'Baksa' Was Caught, but Crime Continues

Telegram Baksa Bang Explosion Preparedness
'Daepiso', 'Bangju' Backup Chat Rooms
About 1,000 Users

44.8% of Pornography Sharing Cases Not Prosecuted
Lenient Punishment for Viewing and Possession

Malicious Evolution Moving Across Platforms Like Twitter, Discord, WeChat

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungyun Song and Jeongyun Lee] A woman appearing in a video pleads for help while sobbing. In another video, a woman who appears to be a high school student licks a bathroom drain with her tongue. There is also a video where a woman invites unspecified individuals to sexually assault her. All these illegal videos, which are difficult to even mention, were produced by "Doctor" Jo targeting women. Even after Jo's arrest and the resulting social uproar, these videos are still being shared in group chat rooms on the mobile messenger Telegram. Posts such as "Can you upload more Doctor materials?" and "Upload videos with higher intensity" frequently appear in the chat rooms.

On the 24th, the reporters checked two Telegram group chat rooms, where dozens of sexually exploitative videos produced by Jo could be played or downloaded without any issues. These chat rooms were created by general users to "backup" the materials amid rumors that police investigations might begin, and are called "Shelter" and "(Noah's) Ark." They were made to prevent the situation where Jo's chat rooms would be "blown up" and videos would no longer be accessible. Although no new videos or chats have been posted since November last year and February this year respectively, about 1,000 people still belong to these rooms.

The police plan to strictly respond even to those who only watched the obscene materials in the chat rooms, but there are no regulations to punish mere viewing of obscene materials. Only those who knowingly possess obscene materials featuring minors can face up to one year imprisonment or a fine of up to 20 million won. According to actual rulings, even if prosecuted for simple possession, it is difficult to find cases where imprisonment was sentenced. At most, fines are imposed. According to data submitted by Democratic Party lawmaker Chang-il Kang to the Ministry of Justice in November last year, from 2014 to 2018, a total of 2,146 people were investigated by prosecutors for possession of child and youth pornography, but 44.8% of them were dismissed without trial.

Attorney O Gijeong of Taeshin Law Firm said, "In cases of manufacturing and distributing obscene materials under the Child and Youth Sexual Protection Act, punishment is highly likely based on the act itself, but for simple viewers or possessors, it is ambiguous how the law should be applied," adding, "Even if possession is recognized, since the originally prescribed sentence is low, it is difficult to easily impose imprisonment."

With the low likelihood of punishment combined with the nature of the crime that frequently shifts platforms to evade investigations, concerns about secondary harm to victims are growing. Recently, there have been signs of sharing and trading of obscene materials produced by Jo moving from Telegram to other foreign messengers such as Twitter, Discord, and WeChat. It is easy to confirm that Telegram group rooms freely sharing Jo's videos are still active, but there is no proper way to regulate them. A Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official said, "Since Telegram is a foreign messenger company, there are limitations in immediately blocking Doctor-related materials or group rooms," adding, "We are working with related agencies such as the Korea Communications Standards Commission to delete obscene materials."

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