South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo announced the formation of an inter-ministerial task force aimed at curtailing potential manipulation of public opinion on South Korea’s online portals. This decision followed a report from the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) which indicated that approximately 80% of online users supporting the Chinese soccer team during the Asian Games men’s quarterfinal against South Korea originated from overseas. Suspicions arose that foreign persons or entities might have used virtual private networks to mimic domestic users or manipulate the high volume of support for the Chinese team.

Han emphasized the gravity of the situation, denouncing “fake