South Korea’s AI Porn And Deepfake Sex Crimes Growing Among Teens

In 2020, South Korea was rocked by a major cyber sex crime case known as the Nth Room.

Investigations revealed that a Telegram channel operated by a group of men was distributing sexually explicit and torturous videos of women, including minors, per PopSugar. At least 103 victims were confirmed, including 26 underaged girls. Their images were shared and sold to over 260,000 accounts, with around 60,000 users involved. Transactions were conducted anonymously using cryptocurrency. Moon Hyung-wook, the creator of the chatrooms on Telegram, was sentenced to 34 years in prison after coercing women and girls to share explicit videos of themselves.

Similar crimes are persisting today. According to reports, another South Korean Telegram channel full of men is again posting sexually explicit photos of women. This week, a list identifying schools attended by victims of deepfake crimes began circulating rapidly through social networking services (SNS) and online communities in South Korea. High school and middle school students were reportedly sharing AI-generated photos and deepfake pornography of their classmates on Telegram channels.

The vice principal of one of the high schools on the list told the Chosun Ilbo, “We have confirmed that deepfake sex crime materials have affected our school,” adding, “Given the seriousness of the issue and the involvement of other local schools, we have decided to cooperate with the police through the education office.”

A woman from South Korea shared a viral post on X showing screenshots of the Telegram channel. Men were found to be releasing private information about the women in their lives and sharing photos of them. "Korean men have been creating multiple chatrooms using Telegram and spreading personal information of women around them; including their family members, coworkers, and classmates," she wrote.

Another Korean X user, @dvu84djp, shared a translated post written by a young Korean woman. "Almost every school in Korea had a secret Telegram chatroom for boys. It was a place where they used AI to photoshop schoolgirls' faces into porn," they wrote. "Some [chat] rooms required men to secretly take and submit body photos of their female family members in order to join."

"These Telegram rooms have an estimated 220,000 members," they continued.

South Korean police have reported a sharp rise in online deepfake sex crimes, with 297 cases logged in the first seven months of this year. This marks a significant jump from the 180 cases reported last year and nearly doubles the count from 2021 when records began. Most of the suspects are teenagers or people in their 20s.

Additionally, data from the National Police Agency previously obtained by People Power Party lawmaker Cho Eun-hee reported that teenagers made up 69% (194 cases) of those booked for creating and distributing deepfakes over the past three years.

On Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol demanded a thorough investigation into digital sex crimes. Currently, creating and distributing sexually explicit deepfakes is a serious offense under the Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Act in Korea. Those found guilty face up to five years in prison or a fine of 50 million won (about $37,500).

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