Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Police to invest $2 mil. in deepfake detection technology
A police logo in front of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency / Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
Police plan to spend 2.7 billion won ($2 million) next year to develop a deep-learning technology to detect deepfake content, in response to the increasing number of AI-generated material targeting women.
According to the National Police Agency on Thursday, the funds will be allocated to develop technologies in 2025 to combat digital sex crimes involving deepfake video and audio content.
Over the next three years, the agency plans to put a total of 9.1 billion won into the project.
Police have also set aside an additional 500 million won to upgrade their deepfake detection technologies that are currently available.
The total police budget for next year would be more than 13.5 trillion won, which will be determined after a National Assembly review.
The budget for supporting crime victims and preventing retaliatory offenses will also see a significant increase. Police will invest 2.45 billion won from the Crime Victim Protection Fund in private security services for high-risk victims, such as those affected by stalking and dating violence.
The agency will also raise the compensation amount for informants who provide crucial information that aids in investigations into organized crimes such as fraud and gambling.