KoreanNet | Membership Management

Korean Net Terms and Conditions of Use

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1 (Purpose)

The purpose of these terms and conditions of use is to specifically provide for the rights and obligations of the Overseas Koreans Foundation and members (hereinafter “members”) in your use of the Internet services for overseas Koreans (hereinafter “the services” provided by the Overseas Koreans Foundation (hereinafter "the foundation”), all matters relating to use of the services, and other necessary matters.

Article 2 (Effectiveness and modifications)

These terms and conditions shall enter into effect when they are publicly announced online through Korean Net (including the family sites stated below), after the member gives consent and the foundation accepts the membership. Should justifiable cause arise, they may be revised within the scope allowed by relevant laws and statutes. The revised terms and conditions shall enter into effect by being publicly announced through Korean Net through fair procedure. Members must visit Korean Net at regular intervals to check for changes to the terms and conditions of use. The foundation will not be held liable for damage suffered by users due to failure to be notified of changes to the terms and conditions. Members who do not consent to the revised terms and conditions may request to withdraw (cancel) their membership.
The websites (family sites) run by the foundation are as follows. Unless otherwise explained, these terms and conditions shall apply to all websites (family sites) run by the foundation.

Article 3 (Regulations outside these terms and conditions)

The foundation may, when necessary, prescribe individual terms and conditions or operational principles for individual services within the services (hereinafter “per-service terms”), and in cases where these terms and conditions and the per-service terms are in conflict, the per-service terms shall apply with precedence.

Article 4 (Definitions of terms)

(1) The definitions of terms used in these terms and conditions are as follow.
- 1. “Member” refers to a user who consents to these terms and conditions, and uses the services.
- 2. “User agreement” refers to all agreements entered into between Korean Net and a member in relation to the use of services, including these terms and conditions.
- 3. “User ID” refers to a unique combination of letters and numbers assigned to each user by the foundation at the member’s request for member identification and use of services.
- 4. “Password” refers to a unique combination of letters and numbers set by the member and registered with the foundation to verify the identity of member identified using his/her user ID.
- 5. “Terminal” refers to electronic devices such as personal computers, PDAs, or mobile phones used by members to access the services.
- 6. “Rescission” refers to the cancellation of a user agreement by the foundation 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 foundation approving the request for use of services.
(2) Consent to the terms and conditions shall be given by pressing the “Consent” button on the application form when requesting use of services.

Article 6 (Requesting use of services)

(1) Members who wish to register and user the services shall provide all information (user ID, password, name, contact information, etc.) requested by the foundation.
(2) All members must provide their own information to use the services. Members who illegally used another person’s information, registered false information, or otherwise failed to register their own and true information may not claim any rights in relation to use of the services, and they may be subject to punishment in accordance with the relevant laws.
(3) Membership registration is only possible using one’s own and true information. The foundation may take actions to verify information registered by a member. The member shall comply with the foundation’s verification, and failure to do so may result in the foundation’s deeming the information registered by the member in question as untrue or illegal.
(4) All IDs of members having requested use of services by illegally using the identity (name, resident registration number, passport number, etc.) of another person shall be deleted, and the offending user may be subject to punishment under relevant laws.
(5) The foundation may classify members using the services into tiers, and divide members into user grades by hours of use, number of uses, and service menus.

Article 7 (Protection and use of personal information)

(1) The foundation shall make every effort to protect the personal information of members, in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and statutes. Relevant laws and statutes, and the personal information protection policy of the foundation, shall apply to the protection and use of personal information. The foundation’s personal information protection policy shall not apply to linked sites outside the official websites of the foundation. Members shall also manage their passwords, etc., to prevent exposure to other persons. The foundation shall not be held liable for information that is exposed due to causes for which a member is liable.
(2) The foundation may provide personal information of members to third parties in the following cases, within the scope allowed by law.
- - Cases where furnishing of information is requested by an investigative or other government agency, and such request is approved
- - Cases where doing so is necessary for information protection, such as verification of illegal acts including violations of laws and statutes or the terms and conditions by a member
- - Other cases where such is mandated by law

Article 8 (Approval and restriction of requests for use of services)

