'Securing Views by Sharing Feats' Number of Gangster YouTubers Increasing Annually... Police Confirm 11 Cases

Glorification of Crime, Concerns Over Negative Impact on Youth... "Strong Crackdown Needed"
Actual Organized Crime 61.1% Under Age 30

The number of so-called 'jopok YouTubers'?those who create videos related to organized crime groups (jopok)?has been steadily increasing. Since these creators glamorize violent crimes or criminal organizations, potentially having a negative influence on youth, there are calls for active regulation.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Jeong Woo-taek, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, a nationwide survey conducted by city and provincial police agencies from September 7 last year for one month identified 11 jopok YouTubers. While there were only 3 jopok YouTubers during a full survey in October 2019, the number rose to 7 in August 2020 and April 2021, and increased by 4 more last year.

Members of the Sunoa faction and other organization members attending the so-called 'Peer Meeting' (National Gangster Meeting). The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. Photo by Yonhap News Agency, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office

The police classify channels that upload crime stories or focus heavily on jopok-related content as jopok YouTubers by monitoring suspicious videos through external reports and searches. These jopok YouTubers create videos based on illegal activities that occurred during their organized crime life, such as drug dealing or acts of violence, to increase views. Concerns have been raised that youths might imitate these criminal behaviors.

In fact, as jopok YouTubers have become prevalent on platforms like YouTube, the so-called 'MZ jopok'?who flaunt their power or post photos of full-body tattoos?have emerged as a social issue. According to the National Police Agency, 1,264 jopok criminals have been arrested from the beginning of this year through May. These include managed jopok members charged under the Act on the Punishment of Violent Crimes for forming or participating in groups, as well as non-members who committed crimes jointly with them.

Among them, 46 were teenagers, 372 were in their 20s, and 360 were in their 30s, accounting for 61.6% of the total being under 40. Those in their 40s numbered 349 (27.6%), and those in their 50s were 137 (10.8%).

However, so far, no investigations or prosecutions have been initiated based on videos identified during the monitoring process. Representative Jeong said, "We must strongly crack down until we completely eradicate jopok, which have evolved into corporate and intelligent forms, parasitizing society like a deadly poison and draining the public's lifeblood." He added, "It is also necessary to establish safety measures to encourage active reporting and cooperation from victims."

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