Illegal flyers. (image: Yonhap)
BUSAN, May 9 (Korea Bizwire) — So-called “phone call bombardments”, which paralyze phone numbers on illegal flyers handed out indiscriminately on the streets, have proven to be an effective deterrent.
A month after Busan’s Haeundae District operated launched its phone call operation, illegal leaflets were found to have dropped significantly.
According to Haeundae District on Wednesday, the district introduced a “bombarding phone calls” initiative on April 1 to intensively manage 80 numbers that distribute illegal leaflets.
The “bombarding phone calls” system automatically calls every 10 minutes to phone numbers written on illegal advertisements and notifies those who respond of fines for violating the Outdoor Advertising Act.
If the illegal leaflets are still distributed after the first phone call, the time of phone call is decreased to five minutes, three minutes and one minute, and the phone number is continuously dialed to paralyze the corresponding number.
The “bombarding phone calls” system is known to be able to make calls within a three-second interval.
Officials from Haeundae District reported that most of the companies that distribute leaflets are loan companies, and most of the 80 numbers are under management of these companies.
Even with the warning calls, about 10 companies attempted to bypass the phone bombardment by changing the end of their phone numbers, but after registering the changed numbers several times and making phone calls, the companies eventually stopped the distribution.
As many as 10 civil phone calls were made to the district daily regarding illegal flyers, but few civil service phone calls were reported after the “bombarding phone calls” system was launched.
Nam District in Busan also introduced a “bombarding phone calls” system this month. Suyeong district and Dongnae district also plan to implement the system by analyzing the effects of other districts.
Meanwhile, in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, last year, the number of illegal flyers caught decreased by an average of 75.5 percent per month by introducing a “bombarding phone calls” system.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