(1) Regarding requests for use of services according to Article 5 and Article 6, the foundation shall, by principal, approve use of services in the order in which requests are received, so long as there are no technical hindrances or hindrances to the carrying out of the foundation’s affairs.
(2) The foundation 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 in competition with the services
- - 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, the foundation may postpone approval for said request until such time that the reason for postponement of approval has been resolved.
- - If the facilities of the foundation do not have enough capacity
- - If the foundation is suffering technical difficulties
- - Other cases where approval of a usage request is difficult owing to causes for which the foundation is liable
(4) If the person making a usage request is a minor as defined in relevant laws and statutes, the foundation may defer approval of such request as provided in the per-service terms.
(5) If, after completion of membership registration procedure, any of the causes listed in the items under Paragraph 2 are discovered, the foundation may withdraw approval of use.

Article 9 (Assignment and change of user IDs)

(1) The foundation shall assign user IDs to members 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 consent, be linked with user IDs for sites operates by the foundation.
(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 foundation.
- 1.Cases wherein a telephone 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 foundation, services of the foundation, or service operators
- 4. Other cases wherein there is justifiable cause
(5) Members are responsible for management of user IDs and passwords. The member shall be responsible for losses suffered in the use of the services or illegal use by third parties due to negligence in management of IDs and passwords, and the foundation shall not be held liable.
(6) Matters relating to 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 foundation)

(1) Unless there are special circumstances, the foundation shall allow members to use services from the date a member wishes to begin use of services.
(2) To ensure continuous and stable services, the foundation shall, when equipment failure or destruction of equipment has occurred, repair or restore the equipment without delay, unless there are inevitable circumstances.
(3) The foundation shall implement security systems for the protection of personal information, and shall publicly announce and comply with personal information protection policy.
(4) The foundation shall, when it is objectively acknowledged that an opinion or complaint raised by a member is justified, immediately handle the complaint through appropriate procedure. 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 foundation, announcements and other notices provided by the foundation, and relevant laws and statutes. They shall not engage in acts that impede the affairs of the foundation or that defame the foundation.
(3) In the event of a change in address, contact information, e-mail address or other information included in the user agreement(s), members shall immediately notify the foundation of such through applicable procedures.
(4) Cases wherein the foundation is liable in accordance with relevant laws and statutes and the “personal information protection policy” being exceptions, 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 foundation, and the foundation shall not be held liable for the result of such for-profit activities. If the foundation suffers damages due to such for-profit activities, the member shall be liable for compensation of damages suffered by the foundation. The foundation may restrict use of services by the offending member, and claim compensation of damages through appropriate procedure.
(6) Without express consent from the foundation, members may not transfer or give as a gift their right to use the services or other statuses according to the user agreement(s) to other persons, and they may not provide the same as security.
(7) Members shall not violate the intellectual property rights of the foundation 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 subjected to sanctions including legal action.
- - Registering false information when requesting membership registration of changing member information
- - Illegal use of personal information (ID, password, resident registration no., etc.) of another member
- - Engaging in transactions involving member IDs with other persons
- - Impersonating the operators, employees, or related parties of the foundation
- - Acts of modifying the foundation’s client program, hacking the foundation’s server, or arbitrarily modifying the website or published information in part or in its entirety without having been endowed special privileges by the foundation
- - Causing harm or intentionally impeding services
- - Reproducing for purposes other than use of the services, using for publication or broadcasting, or furnishing to third parties the information gained through the services at hand without prior consent from the foundation
- - Distributing lewd and obscene information, text, or audio and visual information in any form (images, music, video, etc.) that harms public order and established social morals and customs to other persons by means of transmission, publishing, e-mail, or other means
- - Distributing information that is offensive or poses a risk of defaming or violating the privacy of other persons to other persons by means of transmission, publishing, e-mail, 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 foundation
- - Acts that are objectively judged to be linked with criminal acts
- - Acts in violation of the regulations or terms of use prescribed by the foundation, including these terms and conditions
- - Other acts in violation of relevant laws and statutes

Chapter 4 Use of services

Article 12 (House of use for services)

(1) Unless there are particular difficulties due to the affairs of the foundation or technical reasons, the services shall be operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The foundation 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 through the Korean Net website.
(2) The foundation may, in the event of inevitable circumstances such as urgent system maintenance, expansion or replacement, equipment failures, abnormally high service traffic, national emergencies, or blackouts, 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 foundation 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 published by a member during use of the services.
(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 foundation shall not be held liable.
(3) For posts, etc. that fall under any one of the following items, the foundation 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 foundation's services
- - Posts that violate the foundation’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 (Copyrights to posts)

