"The side effects of fake news are great, as it has not only damaged the honor of the victims, but also undermined the credibility of social information and the formation of a sound, rational public opinion," Hwang said during a Cabinet meeting.

"Once fake news is disseminated, it takes a great deal of effort and cost to rectify the wrong and it also inflicts considerable damage (on the victims)," he added.

The acting president, in particular, highlighted the vulnerability of South Korea, one of the world's most wired countries.

"In particular, our country is equipped with top-tier information infrastructure, and therefore, fake news can spread faster and more widely," Hwang said.

"(The government) needs to make a preemptive, strong response to fake news so that we can enhance the credibility of information communication networks such as social network services and everybody can safely utilize the country's information and communications networks," he added.

To this end, Hwang ordered the related government agencies, including the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the National Police Agency, to strengthen their monitoring activities and clamp down on the production and spread of fake news.

He also directed Cabinet ministers to strive to establish rules on the definition of fake news and punishments for those spreading unfounded reports.

During the meeting, Hwang also defended his decision to reject the independent counsel's request to extend his team's probe into a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend.

He called for "understanding," saying the decision came in consideration of various factors, including the need to focus on addressing a series of national challenges like the economic slowdown and North Korea's growing military threats.

The special probe team's 70-day investigation is to end on Tuesday.

Touching on the recent death of the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Hwang urged the communist state to faithfully respond to Malaysian authorities' calls to cooperate with their investigation rather than arguing that the death was a Seoul-concocted conspiracy.

"(I) call on you (ministers) to cooperate with the international community in a multi-faceted way to ensure that strong sanctions will be applied against Pyongyang's chemical weapons," Hwang said. (Yonhap)