'Jagyeongdan' Scarlet Letter Staff Personal Info Also Leaked in Reverse... Police "Under Investigation"

Telegram Room Suspected of Operating 'Juhonggeulssi' Admin Spreading 'China Specialist' Personal Information
Police Received Tips and Passed to Investigation Team... "Comprehensive Investigation"
Other Telegram Rooms Claiming to Be 'Vigilantes' Also Under Investigation

On the 25th, the Digital Sex Crime Special Investigation Headquarters plaque ceremony was held at the Northern Building of the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporters Song Seung-yoon and Lee Jung-yoon] The police have confirmed the personal information of a person presumed to be an administrator of the Telegram group chat 'Juhonggeulssi' and are considering whether to investigate. The administrators of Juhonggeulssi have caused controversy by obtaining and disclosing the personal information of those who purchased and distributed sexual exploitation materials, or by committing acts of harm against them.

According to a compilation of Asia Economy's coverage on the 8th, the name, phone number, and other personal information of Mr. A (nickname: China Specialist), known as an early member and administrator of Juhonggeulssi, were leaked through some Telegram chat rooms on the 5th. Mr. A is presumed to be the person who effectively manages the Juhonggeulssi chat room and is suspected of leading the disclosure of personal information of sexual exploitation material distributors and ordering harsh acts.

The disclosure of Mr. A's personal information, who was engaged in such activities, appears to have been done by another group dissatisfied with the operational behavior of Juhonggeulssi centered around Mr. A. However, it has not been confirmed whether Mr. A is indeed the actual operator of Juhonggeulssi. Currently, the mobile phone presumed to be his is turned off.

The police received a tip about this and have passed the information to the investigation team. A police official said, "It is true that the information received was passed to the investigation team, but we cannot disclose the progress," adding, "We are broadly reviewing the acts of personal information disclosure within Telegram."

Introduction text of the Telegram chat room 'Juhonggeulssi' (Photo by Telegram chat room Juhonggeulssi capture)

The police currently believe that multiple Telegram chat rooms with activities similar to Juhonggeulssi are being operated. On the 2nd, the Digital Sexual Crime Special Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency held a briefing at the police headquarters and stated that they are also investigating 'vigilante groups' that distribute personal information of suspected criminals like Juhonggeulssi, saying, "There are significant privacy violations in vigilante activities, so we are examining them closely."

If Mr. A is indeed an administrator of Juhonggeulssi, he and all those who distributed personal information in the chat room are expected to be investigated by the police soon. If Juhonggeulssi wrongly identified innocent people as criminals and spread their personal information, it would also constitute defamation by false facts. Even if the person whose personal information was disclosed by Juhonggeulssi is actually under criminal suspicion, defamation by true facts may still apply.

Juhonggeulssi, established in July last year, has claimed to be a 'vigilante group' and has arbitrarily disclosed the personal information of men who appear to have produced, purchased, or possessed sexual exploitation pornography. Although this is a clear criminal act, it received some positive evaluation after the Nth Room case became public, supported by public opinion demanding severe punishment for perpetrators.

However, along with some administrators' past involvement in the Nth Room activities and side effects such as the disclosure of innocent people's personal information, the evaluation is shifting toward criticism. There have been claims that Juhonggeulssi caught perpetrators' weaknesses and committed sexual harm acts(Asia Economy April 6th, page 10, 'Vigilante group, in the name of punishment... enslaving perpetrators by exploiting weaknesses' article reference). Ultimately, there are criticisms that Juhonggeulssi committed sexual exploitation crimes no different from those involved in the Nth Room case.

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