Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Arrest 5 for Violating 'Youth Protection Act' Including Sale of Sexual Devices

Illegal Sale of Harmful Items to Youths Detected by Gyeonggi-do Fair Special Judicial Police Unit

Gyeonggi Province has apprehended five individuals, including the head of an internet site, for illegally selling sex devices, commonly referred to as ‘adult products,’ online without adult verification.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit announced on the 13th that since February this year, they have been conducting focused investigations on social networking service (SNS) accounts suspected of illegally selling sex devices, which are harmful to the mental and physical health of adolescents, as well as electronic cigarettes, which are harmful substances for youth. They arrested five individuals, including three adolescents, on charges of violating the ‘Youth Protection Act’ and referred them to the prosecution.

In a major case, Corporation B, which operates A Mall, one of the top domestic online sex device retailers, allowed access links and ordering methods without adult verification procedures. This enabled anyone, including adolescents, to view and purchase sex devices as non-members, and they did not display any harmful-to-youth warnings.

The special judicial police unit confirmed that Ms. C (17), a high school first-year dropout, purchased 144 sex devices from A Mall between February and August this year and also sold sex devices purchased from other sites using her mother’s personal information on her own SNS account, charging about 2,000 won per transaction as a commission.

There were 166 adolescents aged 13 to 18 who purchased sex devices through Ms. C, who sold 179 transactions and received 4.7 million won. Ms. C also sold two electronic cigarettes (worth 70,000 won) to two peers.

Mr. D (15) and Mr. E (16) also used their parents’ and a friend’s father’s personal information to verify their age online and purchase electronic cigarettes. They sold 24 and 10 electronic cigarette devices and liquids to 16 and 10 peers respectively through their SNS accounts, receiving 1 million won and 400,000 won in sales proceeds.

According to the current ‘Youth Protection Act,’ anyone who sells, rents, distributes, or provides harmful media materials to youth for profit faces imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won. Those who fail to mark or package harmful media materials or substances harmful to youth face imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won.

Kim Gwang-deok, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit, stated, “This investigation revealed that illegal sales of harmful items targeting teenage youth online are severe. We will strengthen investigations into SNS accounts suspected of illegal activities to protect youth from harmful environments.”

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