Citizens and university students stage a news conference denouncing deepfake sex crimes in Seoul on Aug. 29, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — A total of 403 individuals have been apprehended since 2021 for illegally creating deepfake pornography videos, a police report showed Tuesday, as South Korea scrambles to combat online deepfake pornography targeting young women.
According to the National Police Agency report submitted to Democratic Party Rep. Hwang Jung-a, 7,530 individuals were apprehended between 2021 to 2023 for cyberspace sexual violence, such as the circulation of sexually exploitative videos involving children and spy cam videos.
Of them, 257 were caught for deepfake video crimes. With the 146 additional individuals apprehended between January and July this year, the total number of people apprehended since 2021 for illegal deepfake pornography has risen to 403.
However, only 12, or 4.7 percent, of those apprehended between 2021 and 2023 were formally arrested for investigation, while the arrest rate this year stood at only 2.7 percent, the report showed.
The report also showed that of the total 7,530 individuals apprehended between 2021 and 2023 for cyberspace sexual violence, nearly 44 percent were caught for sexually exploitative videos involving children, followed by illegal filming at 32.1 percent.
Of them, only 5.5 percent were formally arrested for investigation.
Hwang emphasized that investigative bodies tend to inappropriately underestimate the seriousness of cyberspace sex violence.
“Digital sex crimes should be treated as serious crimes, given the speed of their proliferation and the fact that they can be committed using just a smartphone and a computer,” she said.
(Yonhap)
