"Must Pay Properly"… Institutionalizing Severe Punishment for 'Digital Sexual Crimes'

"n번방 Perpetrators,
Should Not Receive Lenient Punishment"

Rep. Baek Hyeryun Leads 3 Bills to Prevent n번방 Recurrence
Up to 10 Years Imprisonment for Hidden Camera Distribution
Self-Recorded Materials Also Punishable

Jo Joo-bin, the main perpetrator of the Nth Room case involving the production and sale of illegal sexual exploitation videos on Telegram, is heading to a transport vehicle on the morning of the 25th at Jongno Police Station in Seoul to be transferred to the prosecution. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Gwanju Lee] As the Telegram 'n번방 (Nth Room)' case has sparked public outrage, it is expected that punishments for digital sex crimes will be significantly strengthened. If sexually humiliating materials are distributed commercially, imprisonment of up to 10 years may be imposed, and the law will be changed to punish those who directly film and distribute images of their own bodies.

According to the National Assembly Legislative Information System on the 26th, the 'n번방 Recurrence Prevention 3 Acts,' led by Baek Hyeryun of the Democratic Party of Korea, addresses the 'blind spots' where participants of the Telegram n번방 cannot be punished under current laws and raises the level of punishment. Under current law, only materials filmed without the subject's consent can be punished, and possession such as downloading obscene materials is punishable only if the victim is a child. Because of this, it was anticipated that materials involving victims other than minors in the Doctor's Room sexual exploitation case would escape punishment.

However, the amendment to the 'Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes (Sexual Violence Special Act)' submitted by Representative Baek stipulates that even if a person distributes images of their own body that they filmed themselves, they can be punished with imprisonment of up to 7 years. Distributing such materials for profit can lead to imprisonment of up to 10 years. A new provision was also introduced to punish those who download obscene materials with imprisonment of up to 7 years, not just distributors.

The concurrently proposed amendment to the Criminal Act newly establishes provisions to punish with imprisonment of up to 7 years and 10 years respectively if one is found guilty of threatening (special threats) or coercion using obscene materials. The amendment to the Information and Communications Network Act stipulates that business operators who fail to take technical measures such as deleting obscene materials may face imprisonment of up to 3 years or fines up to 30 million KRW.

The problem is that even if punishments are significantly strengthened, strict law enforcement is unlikely if societal standards remain lax. There have been many criticisms that digital sexual violence has mostly resulted in light punishments such as fines or suspended sentences. According to the 'Gender-Sensitive Analysis on Responses to Illegal Filming Materials (2019)' published by the Korean Women's Development Institute, the arrest rate for illegal filming materials reaches 90%, but cases leading to detention are less than 5%. Reviewing first trial verdicts from 2012 to 2018 for charges of filming using cameras, fines accounted for 52.3%, the highest proportion, followed by suspended sentences at 30.1%. Digital sex crimes have been perceived as less serious than sexual violence involving the body.

According to the '2018 Analysis of Sexual Crime Trends Against Children and Adolescents' released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, 74.3% of obscene material production crimes involving children and adolescents were carried out through chat applications. Violent or coercive methods such as threats accounted for only 5.7%. The Korean Women's Development Institute stated in its report, "Digital sexual violence involves an unspecified number of participants and continuous reproduction of videos, which can cause greater suffering for victims."

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