Police probe 'girlfriend shots' on right-wing website

A notice board on Ilbe Storage, a far-right website, shows posts of “girlfriend proof shot,” in which the site members uploaded obscene photos of their female partners without their consent. Such posts have been uploaded here since 2011. / Captured from Ilbe Storage

By Jung Hae-myoung

The police have launched an investigation into Ilbe Storage, an extreme right-wing website that often expresses hatred toward women, after dozens of photos showing women's private body parts ― presumably taken without their consent ― have been uploaded since Monday.

“We ordered the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to investigate it immediately, and will seriously deal with this incident,” an official of the National Police Agency's cyber bureau said.

A photo of a sleeping woman came up around 2 a.m. on Monday, titled “proof shot of Korean girlfriend,” and similar posts with images followed until around 7 a.m. as if it was a competition between members.

Many of the photos showed the women's faces and exposed their private parts, and the scenes and angles implied they were shot without the women's consent. Other members of the Ilbe website left sexually humiliating comments, judging each woman's body.

“They are keeping photos of the women's body parts and sharing opinions with each other, as if such behavior is just a game between men,” said Kim Hye-jung, the deputy director of Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center.

Many women expressed anger at the postings and several online petitions were posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website to urge heavy punishment of the uploaders in order to prevent further online sex crimes.

One petition, which gathered more than 123,000 signatures as of Tuesday, demanded the government sternly punish the uploaders as well as those who downloaded the photos and posted them on other sites.

“The victims do not even know their photos have been uploaded and spread, they are being sexually harassed,” the petitioner said.

“This is a society where a trusting boyfriend commits a crime like this because they think it is nothing serious. What can the victim do? What can they gain through a police complaint or lawsuit? The male offenders will get a slap on the wrist and pay a fine, but the female victims have to live in fear for the rest of their lives worrying about where their naked pictures will end up.”

There have been consistent public requests to shut down Ilbe due to the members' controversial behaviors, especially misogynistic activities. Although the “girlfriend shots” became controversial this time after the Cheong Wa Dae petition and media reports, similar posts have been uploaded on this website continuously since 2011. The victims of the posts included not only Korean women but also those in Japan, Taiwan and China.

But the government has made no restrictions.

“If the photos were illegally shot, the uploaders will be punished. And the operators of the website will be, too, if they have neglected the illegalities on this platform,” the police official said.

According to the act on sex crimes, a person who spreads sexually exploitative material without consent of the person pictured can be jailed for up to five years or fined 10 million won ($8,862). Those who spread the content on other social media or websites can be also punished.