(1) Copyrights to posts or publications made by the foundation, and other intellectual property rights thereof, shall belong to the foundation.
(2) The 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 foundation may use posts registered by members for the purposes of operation of the services, display, transmission, distribution, or public relations as follows. The foundation 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 services, or preparation of edited works, as long as the copyrightability of such post is not harmed
- - Furnishing the content of the member post to, or having the media, a telecommunications provider, or other service partners display or promote the same. In such cases, the foundation shall not provide the personal information on the member, including the member’s user ID, without consent from the member.
(3) Should the foundation intend to use a member’s post in a manner other than those listed in the previous paragraph, the foundation shall obtain prior consent from the member through means such as telephone, fax, or e-mail.
(4) If a member has withdrawn his/her membership, all posts (e.g. Mail, blog, myhome, etc.) 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 post(s), and posts registered in public message boards shall be exceptions.

Article 15 (Furnishing of information)

(1) The foundation may, for various information acknowledged as being necessary for use of the services, furnish such information to members through means such as e-mail, letter, mail, SMS, r telephone, etc.
(2) The foundation may, for purposes such as improvement of services or introducing services to members, ask for additional personal information with member consent.

Article 16 (Publishing of advertisements and transactions with advertisers)

(1) Part of the investment in services that allows the foundation to furnish the services to users comes from services provided through advertisements and partnerships. The member consents to the publication of ads which are shown when using the services.
(2) The foundation shall not be held liable for losses or damages incurred by user participation in sales promotion activities of advertisers through the services, or through communication or transactions with advertisers.

Chapter 5 Rescission of the agreement and restriction of use

Article 17 (Modification and rescission of the agreement)

(1) Should a member wish to rescind a user agreement, the member must use the [Help] menu within the services to withdraw his/her membership.
(2) Upon rescission of the user agreement, the foundation shall, in accordance with the Korean Net personal information protection policy, expunge the member’s registration. In such case, the member shall be given notification. If the foundation intends to rescind 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 (Restriction of use of services)

(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 foundation may restrict user of services, reset the account, rescind the user agreement, or take other applicable action.
- - Registering false information when requesting membership registration of changing member information, illegal use of personal information (ID, password, resident registration no., etc.) 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 (images, music, video, etc.) that harms public order and established social morals and customs to other persons by means of transmission, publishing, e-mail, or other means
- - Acts that harass or threaten other members, or cause sustained discomfort or pain to a specific user(s)
- - Acts of modifying the foundation’s client program, hacking the foundation’s server, or arbitrarily modifying the website or published information in part or in its entirety without having been endowed special privileges by the foundation
- - 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 foundation
- - Impersonating the operators, employees, or related parties of the foundation, 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 foundation, including these terms and conditions

Chapter 6 Compensation for damages and miscellaneous matters

Article 19 (Compensation for damages)

The foundation, in relation to the use of services provided free of charge in the services, cannot be held liable for losses as they are not covered by the provisions of the personal information protection policy.

Article 20 (Indemnity clause)

(1) The foundation shall be released from liability for furnishing services when rendered unable to furnish the services due to natural disaster, war, or force majeure.
(2) The foundation 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 foundation 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 e-mail address information.
(4) The foundation shall not be held liable for a member’s failure to gain the expected result from use of the services of the lapse thereof, and shall not be held liable for losses due to materials gained in the course of using the services.
(5) The foundation shall not be responsible for the accuracy and reliability of the various information, materials, or facts posted on the service by members. The foundation 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 foundation shall not be obligated to review posts made by members prior to their registration, or to continuously monitor or review the content of posts. The foundation shall not be held liable for the results of such posts.

Article 21 (Notice)

(1) The foundation may provide notices to members through the e-mail address registered with the foundation by a member.
(2) For notices to multiple unspecified users, the foundation may, 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 foundation and members. Suits resulting from such disputes shall be filed with the courts of the Republic of Korea.

<Addendum>

(Enforcement date) These terms and conditions shall enter into effect as of January 12, 2017. The previous terms and conditions in effect since October 1, 2010 shall be superseded by these terms and conditions. END.

KOREAN NET

Membership Management