Successor of 'Doctor' Taepyeongyang also forged police official documents

Forged police official document by 16-year-old Taepyeongyang Imo

[Asia Economy Reporters Song Seung-yoon and Lee Jung-yoon] It has been confirmed that Lee Mo (16), known as "Taepyeongyang," an accomplice of Cho Ju-bin (24), the operator of the "Doctor's Room" who was arrested on charges of producing and distributing sexually exploitative obscene materials, even forged police official documents to use in his crimes.

According to a comprehensive report by Asia Economy on the 1st, Lee posted a forged official document impersonating the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in a group chat room on Telegram last November. The document was titled "Request for Provision of Investigation Work Materials." In the document, Lee cited the Criminal Procedure Act and the Personal Information Protection Act, stating, "It has been confirmed that a habitual distributor of child and youth pornography posted screenshots of virtual account transfers in the Telegram chat room," and requested the provision of documents related to the personal information of the person who used the virtual account.

Except for mistakenly writing the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency as the head of the Seoul Metropolitan City Police Agency and omitting the fax number at the end of the forged document, it closely resembles an actual document used by the police. Lee even said, "I made it well," when posting the document in the Telegram chat room. There is a possibility that Lee used the forged document to extract personal information of sexual exploitation victims and used it as a means of intimidation. According to police investigations, Cho and his group have previously obtained personal information such as resident registration numbers of victims through accomplices like public service workers and used it for threats.

Legal circles expect that Lee could be charged with the offense of using forged official documents depending on the content and purpose of the forged document. Under criminal law, forging or altering official documents for the purpose of use is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and even attempts are punishable. However, the police did not apply the charge of forging official documents when transferring Lee to the prosecution. A Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official stated, "We did not conduct an investigation into Lee Mo for the charge of forging official documents."

Lee was arrested and indicted last month on charges including production and distribution of obscene materials under the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles Against Sexual Abuse and is awaiting trial. The first trial for Lee was originally scheduled for the 30th of the same month but was postponed to the 20th of this month after the prosecution requested a delay considering the possibility of additional indictments. As the prosecution has begun supplementary investigations into major operators of the n-room case, such as Jeon Mo (38), known as "Watchman," and Shin Mo (38), known as "Kelly," who are already on trial, Lee's charge of forging official documents may be added during the investigation. A lawyer formerly with the prosecution said, "If the forged document is not crude or obviously false to anyone, it is not difficult to apply charges from the moment the forged document was posted." Another lawyer explained, "Since the document appears to be quite meticulously made, the charge of using forged official documents can be applied. If the prosecution has already secured materials, they may consider adding charges during additional indictments."

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