For those living in South Korea and thinking of blogging or currently have a blog, you might want to read this posting by well known K-blogger Brian in Jeollanam-do:

That said, something came up in December that made my last couple months very stressful, and made me want to give up this blogging business. I was under investigation by Korean immigration based on my contributions to local newspapers. I was summoned to the immigration office in Seoul twice in December, based on allegations that I was being paid for my writing while I was on an E-2 visa, and had to prove based on emails and my bank records that I wasn’t paid by the Korea Herald, wasn’t writing under any agreement or assumption that I would be paid, and that the 531,850 won I received from the Korea Times, illegally, in December 2009 was received after my E-2 visa expired.

I never learned who or what started the investigation, beyond being told “someone” called immigration about me. I do have my suspicions, and though I can’t say for certain or with much evidence, can at least lay out some circumstances that need to be considered. On December 3rd in a telephone conversation with Korea Times reporter Kang Shin-who, he told me that he would check with immigration to see if I was legally able to contribute to the Korea Herald. On December 21st I received a phone call from a woman at immigration telling me I was under investigation and that I needed to come to Seoul as soon as possible. I met with two immigration officers on December 23rd and again on December 30th, over roughly six hours in all, and had my case forwarded to another office. Nothing eventually came of it, and I passed January and February without incident.

This started with a few emails between Kang Shin-who and I on December 3rd. I had been critical of Kang’s reporting over 2009, and called him “Korea’s worst journalist” in a November 24th post, based on his numerous distortions and fabrications. I learned about some more bad journalism in other articles, about Kang using unauthorized photos from other outlets in his pieces, and about publishing incorrect information.  [Brian In Jeollanam-do]

Read the rest at the link, but I think everyone can imagine who probably called immigration on him.