KOREAN NET

Korean Net Terms & Conditions

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1 (Purpose)

The purpose of these terms and conditions is to specifically stipulate all matters on the rights, obligations, service use, and other necessary matters between members ("members") and the Overseas Koreans Agency ("Agency") or the Overseas Koreans Cooperation Center ("Center") regarding online service ("service") related to overseas Koreans provided by the Agency or the Center.

Article 2 (Efficacy and changes)

These terms and conditions shall be published online via Korean.net (including family sites described below), and take effect with the consent of members and the Agency or the Center, and if good cause arises, may be amended to the extent they do not violate relevant laws. These terms and conditions amended become effective when notified via Korean.net in accordance with due process. Members shall visit Korean.net regularly to check for changes in these terms and conditions. The Agency or the Center is not liable for the user’s damages resulting from being unaware of the information about these revised terms and conditions. If not consenting to these revised terms and conditions, members may request to cancel their membership.
Korean.net’s family sites are as follows, and unless otherwise stated, these terms and conditions apply to all Korean.net family sites.

• www.korean.net(research.korean.net)
• study.korean.net
• www.hansang.net

Article 3 (Rules other than these terms and conditions)

The Agency or the Center may, when necessary, prescribe individual terms and conditions or operating principles for individual services (“per-service terms”) within the service; in case of conflicts between these terms and conditions and the per-service terms, the latter takes precedence.

Article 4 (Definitions)

• (1) The definitions of terms used herein are as follows.
  • 1. “Member” refers to a user who consents to these terms and conditions, and uses the service.
  • 2. “User agreement” refers to all agreements entered into between Korean.net and a member in relation to the use of the service, including these terms and conditions.
  • 3. “User ID” refers to a unique combination of letters and numbers that is assigned to each member by the Agency or the Center according to the member's application for purposes of identification of member and use of the service.
  • 4. “Password” refers to a unique combination of letters and numbers that is set by the member and registered with the Agency or the Center in order to verify the identity of the member represented by the user ID.
  • 5. “Terminal” refers to electronic devices such as personal computers, PDAs, and mobile phones used by members to access the service.
  • 6. “Termination” refers to the cancellation of a user agreement by the Agency or the Center or by a member.
• (2) The definitions of terms used in these terms and conditions, but not prescribed in paragraph 1, shall be governed by the per-service terms and related laws and statutes; other terms shall be governed by general customs.

Chapter 2 Conclusion of User Agreements

Article 5 (Establishment of user agreements)

• (1) User agreements shall be established by the member giving consent to the terms of the user agreement, and the Agency or the Center approving the request for use of service.
• (2) The consent to these terms and conditions shall be given by clicking the "Consent" button on the application form at the time of applying for the service.

Article 6 (Requesting use of service)

• (1) Anyone who wish become a member and use the service shall provide all information (e.g. user ID, password, name, contact information) requested by the Agency or the Center.
• (2) All members must provide their own information for the use of the service, and members who have not registered their true information (i.e. stealing another person's information or registering false information) cannot claim any rights in relation to the use of the service, and will be subject to punishment under relevant laws.
• (3) Membership can only be registered with true information of the member, and the Agency or the Center may check the information registered by the member. The member shall actively cooperate with the aforesaid checks of the Agency or the Center. If the member does not comply with the same, the Agency or the Center may treat the member-registered information as false.
• (4) All IDs of the member having applied for the service by stealing someone else’s name, resident registration number, passport number, etc. will be deleted, and the offending user may be subject to punishment under relevant laws.
• (5) The Agency or the Center may classify the members using the service into membership levels, and thereby differentiate the service in terms of the hours of use, number of uses, service menus, etc.

Article 7 (Protection and use of personal information)

• (1) The Agency or the Centerstrives to protect members’ personal information as stipulated by relevant laws. The protection and use of personal information shall be governed by relevant laws and the privacy policy of the Agency or the Center. However, the privacy policy of the Agency or the Centerdoes not apply to linked sites as opposed to the official site of the Agency or the Center. In addition, the member shall thoroughly manage his/her password, etc. so that it is not leaked to others, and the Agency or the Centeris not liable for information leaks due to fault of the member.
• (2) In the following cases, the Agency or the Center may provide the member's personal information to a third party to the extent permitted by law.
  • - Cases when the provision of information is requested by an investigative agency or other government agencies and approved
  • - Cases when it is necessary for information protection tasks such as checking of misconduct, including members’ violation of the law or these terms and conditions
  • - Other cases where such is mandated by law

Article 8 (Acceptance and restriction of requests for use of service)

