Gov't to crack down on sex videos in chatrooms

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Jin Sun-mee makes her work report at the Gender Equality and Family Committee general meeting at National Assembly on Yeouido in Seoul, last Friday. Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

The government will launch an intensive crackdown on the sharing in chatrooms of illegally filmed sex videos, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Monday.

The move follows the scandal in which multiple celebrities, including K-pop singers Seungri and Jung Joon-young, secretly filmed themselves having sex with women and shared the films in a chatroom.

The crackdown will last from April 1 to May 31.

The government and police previously focused on sex trafficking in online open chatrooms, where many unidentified people come together to share information on similar interests or specific topics.

Now the authorities have broadened their scope to include the spreading and sharing of illegally filmed videos, as well as instigating or brokering prostitution.

When a phrase related to such illegal acts is detected, the authorities will send warning messages to the users, telling them the acts are illegal and ordering them to stop. If the users do not comply, the authorities will send several more warnings and finally demand the chatroom platform operator shut down the room.

When secretly recorded sex videos are found in open chatrooms, the Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center under the gender ministry will move to delete the illicit content immediately and ask police to investigate the group chat.

“Unlike their original purpose, chatrooms in cyber space are being abused as an indecent window to encourage and mediate prostitution as well as spread illegal content,” said Choi Chang-haeng, the ministry's director general at the Women's and Youth Rights Promotion Bureau.

“The gender ministry will not only strengthen support through this intensive crackdown but also urge platform operators to improve cyber space on their own. We will also work to promote and establish a sound social media culture.”

In the scandal, Jung allegedly recorded 13 sex videos without the knowledge or consent of his partners and shared them in group chat conversations with 16 friends. Among them, seven people ― including Seungri and FT Island member Choi Jong-hoon ― allegedly uploaded such content online. Jung's case was sent to the prosecution last week.

Police are also investigating other sex-related allegations involving the chatroom members. They said they secured testimony that Seungri provided escort services to future investors. According to some of the group chat conversations, Seungri told his business partner to prepare escorts services for foreign investors visiting Seoul in December 2015.

Separately, the police are investigating another sex-for-favors allegation at Seungri's birthday party in the Philippines in December 2017, and another escort service for a Japanese investor at the end of 2015.