2026 Seoul Light Hangang Bitseom Festival

Art Director

Kira Kim

Art Director

<Rhapsody of Light> regards Nodeul Island, set at the heart of the Hangang River, as a single living organism, and unfolds the city’s accumulated memory and the time of nature through light and media art. On an island now emerging as the ‘Nodeul Global Art Island’, the quiet ecology and terrain of daytime meet light and sound after dark and awaken as a landscape of new sensation. Drawing on the organic and ecological outlook of Thomas Heatherwick’s <Soundscape> project — he is the designer behind the island’s new architecture — together with Louis Kahn’s ‘Silence and Light’, it portrays the moment a silent island meets the language of light and turns into a new artistic scene.

The exhibition’s narrative begins with the energies that make up Nodeul Island and the Hangang River: water, fire, soil, air and the light of life. The ceaselessly flowing water of the Hangang connects the city’s time and memory, while fire stands for the fierce force that wakes the darkness and for the moment energy transforms. Soil, accumulated over long ages, becomes the ground that sustains the island’s life and our shared memory, and air becomes the invisible medium that links the movement and breath of visitors with wind and sound. And the energy of life generated as all these elements relate and circulate will expand the whole island into a single living landscape.

Across the island, visitors will encounter futures, experiences and scenes beyond what we imagined, carried by the light and sound of each distinct work. Each work breathing with the festival holds its own rhythm while varying and overlapping with the others, forming one great current that connects us all. As both participants and observers, audiences relate to the space through their own movement and senses, and become the subject of the exhibition. In this way the festival’s overarching theme, <Rhapsody of Light>, rewrites the nature of Nodeul Island and the memory of the city in a contemporary language of light, creating a new nocturnal landscape and epic for the megacity of Seoul, made together by art and technology, nature and people.

Kira Kim, Art Director

About the Art Director

Kira Kim is a contemporary and media artist who works across painting, sculpture, video and media art. Alongside his practice he serves as artistic director and curator for arts and culture projects, extending his work into the field of public art.

2026Artistic Director, <Futures of the Image: Narrating Memory, Beyond Colour Painting>
2025Artistic Director, <Hello Miryang – If We Meet Again>
2024Artistic Director, <Dear Earth>
2023-2024Artistic Director, Art Seongsu
2023Curator, <Prada Mode Seoul – Janchi Performance>
2018Artistic Director, Yeosu International Art Festival
2015-2017Artistic Director, Hana Bank Landmark Project

Exhibitions

202314th Gwangju Biennale, <Soft and Weak like Water>
20233rd Jeju Biennale, <Flowing Moon, Embracing Land>, among others

Awards

2009Today’s Young Artist Award, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism
2015Korea Artist Prize, MMCA — final four
2019Award for Merit in Overseas Cultural Promotion, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism
2024Artist of the Year, Korean Association of Art Critics

Artworks

AKA Chang

PAMUN

2026, Immersive Audio-Lazer visual installation

Multimmersion

2026, Immersive Audio-Lazer visual installation

AKA Chang is a new-media and light artist based in Taipei, Taiwan, known for works that combine laser, projection, and digital technology to reconfigure space. Reconfiguring his representative works, <Multimmersion> and <Hagay Dreaming (new title: PAMUN)>, to suit the natural environment of Nodeul Island, he creates an immersive media installation in which vertically intersecting lasers and organically flowing lines of light blend with the landscape of the Han River.

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Images

Quiet Ensemble

Firmamento

2026, Immersive Audio-Lazer visual installation

Quiet Ensemble is an Italy-based artist duo that explores nature, humanity, and invisible phenomena through light, sound, and technology. <Firmamento> creates a luminous landscape that evokes a fragment of the universe brought down to Earth through countless steel wires and lasers. By transforming astronomical data into light and sound, the work reveals the ever-changing movements of the cosmos and creates an immersive space that visitors can walk through and experience.

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MUTO

MUTO GROUND : NODEUL

Audiovisual live performance, approx. 60 min

A project that has built a contemporary musical language by combining the Korean instrument geomungo with electronic music, presenting an audiovisual live performance where folk songs, traditional Korean music, and dance merge with LED visuals, lasers, and lighting.

