The Crime Methods of 'Gatgat' Moon Hyung-wook Revealed by Police Investigation: "Planned, Meticulous, Brutal"

Approached victims through 'Iltal-gye', threatened them
Recruited accomplices and ordered sexual assaults
Boasted "won't get caught"
Confessed after persistent police pursuit
Estimated at least 50 victims

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The crime methods of Moon Hyung-wook (24), the first creator of the so-called 'Telegram n-room,' considered the pinnacle of police investigations related to digital sex crimes, were planned, meticulous, and even brutal.

According to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency, which investigated this case, Moon's criminal activities date back to September 2018. He approached children and adolescents who posted photos exposing their bodies on social networking services (SNS), particularly in so-called 'deviant groups.' Moon approached them by saying, "There has been a report, but I will help you," and stole personal information such as account IDs and passwords.

The brutal sexual exploitation crimes began at this point. Initially, Moon demanded photos of body exposure, but gradually escalated his actions by producing sexual exploitation materials and distributing them through Telegram chat rooms. Starting with 'Rooms 1 to 5' in February 2019, he opened 'Rooms 6 to 8' in July of the same year. He created about ten Telegram chat rooms, including separate ones not part of the 'n-room,' to distribute sexual exploitation materials.

Moon's crimes went beyond simple threats. After recruiting accomplices through SNS, he instructed them to sexually assault victims and even taught how to produce sexual exploitation materials. In the early stages of the crime, he received cultural gift certificates worth about 900,000 won as chat room entrance fees, but gave all of them to the victims, fearing arrest by the police, and did not use them himself.

Moon consistently expressed strong confidence, saying, "I will not be caught." However, persistent police tracking eventually caught him. The police began tracking Moon in March last year and succeeded in identifying him after about a year. Initially, during police investigations, Moon denied being 'Gatgat' and claimed he only downloaded sexual exploitation materials, but when confronted with digital evidence collected and analyzed by the police, he eventually confessed to all crimes. Moon was urgently arrested on the 9th of this month and detained on the 12th.

The police have confirmed 10 victims of sexual exploitation so far. They have obtained statements from Moon indicating there are about 50 victims and plan to identify additional victims while continuing protection and support linkage activities. A police official emphasized, "We will relentlessly pursue suspects who distribute, purchase, or possess sexual exploitation materials."

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