• (1) Regarding requests for the use of service according to Article 5 and Article 6, the Agency or the Center shall by principle accept applications in the order they are received unless there are no operational or technical hindrances.
• (2) The Agency or the Center may defer approval in cases that fall under the following.
  • - Usage requests wherein a member’s own and true information has not been provided
  • - Usage requests made with the intent of violating laws and statutes, social order and well-being, or established social morals and customs
  • - Usage requests with the intent of using the services for illegal uses
  • - Usage requests made by a user with for-profit purposes
  • - Usage requests made by a user in competition with the service
  • - Usage requests made by a user whose user agreement has previously been rescinded due to violation of laws and statutes or the terms and conditions
  • - Other cases wherein a usage request violates regulations
• (3) In cases where a service usage request falls under any of the following subparagraphs, the Agency or the Center may postpone approval for said request until such time that the reason for postponement of approval has been resolved.
  • - If the facilities of the Agency or the Center do not have enough capacity
  • - If the Agency or the Center is suffering technical difficulties
  • - Other cases where approval of a usage request is difficult owing to causes for which the Agency or the Center is liable
• (4) If the person requesting usage is a minor as defined in relevant laws and statues, the Agency or the Center may defer approval of such request as provided in the per-service terms.
• (5) If, after completion of membership registration procedure, any of the subparagraphs of paragraph 2 are discovered, the Agency or the Center may withdraw approval of use.

Article 9 (Assignment and change of user IDs)

• (1) The Agency or the Center shall assign user IDs to the member in accordance with the provisions of the terms and conditions.
• (2) By principle, user IDs cannot be changed. Users who wish to change their ID due to inevitable circumstances must cancel their withdraw membership for their current ID and re-register.
• (3) Korean.net user IDs may, with member's consent, be linked with user IDs for sites operated by the Agency or the Center.
• (4) User IDs that fall under any one of the following may be changed or suspended at the member’s request, or by discretion of the Agency or the Center.
  • 1. Cases wherein a phone number or resident registration number has been registered as a user ID, and there are concerns over violation of privacy
  • 2. IDs that cause feelings of aversion in others, or harm established social morals and customs
  • 3. IDs that are identical to or may be confused with the name of the Agency or the Center, services of the Agency or the Center, or service operators
  • 4. Other cases wherein there is justifable cause
• (5) Members are responsible for the management of their user ID and password. Members shall be responsible for losses suffered in the use of the service or illegal use by third parties due to negligence in management of IDs and passwords, and the Agency or the Center shall not be held liable.
• (6) Matters related to the management of and changes to personal information of members shall be governed by the per-service terms.

Chapter 3 Obligations of Parties to the Agreement

Article 10 (Obligations of the Agency or the Center)

• (1) Unless there are special circumstances, the Agency or the Center shall allow members to use services from the date a member wishes to begin use of services.
• (2) To provide continuous and stable service, the Agency or the Center shall promptly repair or restore in case of the failure or loss of facilities, unless unavoidable.
• (3) The Agency or the Center shall establish a security system to protect personal information, and disclose and comply with the privacy policy.
• (4) The Agency or the Center shall, when it is objectively acknowledged that an opinion or complaint raised by a member is justified, immediately handle the complaint through appropriate procedure. However, if immediate handling is difficult, then the member shall be notified of the reason for such difficulty and the expected schedule for handling.

Article 11 (Member obligations)

• (1) Members shall, when requesting membership registration or changing user information, use their own true names and fill in all information based on the truth. Members who register false information or the information of other persons may not claim any rights.
• (2) Members shall comply with the provisions of these terms and conditions, other regulations prescribed by the Agency or the Center, announcements and other notices provided by the Agency or the Center, and relevant laws and statutes. They shall not engage in acts that impede the affairs of the Agency or the Center or that defame the Agency or the Center.
• (3) In the event of a change in address, contact information, email address or other information included in the user agreement, members shall immediately notify the Agency or the Center of such through applicable procedures
• (4) Cases wherein the Agency or the Center is liable in accordance with relevant laws and statutes and the privacy policy, members shall be liable for the results of illegal use of IDs assigned them and relevant passwords, as well as for negligence in their management.
• (5) Members may not engage in for-profit activities using the services without prior approval from the Agency or the Center, and the Agency or the Center shall not be held liable for the result of such for-profit activities. If the Agency or the Center suffers damages due to such for-profit activities, the member shall be liable for compensation of damages suffered by the Agency or the Center. The Agency or the Center may restrict use of services by the offending member, and claim compensation of damages through appropriate procedure.
• (6) Without express consent from the Agency or the Center, members may not transfer or give as a gift their right to use the services or other statuses according to the user agreement to other persons, and they may not provide the same as security.
• (7) Members shall not violate the intellectual property rights of the Agency or the Center or of third parties.
• (8) Members shall not engage in the acts listed in the following items; members who do engage in such acts may be restricted from use of services, or otherwise may be subject to sanctions including legal action by the Agency or the Center.
  • - Registering false information when requesting membership registration of changing member information
  • - Illegal use of personal information (e.g. ID, password, resident registration number) of another member
  • - Engaging in transactions involving member IDs with other persons
  • - Impersonating the operators, employees, or related parties of the Agency or the Center
  • - Acts of modifying the Agency or the Center’s client program, hacking the Agency or the Center’s server, or arbitrarily modifying the website or published information in part or in its entirety without having been endowed special privileges by the Agency or the Center
  • - Causing harm or intentionally impeding the service
  • - Reproducing for purposes other than use of the services, using for publication or broadcasting, or providing to third parties the information gained through the services at hand without prior consent from the Agency or the Center
  • - Distributing lewd and obscene information, text, or audio and visual information in any form (e.g. image, music, video) that harms public order and established social morals and customs to other persons via transmission, publishing, email, or other means
  • - Distributing information that is offensive or poses a risk of defaming or violating the privacy of other persons to other persons via transmission, publishing, email, or other means
  • - Acts that harass or threaten other members, or cause sustained discomfort or pain to specific user(s)
  • - Collecting or saving the personal information of other members without approval from the Agency or the Center
  • - Acts that are objectively judged to be linked with criminal acts
  • - Acts in violation of the regulations or terms of use prescribed by the Agency or the Center, including these terms and conditions
  • - Other acts in violation of relevant laws and statutes