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CIFIKA

Old Fantasy

Audiovisual live performance, approx. 60 min

An artist known for dreamlike electronic pop, she unfolds an audiovisual live performance built around her 10th debut anniversary album, tracing a musical journey from classical to trip-hop and electronica.

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VAKKI

Rhythms of What Remains

Media art, audiovisual performance, approx. 60 min

A visual artist and media artist who combines music, video, and space, she channels the vanished spirit of “heung” (collective joy) and community energy — drawn from AI and the memory of the city — into an audiovisual performance.

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HONG Buhm

Memory Weeds

2016-2026, Mixed media, Variable installation

“Weeds of Memory” expresses the wandering and return of memory through dichroic structures, light, and sound, expanding the entire connecting bridge of Nodeul Island into a single landscape of memory.

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Creative HAP

Bitseom: Path of Light

2026, LED, sound

Creative HAP reshapes nature and space through the ‘hap’ (union) of planning, sensibility and technology. <Bitseom: Path of Light> links the roughly 300 m footpath running along Hangang Bridge toward Nodeul Island with light. Shifting continuously along the railing, the light travels with each visitor’s steps and announces the beginning of <Rhapsody of Light> on Nodeul Island, turning a familiar view from the bridge into a scene that leads into the festival.

Pavilion of Light

2026, laser, LED, sound, smoke bubbles

<Pavilion of Light> makes the moment of entering the festival grounds a symbolic scene, filling Nodeul Square with light. Lasers rising vertically and lighting moving in layers act as a marker of light revealing the presence of Nodeul Island, and as a signpost drawing visitors into the heart of the festival.

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Spatial Practice

Luminous Nodeul Willows

2026, star laser, speakers, sound

Spatial Practice explores how nature and space can be expanded through light and technology. <Luminous Nodeul Willows> is a light installation that reveals the willow trees of Nodeul Island anew. Lasers and starlight spreading and scattering between trunks and branches shift with the form and movement of the willows, turning a natural scene into a landscape of light. Walking among the willows awakened by light, visitors experience the moment where the energy of life and light intersect.

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CHOI Chongwoon

Beyond the Space

2021, Found glass objects, flashlights, RPLiDAR sensor, arduino, computer, acrylic, shrinkable tube, stainless steel wire, sound mixer, speakers, Variable installation

By combining light and sound with everyday glass objects, the work creates an immersive space reminiscent of the cosmos.

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JEONG Jeong ju

Curved Lights 2021

2021, stainless steel, led light, 170x280x280cm, 20 units

Curved lighting structures reshape the flow and depth of space, offering a new sensory experience of light and space.

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JIN&PARK

Odyssey – On the Orbit of Time

2022, 7-channel sound and video, 6 min

Through 7-channel video and sound, this work abstractly unfolds the memory and order of the world that repeat and accumulate through time.

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KIM Junsoo

Axis of the Eternal

2025, DC motor, Stainless Steel, Prism, Gear, Cree LED etc., 1200x500x500cm

Reinterprets the traditional Korean pagoda through light and motion, creating a new experience of heritage where the past and future intersect.

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University

University Collaboration (Konkuk University, University of Seoul, Sungshin Women’s University)

Through light-sculpture works and hands-on light-play experiences, this presents festival content
that blends university students’ creative perspectives with citizen participation.

Konkuk University × KIM Jaenam

Words: Balloon

2026, Steel, aluminum, LED strip, microphone, wire, 300(H) × 400(W) × 250(D) cm

The nature of Nodeul Island and human language meet within the form of a speech bubble, offering an experience of a language of coexistence created together.

Say It on the Balloon

A light-play programme in which visitors use UV markers to write, on a balloon, the words they never got to say. Revealed only under the light, the writing lets people express feelings they have kept to themselves, and each finished balloon can be taken home.

