Porn actors playing minors face punishment

By Lee Kyung-min

Possessing or distributing videos showing sexually explicit acts by adult actors portraying minors is also subject to punishment, alongside content involving actual minors, the Constitutional Court ruled Thursday.

In a five-to-four decision, the justices said that two clauses, which punish those who distribute, publicly screen or possess material containing minors or their likeness engaging in sexually explicit acts, are constitutional.

Currently, distribution or sharing such content with the purpose of commercial gain is a crime subject to a prison term of up to 10 years, and seven years in cases of non-commercial use.

For simple possession of such material, the punishment is either a prison term of up to one-year or a fine of up to 20 million won.

The petition was filed by a man who was indicted in 2012 after screening video footage in his store containing a woman in her 20s wearing a school uniform.

The Northern District Court and the Suwon District Court helped with the petition saying punishment by applying such blind standards is too excessive, adding harsh measures will dampen the creative spirit of artists.

There have been disputes because the scrutiny applies not only to material containing minors, but adults portraying minors for the purpose of art.

Criticism followed, because such standards mean punishment will be inevitable for producers and distributors of popular movies such as “Eun-kyo,” a film which depicts a romance between an old man and a minor.