Local universities struggling with spycams on campus

Members of Seoul National University’s student council speak at Gwanak Police Station in Seoul, Aug. 13, before filing a complaint to call for investigation into spycams allegedly installed in men’s rooms on the school campus. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

Anxiety over spycams on school campuses is growing here, and student councils and school authorities are seeking countermeasures to protect students. But some activists say the moves are only happening now because hidden camera crimes are increasingly victimizing male students.

On Aug. 17, the student council of Yonsei University filed a complaint with Seodaemun Police, requesting an investigation into suspected spycam posts targeting male students uploaded on the radical feminist website WOMAD.

According to the police and the student body, five postings with titles like “Yonsei University men's toilet spycam” were uploaded on the website on Aug. 12.

“We received a message from one of the school students on Aug. 13 that posts about voyeur videos recorded on our campus have been shared on WOMAD. We filed a complaint with the police thinking no Yonsei University student should be targeted as a victim of the crime,” the student council said.

The postings were uploaded to a secret bulletin section, where only members satisfying certain standards can see the content. So whether the postings really contain voyeur videos taken at Yonsei campus is unknown yet, and the police are currently investigating.

A similar case also occurred at Seoul National University (SNU), whose student council also lodged a complaint with Gwanak Police on Aug. 13. It demanded an investigation into three members of WOMAD who allegedly uploaded voyeur videos recorded in SNU buildings.

A post claiming to contain stills of spycam footage taken in the men's toilet in the main library was uploaded on the radical feminist website on July 29, according to the SNU student council. Two more posts offering videos allegedly recorded in men's bathrooms at the school's main office building and the building of the liberal arts college were also revealed a few days after.

The council members said they could not confirm the content because of limited access to the posts.

SNU's school authority is working with the police to find the hidden cameras allegedly installed in the suspected buildings. It bought spycam detection equipment and began searching the buildings on Monday. The school is also filling in small holes in the toilet partitions where spycams may be installed, promising to check all 1,700 toilets on the school campus by Sept. 7.

However, many male students at SNU are starting to feel uncomfortable using campus toilets.

“These days I try to avoid using toilets on campus as much as possible. I use nearby coffee shop toilets instead,” a male SNU graduate student surnamed Shin said.

Korea University and Hanyang University's ERICA Campus in Ansan also experienced similar incidents involving WOMAD earlier this year.

Korea University's student body said such an illegal act cannot be justified regardless of gender.

“Making illegal images and distributing them online is a grave crime,” the student council said.

The extreme feminist website has been accused of sharing voyeur videos targeting men. It has been doing so after declaring war against misogynistic websites like Ilbe, which is notorious for spreading obscene footage of women recorded secretly in public places.

However, there are uncomfortable views on the swift actions by the student councils, school authorities and the police, as they have done little regarding spycams targeting female students although such voyeur videos have been around the internet for years.

“I agree spycams should be eradicated at schools and any illegal act should be punished regardless of the reason. But it seems there is gender discrimination in dealing with the spycam cases,” a female Yonsei University student surnamed Lee said.

“For some reason, no proper investigation has been conducted against Ilbe members and we all know they have shared a great deal more provocative and violent content.”

In a similar sense, women's groups have called for fair investigation when an arrest warrant was issued for the operator of WOMAD, who is staying overseas.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said the warrant was inevitable because WOMAD did not accept their request to delete obscene materials. In contrast, Ilbe and other misogynist sites comply with takedown requests from police, leading to no further action being taken.

A petition was also uploaded on Cheong Wa Dae's website to call for an impartial investigation on hate websites, collecting over 75,000 people signatures since Aug. 8.

The petition argued the police never sought arrest warrants against Ilbe operators despite them committing the same illegal acts for years. It added that it took 17 years to close down the website Soranet which hosted many voyeur videos, while police are taking very prompt action against the ultra-feminist website.

Korean National Police Agency Commissioner General Min Gap-ryong promised strict investigation into any spycam acts regardless of gender.

“We have arrested people who have uploaded illegal content on Ilbe and we are still investigating people aiding and abetting the crime. I will pay more close attention to the crimes committed against women,” Min said on Aug. 9.