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University of Seoul × SON Jongjun

Nodeul’s Trip

2026, FRP, LED lights, 330(H) × 170(W) × 170(D) cm

Inspired by the narrow-mouthed toads living in the wetland of Nodeul Island, this work tells their playful story as they set off on a trip to explore the human world.

Nodeul’s Bamboo Forest

A light-play programme for sending greetings and words of encouragement to the narrow-mouthed toads of Nodeul Island as they prepare to hibernate. Visitors write messages with glow pens on toad-shaped notes and hang them in a miniature wetland, gathering the letters one by one to complete a small toad wetland together.

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Sungshin Women’s University × JEONG Jeong ju

Nodeul’s Breath

2026, Steel pipes, fiber optics, synthetic and fibrous materials, lighting, sound system, 500(W) × 450(D) × 350(H) cm

An organic sculpture of light evokes a scene in which memories accumulated on Nodeul Island and the landscape of the present breathe together.

Pieces of Light, Lines of Sound

A light-play programme in which the many sounds heard on Nodeul Island, and the sensations of those moments, are drawn as dots and lines and then turned into light. Following the traces of sound they have drawn, visitors punch holes in paper, weave optical fibres through them and mount the result on the wall, completing a single landscape of light gathered from everyone’s ‘sounds of Nodeul Island’.

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Artists

AKA Chang

AKA Chang is a Taiwanese media artist who places light and human perception at the centre of his practice. Through repetition and symmetrical and asymmetrical arrangements of light, he explores the texture of light and its relationship with a range of media. Using light as a medium, he connects time, space, sound and human presence to build three-dimensional audiovisual structures.

Quiet Ensemble

Quiet Ensemble is an artist duo founded by Fabio Di Salvo and Bernardo Vercelli, exploring the relationship between nature and technology through light, sound and technology. They attend to phenomena too small, too distant or too slow to be easily perceived, revealing the ‘invisible concerts’ hidden within them as audiovisual experiences.

MUTO

MUTO, whose name evokes a ‘vast expanse of land’, is a project bringing together graphic artist Park Hoon-kyu, geomungo player Park Woo-jae, Shin Beom-ho of Idiotape and media artist Hong Chan-hyuk. Working from electronic and alternative music, they build a harmony with the geomungo, a traditional Korean instrument, while continuing to question originality and contemporaneity. On a foundation of fused Eastern and Western music, they extend their forms of expression into media art and lighting art, creating a new kind of performing art.

CIFIKA

CIFIKA is a singer-songwriter and producer who moves freely between sound and visuals, building her own musical world on a foundation of dreamlike electronic pop. She unfolds human emotion through themes of nature, the cosmos and the future, presenting a constantly shifting musical world through electronic and experimental sound.

VAKKI

VAKKI is a visual artist and media artist working across painting, media art, installation and performance, based on colour and geometric form. Centring on ‘relation, combination and circulation’, she explores the energy generated and transferred between people and objects, space and image, turning the familiar world into a new order of sensation through colour, form and rhythm.

HONG Buhm

HONG Buhm connects and reveals memory and experience as they change over time, across media including drawing, video and installation. Focusing on the reciprocal relationship between place and memory, he explores the layered, shifting structure of remembrance, creating synaesthetic experiences that transcend time and space through non-linear, abstract scenes.

Creative HAP

Creative HAP is a project team assembled fluidly from planners, designers and technical specialists according to each subject. Through the ‘hap’ (union) of planning that explores the context of a space, a sensibility that renders intangible media as artistic scenes, and the technology to realise them precisely, the team adds an unfamiliar rhythm to everyday landscapes and creates new spatial experiences.

Spatial Practice

Spatial Practice is an art and spatial direction team exploring new possibilities for space through light and technology. Using lasers and a range of other media and spatial elements, they reinterpret the structure and environment of a site and realise sensory scenes created by light and movement. Working across many fields, they develop technology into an artistic language that expands the experience of space.

CHOI Chongwoon

CHOI Chongwoon explores ‘calmtension’ — a state in which the energy seeking to maintain calm coexists with the opposing energy of tension. Through found objects and a range of sculptural methods, he continually varies states of balance and coexistence produced by differing forces, from the interior of the human mind to the natural world.

