Missing Telegram 'n번방' Perpetrators... Police Narrow Scope for Intensive Investigation

Jo Joo-bin, the operator of the 'Doctor's Room' who threatened dozens of women including minors on the internet messenger Telegram and forced them to film obscene materials which he then distributed, is seen on the morning of March 25th leaving Jongno Police Station in Seoul to be transferred to the prosecution. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Since the arrest of Jo Joo-bin (24), known as the 'Doctor,' who produced and distributed sexually exploitative obscene materials on Telegram, the police have been focusing all their efforts on investigating digital sex crimes. The National Police Agency launched the 'Special Investigation Headquarters for Digital Sex Crimes' on the 25th of last month, and as of the 22nd of this month, they have apprehended 340 suspects related to digital sex crimes and detained 51 of them. However, several key figures remain at large.

The biggest challenge in the current police investigation is capturing 'GodGod,' who originally created the Nth Room. GodGod established a Telegram group chat for sexually exploitative obscene materials before Jo and produced obscene content targeting women, including minors. He also received money and distributed the materials.

The difficulty in investigating GodGod lies in the lack of traces to track him. In September last year, GodGod disappeared after leaving a message in the Telegram chat saying he was "preparing for the college entrance exam." He also deleted the Telegram account he used. To avoid being traced, he accepted cultural gift certificates instead of virtual currency, which leaves traces.

Before going into hiding, GodGod reportedly used the New Zealand cloud service Mega Cloud to share sexually exploitative materials. After being missing for over seven months, GodGod suddenly left Mega Cloud links to some users in January. Mega Cloud is headquartered overseas and is perceived to have strong security and anonymity, which is why it is used to share sexually exploitative materials.

Although Mega Cloud is known to be cooperating with Korean police investigation requests, due to the nature of cloud services, there are limitations on the storage period and capacity of log records, so it is uncertain whether any traces of GodGod remain.

The investigation related to GodGod is currently being handled by the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency. The police have mentioned that "the investigation is narrowing down the scope" regarding tracking GodGod but have not disclosed detailed investigation status.

The police are also conducting an investigation to identify the nickname 'Samagwi,' who is pointed out as an accomplice of Jo Joo-bin. Samagwi is considered a key accomplice along with 'Butta' Kang Hoon (18), who was previously arrested, and Army Private 'Igiya' Lee Won-ho (19).

The police are making every effort to identify whether Samagwi is among the suspects related to Telegram sexual exploitation materials and to apprehend him. On the 20th, National Police Chief Min Gap-ryong explained at a press conference, "We are conducting meaningful investigations regarding Samagwi." If Samagwi is captured, it is expected to clarify not only the conspiracy relationship between Jo and his key accomplices but also whether they organized and operated a criminal group.

However, cooperation from Telegram is necessary to identify personal information about these individuals, but it is reported that there has been little response to investigation cooperation requests so far. Ultimately, the police face the difficulty of gathering and tracking various clues scattered inside and outside Telegram.

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