Rep. Lee Hyung-seok: "Digital Sexual Crimes Against Children and Adolescents Persist"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Despite strengthened crackdowns and punishments on digital sex crimes following the 'Nth Room incident,' digital sex crimes targeting children and adolescents continue unabated.

According to the National Assembly audit data submitted by the National Police Agency to Lee Hyung-seok, a member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea and a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee (Gwangju Buk-gu Eul), the number of cases caught by the police for producing and distributing illegal sexual videos and other digital sex crime materials was 3,282 in 2018, 2,164 in 2019, 4,063 in 2020, 3,504 in 2021, and 1,578 as of the end of August this year.

Among these, cases caught for producing and distributing child sexual exploitation materials (violations of Article 11 of the Youth Protection Act) were 1,032 in 2018 and 589 in 2019, accounting for 31.4% and 27.2% of the total arrests, respectively.

However, in 2020, the number rose sharply to 2,398 cases, making up 59% of the total, and in 2021, 1,646 cases were caught, accounting for 47% of all arrests. It was confirmed that about half of the digital sex crime production and distribution crimes involved child sexual exploitation materials.

The increase in the proportion of cases caught for producing and distributing child sexual exploitation materials since 2020 is partly due to intensified police crackdowns following the 'Nth Room incident,' but it also indicates that crimes involving the production and distribution of sexual exploitation materials targeting children and adolescents are still rampant.

The recent emergence of the ‘L Room’ incident, known as the 'Second Nth Room,' which has caused shock, also serves as evidence of this.

Digital sex crimes against those aged 20 and under (violations of Article 14 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes) have also continued without pause.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Assemblyman Lee Hyung-seok, the number of victims who suffered harm due to acts such as filming their bodies using cameras or distributing such footage was 1,156 in 2018, 1,173 in 2019, 941 in 2020, 933 in 2021, and 726 as of the end of August 2022.

In particular, victims aged 15 and under numbered around 200 annually, and there were even victims aged 6 and under.

As digital sex crimes targeting children and adolescents surged, undercover investigations allowing police officers to conceal or falsify their identities were introduced (amendment to the Youth Protection Act, effective September 24, 2021). From September 24 last year to July 31 this year, the police conducted a total of 172 undercover operations, arresting 199 suspects (18 detained).

Among the types of undercover investigations, 94 suspects (9 detained) were caught through ‘identity-non-disclosure investigations,’ where officers do not reveal their identities, and 105 suspects (9 detained) were caught through ‘identity-disguise investigations,’ where officers fabricate their identities using documents or electronic records. The arrest rate was higher through ‘identity-disguise investigations’ than through ‘identity-non-disclosure investigations.’

Assemblyman Lee Hyung-seok stated, “Digital sex crimes targeting children and adolescents have not been eradicated, and crimes against teenage minors in particular have not decreased, so countermeasures are needed.” He added, “Since the effectiveness of ‘identity-disguise investigations’ has been confirmed to be high, it is necessary to consider ways to increase the utilization of such investigations.”

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