Kim Do-eup: "Never Ignored the Nth Room Petition... Let's First Examine If It Is Possible Under Current Law"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Kim Do-eup, a member of the Future United Party, clarified that he has never ignored the petition related to the 'Nth Room case'.

On the 23rd, Representative Kim issued a statement saying, "Regarding the Nth Room case, there are false claims and reports spreading during the National Assembly petition review process."

He explained, "I also view the occurrence of the Nth Room case as an unacceptable and serious matter. The petition was submitted to the January National Assembly and reviewed by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in March. During the review, the necessity of strong punishment and the reinforcement of sentencing guidelines to prevent recurrence were examined and passed."

He added, "Some civic groups and media outlets claimed without verifying the facts that 'the petition contents were reduced and hastily processed in the National Assembly,' and selectively quoted parts of my remarks to make it seem as if the petition was ignored. This is not true."

According to Representative Kim's explanation, Speaker Moon Hee-sang referred two of the three demands in the petition?▲international police cooperation investigation by the police and ▲the establishment of a dedicated digital crime unit in investigative agencies and the creation of a response manual including prevention of secondary harm?to the relevant standing committees, the Administration and Security Committee and the Women and Family Committee, respectively. These committees then transferred the related matters to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Finally, only the third demand of the petition, 'establishing strict sentencing guidelines for digital sex crimes to prevent crime', was referred as a legislative amendment matter to the relevant standing committee, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

Representative Kim pointed out, "The Legislation and Judiciary Committee processed the petition referred by the Speaker through legislative amendment, including 'deepfake videos' under the Special Act on Sexual Violence and strengthened sentencing guidelines. The claim that the petition was reduced and hastily processed is false."

Regarding his remark during the bill review process, "Do we make laws just because a petition is submitted?", he explained, "It was a question to verify whether punishment is possible under current law. It was meant to consider whether to handle the issue through existing laws first rather than immediately resolving it through legislation, and to choose the most effective method such as legal amendment."

He continued, "After the inquiry, I agreed on the seriousness of the case, concerns about misuse of new technology, and the need for strong legal punishment, and amended and passed the related law. It is untrue to claim that I opposed the legislative amendment by selectively quoting parts of my remarks without considering the context before and after the meeting."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.