Chapter 4 Use of Service

Article 12 (Hours of service use)

• (1) Unless there are particular difficulties due to the affairs of the Agency or the Center or technical reasons, the services shall be operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, the Agency or the Center may temporarily suspend services on a prescribed date or at a prescribed time for scheduled system inspection, expansion or replacement, with any temporary suspension of services due to scheduled maintenance being announced beforehand via the Korean.net website.
• (2) The Agency or the Center may, in the event of inevitable circumstances such as urgent system maintenance, expansion or replacement, equipment failures, abnormally high service traffic, national emergencies, or power outage, temporarily suspend use of the services in part or in their entirety without prior warning.
• (3) In cases where such is necessary for operation of the services, such as reshuffling of services, the Agency or the Center may suspend the services in part or in their entirety after giving prior notice to members.

Article 13 (Posts, etc. made by members)

• (1) “Posts” refer to text, photos, various files and links posted by a member while using the service.
• (2) If the member him/herself or another person suffers damages or other problems due to posts, etc. registered into the services by a member, then the member shall be held liable; unless there are special circumstances, the Agency or the Center shall not be held liable.
• (3) For posts, etc. that fall under any one of the following items, the Agency or the Center may, at its own discretion and without prior consent from the member, suspend, modify, delete, move, or refuse registration of such post, etc., or take relevant action.
  • - Posts, etc., whose content is severely insulting to or which defames another member or a third party
  • - Posts that distribute or provide links to content that harms public order or established social morals and customs
  • - Posts that contain content that encourages piracy or hacking
  • - For-profit advertisements
  • - Posts containing content objectively acknowledged to be linked to criminal activity
  • - Posts containing private political judgments or religious opinions, and judged to be inconsistent with the nature of the Agency or the Center's service
  • - Posts that violate the Agency or the Center’s policies for posts, or are inconsistent with the nature of its message boards
  • - Posts otherwise judged to be in violation of relevant laws and statutes

Article 14 (Copyright to posts)

• (1) Copyrights to posts or publications made by the Agency or the Center, and other intellectual property rights thereof shall belong to the Agency or the Center.
• (2) Copyrights for posts made by members within the services shall belong to the respective members having registered said posts. At no cost and without separate consent from a member, the Agency or the Center may use posts registered by members for the purposes of operation of the services, display, transmission, distribution, or public relations as follows; the Agency or the Center may use these posts, as long as the use is in accord with fair practices as defined in the Copyright Act and the scope of such use is reasonable.
  • - Reproduction, copying, modification, display, transmission, and distribution of a member post within the service, or preparation of edited works, as long as the copyright of such post is not harmed
  • - Providing the content of the member post to, or having the media/telecom provider or other service partners display or promote the same; in such cases, the Agency or the Center shall not provide the personal information on the member, including the member’s user ID, without consent from the member.
• (3) Should the Agency or the Center intend to use a member’s post in a manner other than those listed in the previous paragraph, the Agency or the Center shall obtain prior consent from the member via phone, fax, or email.
• (4) If a member has withdrawn his/her membership, all posts (e.g. Mail, Blog, My Home) registered to said member’s account will be deleted. Posts that have been re-posted or reproduced by another user by designating the post as a favorite or adding it to a scrapbook, posts that are combined with another member's posts, and posts registered in public message boards shall be exceptions.

