February 11, 2025
SEOUL – On Jan. 19, enraged supporters of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol stormed Seoul Western District Court minutes after his arrest warrant was issued. They smashed windows, attacked police and journalists, and even entered judges’ offices — the first such act of violence against the judiciary in Korean history.
Among the 90 arrested, half were in their 20s and 30s, an unusual demographic for ultra-right activism. Police quickly traced the attack’s origins to DC Inside, South Korea’s largest and most notorious online community. In forums like the “People Power Party Gallery,” dedicated to Yoon’s party, anonymous users shared courthouse maps, analyzed police movements and posted real-time updates on security forces. Now, authorities are working to uncover the full extent of online coordination behind the violence.
Despite its extremism ties, DC Inside remains South Korea’s eighth most-visited site as of December 2024. With 3 million daily users generating nearly 3 million posts and comments, the platform continues to shape Korean internet culture in ways both brilliant and troubling.
So how does a site notorious for hate speech, trolling and even criminal incitement remain so popular? And why, in a country known for strict internet censorship and rigid social norms, does DC Inside operate as a lawless digital frontier?
A platform built for anonymity and chaos
Founded in 1999 as a digital camera forum, DC Inside — often called “DC” — quickly grew into a vast network of “galleries,” or discussion boards, covering everything from politics and sports to niche interests like imported snacks.
What sets DC apart is its complete anonymity. No login is required to post or comment, and IP addresses are only partially visible, creating an environment where users feel they can express opinions they might never share elsewhere. There is also no upvote/downvote system for comments on a post.
“DC Inside is like a public restroom stall covered in graffiti,” said a 29-year-old veterinary surgeon and DC Inside user since his high school days, who requested anonymity. “A lot of it is disgusting indeed, but sometimes you find a really funny joke or even useful information. Of course, it has its dark side, but where else can you find such raw, unfiltered discussions in Korea?”
“And other platforms, like Naver Cafe, have been so commercialized that it’s hard to distinguish ads from authentic posts by real people,” he added.
Unlike Reddit, which enforces strict moderation within its communities, DC operates under a laissez-faire model, allowing each gallery to develop its own culture. Some galleries enforce rigid rules, banning specific words or behaviors, but most embrace anarchy, tolerating extreme trolling and misinformation.
However, DC Inside does have one key moderation feature: the “gae-nyeom-geul” system, meaning “rational post” in Korean. This feature highlights and elevates the most upvoted posts within each gallery, increasing the likelihood that insightful, high-quality or humorous content rises to the top.
The veterinary surgeon, for instance, relies on this feature heavily when browsing the “US Stock Gallery” at DC — a hotbed for insider knowledge and market speculation.
“You have to know how to navigate DC Inside properly,” he explained. “I ignore the real-time best gallery section, which is usually filled with chaos, and just go straight to Gae-nyeom-geul. That’s where you find the gold — deep-dive analysis, early market rumors and discussions you wouldn’t see on mainstream forums. If you don’t use it, DC can feel like a wasteland of nonsense.”
A breeding underground for extremism
At first glance, DC Inside seems like just another niche internet forum, an underground space where netizens discuss their interests in their own lingo. In reality, it has a major impact on South Korean discourse, shaping everything from viral memes to political movements.
For instance, the term “Hell Joseon” — which describes South Korea as a hopeless, dystopian society — originated on DC Inside before spreading to mainstream media and even international coverage. Yet, the platform’s influence is often unspoken. Many hesitate to acknowledge its role, as its unmoderated nature has also turned it into a hub for radical viewpoints, particularly among young Korean men.
One of the most controversial communities on DC is the “Stock Market Gallery,” which has evolved from a financial discussion forum into a breeding ground for misogyny and conspiracy theories.
The “Dishwashing Theory” is one widely circulated trope in these male-dominated DC Inside galleries, claiming that naive, wealthy men are tricked into marrying women who have had numerous past partners and are only interested cleaning up their image and obtaining financial security. Over time, the term expanded to depict marriages where men are required to act as sole providers, stripped of decision-making power, and forced to do chores — like the dishes — which they see as unfair.
Galleries swept by such extreme conspiracy theories have helped fuel the anti-feminist movement among young Korean men, reinforcing grievances about economic struggles, dating and gender roles.
“I know a lot of people outside DC think we’re just angry losers, but the truth is, we’re tired of being demonized,” said a self-identified Stock Market Gallery user in his 30s. “The mainstream media ignores us, but here, we can talk about how unfair society has become for men.”
Professor Lee Sam-yeol, a public administration professor at Yonsei University who once served as a researcher at the Korea Information Society Development Institute, sees DC Inside as a product of Korea’s highly censored digital evolution — one that thrives precisely because of the country’s paradoxical approach to free speech.
“South Korea has some of the strictest online speech laws in the world,” he explained. “Defamation is highly criminalized, and the government actively censors politically sensitive or pornographic content. But DC Inside operates in a loophole — it’s chaotic and largely unregulated because external censorship already exists. The government focuses on major platforms like Naver, while DC flies under the radar.”
DC vs. Reddit: a tale of two internet cultures
For international audiences, DC Inside might seem like the country’s answer to Reddit, the world’s ninth-most visited site as of Nov. 2024 according to Similarweb. But the two platforms couldn’t be more different in their approach to moderation and user behavior.
One might say a closer international comparison to DC Inside might be 4chan, given its anonymous, bulletin-board format and its reputation for unfiltered, often extreme discourse. However, 4chan remains a niche platform, largely relegated to the fringes of the internet, whereas DC Inside is mainstream in Korea — again, one of the country’s most-visited websites.
Reddit, despite being widely popular and based in the United States — a country known for strong free speech protections — has developed into a heavily moderated platform. Most large subreddits enforce strict content policies, requiring users to follow rules that maintain decorum and suppress misinformation. Upvote/downvote mechanics for both comments and posts further shape discourse, ensuring that the most popular opinions rise to the top.
DC Inside, on the other hand, thrives on its lawlessness. There are no karma systems, no reputation tracking, and no direct means of suppressing unpopular opinions. Users engage in discussions without the fear of losing status, but this also means that trolling, extremism, and chaos dominate many of its forums.
Professor Lee argues that this difference stems from fundamental cultural and legal disparities. “Reddit has strong internal moderation because the US government won’t regulate it,” he said. “In Korea, the government already regulates speech heavily, so platforms like DC don’t feel the need to self-police in the same way.”
Despite its toxicity and even ties to violence, DC Inside remains a major place on the Korean web, fueling internet slang and trends — even as younger users move to Instagram and YouTube.
“I don’t think DC will ever really die,” said the veterinary surgeon. “It’s like Korea’s last true digital frontier. It’s messy, it’s extreme, but it’s real.”