Korea prepares for undercover investigation into online sex crimes

Cho Ju-bin is taken into a car at a police station in Seoul, March 25, before being sent to prosecutors on allegations that he blackmailed dozens of victims into performing humiliating sex acts and sold the content in a mobile group chat on the messaging service Telegram. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Korea is gearing up to introduce undercover investigations into sex crimes taking place online in a bid to eradicate such felonies and protect minors from sexual assault, police said Sunday.

According to the National Police Agency (NPA), a delegation of the National Assembly's Committee for Gender Equality and Family will discuss relevant bills, Wednesday.

The developments came as the nation has been shocked recently by a string of sexual exploitation cases centered on group chats in the Telegram messenger service.

Undercover investigation techniques, currently used for drug investigations, will be introduced to online sex crimes, with investigators posing as minors, for instance, the NPA said.

Cho Ju-bin, a 24-year-old operator of pay-to-view chat rooms on Telegram messenger, has been arrested for allegedly blackmailing female victims, including underage girls, into providing sexually humiliating videos, which were then distributed on Telegram in his group chats, dubbed “Baksabang.”

Such illegal videos of sexual exploitation have been circulated in private groups on the internet, making it difficult to investigate.

“Although existing distribution platforms for such illegal materials such as Soranet have been eliminated significantly due to massive investigation, there are still many buyers, advertisers and possessors of child and youth sexual abuse materials, as well as their producers and sellers,” the NPA official said.

Once undercover investigations are officially introduced, officers will be able to pose as adolescents, and track down criminals more efficiently, he said.

In particular, Telegram, the overseas security messenger, has emerged rapidly as a distribution channel for illegal sexual exploitation materials.

In order to prevent police from accessing their channels, perpetrators of online sex crimes often ask for photos of users' faces or money from those who wish to participate in their group chats. It has been reported that some people are allowed to sign up only if they commit certain similar illegal acts.

“Disguising identity is one of the most basic tactics for thorough investigation,” the NPA official said.

Introducing such undercover techniques is also expected to have a deterrent effect on such crimes and reduce the number of victims.

“The undercover investigation is much more beneficial than you'd expect. Many advanced countries are already implementing such investigative techniques," said Park Hyun-ho, professor of the police administration department at Yongin University.