Article 15 (Provision of information)

• (1) The Agency or the Center may provide the member with various information deemed necessary for the use of the service via email, letter, mail, SMS, phone, etc.
• (2) The Agency or the Center may request additional personal information for the purpose of improving the service and introducing services intended for the member, with the member's consent.

Article 16 (Advertising and transactions with advertisers)

• (1) Part of service investment that allows the Agency or the Center to provide the service to users comes from advertisements and partnerships; members shall consent to the publication of ads which are shown when using the service.
• (2) The Agency or the Center shall not be held liable for losses or damages incurred by user participation in sales promotion activities of advertisers through the service, or through communication or transactions with advertisers.

Chapter 5 Termination of Agreement and Restriction on Use

Article 17 (Modification and termination of the agreement)

• (1) When a member wishes to terminate a user agreement, the member himself/herself shall terminate membership via [My Page - Cancel my membership] in the service.
• (2) Upon termination of the user agreement, the Agency or the Center shall, in accordance with the Korean.net privacy policy, expunge the member’s registration. In such case, the member shall be notified; if the Agency or the Center intends to terminate the user agreement at its own discretion, the member shall be given the opportunity to explain his/her case prior to being expunged.

Article 18 (Restrictions on use of service)

• (1) When a member has, in using the services, violated the provisions under Article 11 of these terms and conditions, or if any one of the following items applies, the Agency or the Center may restrict user of services, reset the account, terminate the user agreement, or take other applicable action.
  • - Registering false information when requesting membership registration of changing member information, illegal use of personal information (e.g. ID, password, resident registration number) of another member, or engaging in transactions involving member IDs with other persons
  • - Distributing lewd and obscene information, text, or audio and visual information in any form (e.g. image, music, video) that harms public order and established social morals and customs to other persons via transmission, publishing, email, or other means
  • - Acts that harass or threaten other members, or cause sustained discomfort or pain to specific user(s)
  • - Acts of modifying the Agency or the Center’s client program, hacking the Agency or the Center’s server, or arbitrarily modifying the website or published information in part or in its entirety without having been endowed special privileges by the Agency or the Center
  • - Reproducing for purposes other than use of the services, using for publication or broadcasting, or furnishing the information gained through the services at hand to third parties without prior consent from the Agency or the Center
  • - Impersonating the operators, employees, or related parties of the Agency or the Center, intentionally interfering with the services, and otherwise impeding normal operation of services
  • - When there is a request for corrective action from a public agency such as the Information Communication Ethics Committee, etc.
  • - When a user has not used services for 3 months or longer
  • - Acts in violation of the regulations or terms of use prescribed by the Agency or the Center, including these terms and conditions

Chapter 6 Compensation for Damages and Miscellaneous Matters

Article 19 (Compensation for damages)

The Agency or the Center, in relation to the use of services provided free of charge in the service, cannot be held liable for losses as they are not covered by the provisions of the privacy policy.

Article 20 (Indemnity clause)

• (1) The Agency or the Center shall be released from liability related to service provision when rendered unable to provide the service due to natural disaster, war, or force majeure.
• (2) The Agency or the Center shall be released from liability for losses incurred due to inevitable circumstances such as the repair, replacement, scheduled maintenance, and installation of equipment for the services.
• (3) The Agency or the Center shall not be held liable when losses have been caused due to an error with a member’s computer, or when losses have been incurred due to a member’s failure to provide accurate personal information or email information.
• (4) The Agency or the Center shall not be held liable for a member’s failure to gain the expected result from use of the service of the lapse thereof, and shall not be held liable for losses due to materials gained in the course of using the service.
• (5) The Agency or the Center shall not be responsible for the accuracy and reliability of the various information, materials, or facts posted on the service by members, shall not be obligated to intervene in disputes arising through the service between members or between a member and a third party, and shall not be obligated to provide compensation for losses incurred.
• (6) The Agency or the Center shall not be obligated to review posts made by members prior to their registration, or to continuously monitor or review the content of posts, and shall not be held liable for the results of such posts.

Article 21 (Notice)

• (1) The Agency or the Center may provide notices to members through the email address registered withthe Agency or the Center by a member.
• (2) For notices to multiple unspecified users, the Agency or the Centermay, instead of providing individual notices, post such notices on the announcements message board for at least 7 days.

Article 22 (Jurisdiction and governing law)

The laws of the Republic of Korea shall apply to disputes over the use of services between the Agency or the Center and members; suits resulting from such disputes shall be filed with the courts of the Republic of Korea.

<Addenda>

• (1) These terms and conditions shall take effect on June 27, 2023.
• (2) Members who have consented to the previous terms and conditions as of at the time of applying these terms and conditions are deemed to have consented to these terms and conditions, and the existing member information shall be succeeded by the Agency or the Center.