What Is the 'Acquaintance Abuse' Crime Targeting 'Bulkkot' Park Ji-hyun... Excessive SNS Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment by Sharing Photos Causing Sexual Discomfort Targeting Public Figures and Celebrities
Unrestricted Spread on SNS... Difficult Environment for Investigation and Crackdown
No Sexual Violence Punishment Law if Not 'Edited or Synthesized,' Urgent Need for Legislative Supplement

The "Nungyok Room" of former Democratic Party co-emergency committee chairperson Park Ji-hyun, which was created on Telegram. Photo by JTBC (captured from news footage)

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Yunjin Kim] Former Emergency Committee Chairperson of the Democratic Party, Park Ji-hyun, revealed the creation of a 'Nungyok Room' targeting her and sounded the alarm on digital sexual crimes involving 'acquaintance humiliation.' Experts point out that the law is failing to keep up with the reality where various forms of acquaintance humiliation crimes have become widespread.

On the 1st, through JTBC Newsroom, former Chairperson Park stated, "In early August, a Nungyok Room targeting me was created," revealing that she too became a target of sexual crimes. A 'Nungyok Room' refers to a group chat room where photos and videos that cause sexual discomfort about a specific person are shared, usually created on messengers like Telegram. Former Chairperson Park criticized the seriousness of the crime, saying, "After stepping down, seeing the crime being committed as if they had been waiting for it, I truly felt that they were only targeting the weak."

Nungyok Rooms are a type of so-called 'acquaintance humiliation' crime mainly committed online. Acquaintance humiliation crimes are known to involve synthesizing and editing photos or videos of acquaintances, ordinary people, or celebrities to cause sexual shame to the victim and distributing them. Criminals mainly receive requests and share their creations through social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter, Tumblr, and Telegram, where content regulation is relatively lax.

Producing sexual photos or videos by synthesizing a specific person's face can be punished under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes. Due to a series of deepfake pornography cases where AI technology was used to edit a specific person's face into videos, the law was amended in 2020 to include provisions punishing the distribution of false videos. According to Article 14-2 of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, if a specific person's face, body, or voice is processed in a way that can cause sexual shame, the offender may face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won. However, due to the nature of the crime, victims often find it difficult to discover or recognize the damage, and even if reported, investigating SNS companies with servers overseas remains challenging.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Moreover, acquaintance humiliation crimes are not limited to the production and distribution of false videos. When entering related search terms on SNS, it is not difficult to find posts requesting others to 'humiliate an acquaintance' or offering to 'humiliate' if photos are sent. Some even post personal information of the victim along with photos or attempt to lure by offering to provide phone numbers if desired. Additionally, posts such as 'Looking for acquaintances to humiliate in a specific area or school' are posted day and night.

Acquaintance humiliation crimes are committed in various forms aimed at causing 'sexual humiliation,' such as exchanging violent sexual harassment remarks or performing obscene acts using ordinary photos or videos. However, under current laws, digital sexual violence is regulated mainly around photos and videos, making it difficult to punish acquaintance humiliation crimes focused on insulting texts as 'sexual violence,' even if there is a clear intent of sexual harassment.

Seung-hye Lee, a lawyer specializing in sexual crimes, explained, "Article 14-2 of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act was created with 'editing' in mind. However, there is no provision explicitly designed for insult-centered sexual crimes." She added, "While it is possible to apply the crime of obscenity using communication media (Sexual Violence Punishment Act) or cyber defamation (Information and Communications Network Act), the penalties are relatively light." Lawyer Lee emphasized, "Since these are unforeseen cases by the law, if such crimes are expanding, the problem should be resolved through legislation."

Experts raise their voices to improve legislative and policy gaps to protect victims of diversified acquaintance humiliation crimes. Seung-hee Seo, head of the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, pointed out, "There is a high social awareness of photos and videos, and foundational legislation and policies to punish them have been established. However, despite the increasing number of various forms of sexual harassment beyond photos and videos, these have not been addressed, and due to the absence of laws, victims cannot receive protection or support as 'sexual violence victims.'" She emphasized, "As awareness of various forms of cyber sexual violence has increased, institutional improvements must be made."

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