JEONG Jeong ju

JEONG Jeong ju has continued to make installations that draw on architectural space and place to explore space, light and the perceptual and psychological relationships of human beings. He uses light as the key medium revealing how we perceive space and relate to others, reconfiguring the viewer’s psychological experience and spatial awareness through interventions of architecture and light.

JIN&PARK

The art collective Jindallae & Park Woohyok observes how the order of the world we see and understand is constructed, and explores the invisible senses and intuitions that coexist beneath it. Across media including two-dimensional work, video, installation and performance, they evoke sensation and memory and lead us toward a new awareness of the world’s order and of time and space.

KIM Junsoo

KIM Junsoo realises events of the microscopic world as tangible matter in reality. Working chiefly with mechanical devices and metal, he creates sensations as uncanny as virtual reality within the real, through combinations of calculated mechanical movement and finely adjusted light and sound.

Konkuk University

The Konkuk University Contemporary Art team is an emerging-artist project group formed by supervising professor KIM Jaenam together with undergraduate and graduate students (Kim Min-gyu, Kim Se-jin, Kim Su-jong, No Ul, Lee Si-yeon, Lim In-gu). Working from media technology and interaction, they explore the relationships arising between light, sound, form, space and the audience, extending their work into a contemporary art experience that changes with the audience’s participation.

University of Seoul

The University of Seoul Sculpture team comprises supervising professor SON Jongjun and graduate students (Geum Ye-jin, Kim Kyung-a, Kim Min-jung, Ma Hae-song, Lee Seo-hyun, Lee So-jung, Lee Woong-bin, Heo Chan, Hwang Ryeon-seon). Working from fine-art sculpture, they explore a range of materials and sculptural methods; for this project they connect sculpture, light and the ecology of Nodeul Island to create a place where visitors can encounter and engage with art and nature.

Sungshin Women’s University

The Sungshin Women’s University Sculpture team comprises supervising professor JEONG Jeong ju and graduate students (Bae Yun-jae, Oh Woo-young, Park Ji-yeon, Kang Young-hwan, Cho Sung-hyuk, Jang Seo-hee, Cheon Han-seo, Lee Seo-young). Building on sculpture, they combine light, sound and sensors to connect the environment of public space with the visitor’s experience. Translating the remembered and present sensations of Nodeul Island into an organic structure and shifting light, they propose public artworks that visitors can dwell within and add to.

445, Yangnyeong-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea (04427)

Nodeul Island, Hangang River

Seoul Light Hangang Bitseom Festival 2026

2026.10.2.(Fri) ~ 10.11.(Sun)

Operating Hours 18:30 ~ 22:30

MAP

Terms of Use

These Terms govern the conditions and procedures for using the official website (the “Site”) of the “2026 Seoul Light Hangang Bitseom Festival: Rhapsody of Light,” hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, as well as the rights, obligations and responsibilities of users and the Operator.

Article 1 (Purpose)

These Terms set out the matters necessary for users to access all services provided on the Site (the “Services”), including festival information, programme guides, online reservations and enquiries.

Article 2 (Definitions)

“Festival” means the 2026 Seoul Light Hangang Bitseom Festival, held across Nodeul Island from Friday 2 October to Sunday 11 October 2026.
“User” means any person who accesses the Site and uses the Services.
“Operator” means the organisations hosting and organising the Festival, and any party operating the Site under their delegation.
“Posting” means any text, photograph, video or other information submitted by a User while using the Services.

Article 3 (Effect and Amendment of the Terms)

These Terms take effect upon being posted on the Site. The Operator may amend these Terms within the limits permitted by applicable law. Any amendment will be announced on the Site at least 7 days before its effective date, specifying the effective date and the reason for the change. Where an amendment is disadvantageous to Users, it will be announced at least 30 days in advance.

