after work at 6 p.m.
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On his way to the bus stop, Lee¡¯s every step is monitored by security cameras put up by the Gangnam authorities. When Lee swipes his transport card over the reader on the bus, his face is snapped again. Within less than 10 minutes, he has been caught on CCTV five times.
After getting off the bus, Lee heads for the Samseong Subway Station on Line 2. There are two security cameras above the ticket gates and another on the platform.
When Lee arrives at the Euljiro Ipgu Station about 40 minutes later, he is filmed again, once on the platform and once at the ticket gate. On the 100 m walk to his office, he is caught on camera four times, mainly because a CCTV network surrounds the Korea Exchange Bank head office nearby.
Lee enters his company at 9 a.m. and is caught on CCTV twice more -- in the lobby and the hall leading to his office -- before reaching his desk. In total, Lee has been filmed 17 times on his way to work, or 34 times in a day as he goes home by the same route. In the meantime, CCTV cameras are watching him collect his lunch at the cafeteria counter and when he drops by a convenience store to get a drink -- no fewer than seven monitor the store -- at the ATM in the lobby when he withdraws money. Lee spends some three hours outside -- two commuting and one for lunch -- and is monitored at least 39 times. That averages out at a CCTV camera for every four minutes he spends outside.
The total number of CCTV cameras in operation in Korea is roughly estimated at 2.5 million, or one for every 19 Koreans. Prices vary widely, from cheap Chinese ones priced at W70,000 (US$70) to ¡°intelligent¡± cameras that automatically recognize car number plates valued at W80 million. Their purpose varies too, from spycams installed in toilets and motels for unhealthy purposes to those intended to catch people in the act of dumping garbage illegally. ¡°The U.K. has laid down some basic principles regarding the location, inspection of content and the rights of those monitored,¡± says an official of the Korea Information Security Agency. ¡°We should also come up with detailed regulations to protect individual privacy, such as allowing inspection of CCTV recordings only when it is needed to investigate crimes.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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