Article 4 (Provision and Modification of Services)

Provision of Festival information, including the overview, programmes, schedule and venues
Online registration and guidance for programmes requiring advance reservation, such as Light Run and Lecture
Provision of content such as notices, news and media resources
Other Festival-related supplementary services determined by the Operator

The Operator may modify all or part of the Services in response to operational or technical requirements. Any such modification will be announced in advance on the Site.

Article 5 (Suspension of Services)

The Operator may temporarily suspend the Services where unavoidable circumstances arise, including system inspection, maintenance or replacement, communication failure, natural disaster, adverse weather, or the need to ensure visitor safety. In such cases, the Operator will announce the reason and the expected duration without delay.

Article 6 (Attendance and Programme Reservations)

Admission to the Festival is free of charge, and operating hours are 18:30 to 22:30.
Programmes requiring advance reservation must be registered in accordance with the procedures and periods set out on the Site.
Reservations may be cancelled where capacity is exceeded, duplicate bookings are made, or false information is provided.
Programmes may be modified or cancelled due to adverse weather or safety concerns; any such change will be announced on the Site.

Article 7 (Obligations of Users)

Users must not engage in any of the following while using the Services.

Misappropriating another person’s information or providing false information
Altering or damaging information on the Site without authorisation, or obstructing its operation
Infringing the copyright or other intellectual property rights of the Operator or any third party
Posting or distributing content contrary to public order and morals
Any other act in violation of applicable laws and regulations

Article 8 (Management of Postings)

Where the Operator determines that a User’s Posting falls under Article 7 or violates applicable laws, the Operator may delete the Posting or suspend its publication without prior notice.

Article 9 (Ownership of Copyright)

Copyright and intellectual property rights in the content provided on the Site belong to the Operator or the respective rights holders. Users may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, publish or create derivative works from such content for commercial purposes without the prior consent of the Operator.

Article 10 (Disclaimer)

The Operator is exempt from liability where the Services cannot be provided due to natural disaster, adverse weather or comparable force majeure.
The Operator is not liable for any disruption to the Services attributable to the User.
The Operator is not liable for the reliability or accuracy of information or materials posted by Users.

Article 11 (Resolution of Disputes)

The laws of the Republic of Korea apply to any dispute arising in connection with the use of the Services. Should a dispute lead to litigation, the court having jurisdiction over the Operator’s address shall be the competent court.

Addendum

Effective date: 1 January 2026
Terms of Use version: 1.0.0

Privacy Policy

The Operator of the “2026 Seoul Light Hangang Bitseom Festival: Rhapsody of Light” (the “Operator”) establishes and discloses the following Privacy Policy in accordance with Article 30 of the Personal Information Protection Act, in order to protect the personal information of data subjects and to handle related grievances promptly and smoothly.

Article 1 (Purpose of Processing Personal Information)

The Operator processes personal information for the following purposes and does not use it for any other purpose.

Accepting applications, verifying identity and providing participation guidance for programmes requiring advance reservation, such as Light Run and Lecture
Receiving enquiries and responding with the outcome
Delivering urgent notices regarding schedule changes, weather and safety
Analysing Festival operating statistics and improving the Services (processed in a form that does not identify individuals)

Article 2 (Items of Personal Information Collected and Methods of Collection)

Required items: name, mobile telephone number, email address
Optional items: affiliation (organisation name), enquiry details, attached files
Automatically collected items: IP address, cookies, access date and time, service usage records, browser and device information

Personal information is collected when data subjects enter it directly through the reservation and enquiry forms on the website, and may also be generated and collected automatically in the course of using the Services.

Article 3 (Processing and Retention Period of Personal Information)

The Operator processes and retains personal information within the retention and use period prescribed by law, or within the period consented to by the data subject.

Programme reservation records: up to 3 months after the Festival ends
Enquiry and consultation records: up to 3 years after processing is completed
Website access logs: 3 months, in accordance with the Protection of Communications Secrets Act

Article 4 (Provision of Personal Information to Third Parties)

The Operator processes personal information only within the scope specified in Article 1, and provides it to third parties only where the data subject has consented or where specifically provided for by law.

Article 5 (Outsourcing of Personal Information Processing)

The Operator may outsource website operation and maintenance and reservation system operation to external parties for the smooth running of the Festival. When concluding an outsourcing agreement, matters concerning the secure management of personal information are specified in the contract, and any change of trustee will be disclosed through this Policy.

Article 6 (Rights and Obligations of Data Subjects and How to Exercise Them)

Data subjects may exercise the following rights against the Operator at any time.

Request access to their personal information
Request correction where there are errors
Request deletion
Request suspension of processing

These rights may be exercised in writing, by email or by other means, and the Operator will act on such requests without delay. Where a data subject requests correction of an error in their personal information, the Operator will not use or provide that information until the correction is complete.

Article 7 (Destruction of Personal Information)

Where personal information becomes unnecessary — for example, because the retention period has expired or the processing purpose has been achieved — the Operator destroys it without delay. Information held in electronic files is deleted by a method that makes recovery impossible, and paper documents are shredded or incinerated.

Article 8 (Measures to Ensure the Security of Personal Information)

Administrative measures: establishing and implementing an internal management plan, minimising the number of handling staff, and providing regular training
Technical measures: managing access rights, retaining access logs, encrypting personal information, and installing and updating security software
Physical measures: access control for archives and storage areas

Article 9 (Installation and Operation of Automatic Collection Devices, and Refusal Thereof)

The Operator may use cookies to provide users with tailored services. Users may refuse the storage of cookies through their web browser settings; however, doing so may restrict the use of some services.

Article 10 (Personal Information Protection Officer)

The Operator takes overall responsibility for personal information processing and has designated a Personal Information Protection Officer, as set out below, to handle complaints from data subjects and to provide remedies in relation to personal information processing.

Personal Information Protection Officer: Festival Operations Office representative
Address: 445, Yangnyeong-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea (04427)
Contact: please submit your enquiry through the contact form on the website.

Article 11 (Remedies for Infringement of Rights)

To obtain remedies for infringement of personal information, you may apply to the following bodies for dispute resolution or consultation.

Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee: 1833-6972 (www.kopico.go.kr)
Personal Information Infringement Report Centre: 118 (no area code required) (privacy.kisa.or.kr)
Cybercrime Investigation Division, Supreme Prosecutors’ Office: 1301 (no area code required) (www.spo.go.kr)
National Office of Investigation (Cyber Bureau), Korean National Police Agency: 182 (no area code required) (ecrm.cyber.go.kr)

Article 12 (Refusal of Unauthorised Email Collection)

The unauthorised collection of email addresses posted on this Site by means of email collection programmes or other technical devices is refused. Any violation may result in criminal punishment under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilisation and Information Protection.

Addendum

Effective date: 1 January 2026
Privacy Policy version: 1.0.0
Where content is added to, deleted from or amended in this Policy, notice will be given on the website at least 7 days before it takes effect.

공연예약

Terms of Use

Article 1 (Purpose)

Article 2 (Definitions)

Article 3 (Effect and Amendment of the Terms)

Article 4 (Provision and Modification of Services)

Article 5 (Suspension of Services)

Article 6 (Attendance and Programme Reservations)

Article 7 (Obligations of Users)

Article 8 (Management of Postings)

Article 9 (Ownership of Copyright)

Article 10 (Disclaimer)

Article 11 (Resolution of Disputes)

Addendum

Privacy Policy

Article 1 (Purpose of Processing Personal Information)

Article 2 (Items of Personal Information Collected and Methods of Collection)

Article 3 (Processing and Retention Period of Personal Information)

Article 4 (Provision of Personal Information to Third Parties)

Article 5 (Outsourcing of Personal Information Processing)

Article 6 (Rights and Obligations of Data Subjects and How to Exercise Them)

Article 7 (Destruction of Personal Information)

Article 8 (Measures to Ensure the Security of Personal Information)

Article 9 (Installation and Operation of Automatic Collection Devices, and Refusal Thereof)

Article 10 (Personal Information Protection Officer)

Article 11 (Remedies for Infringement of Rights)

Article 12 (Refusal of Unauthorised Email Collection)

Addendum