"Victim's Request" Leads to Deletion of Milyang Perpetrator's Video... Victim Denies Claim as "Not True"

Perpetrator-Revealing YouTuber Deletes Video and Changes Account Name
Women’s Group: "One-Sided Actions Sacrifice Only the Victim"

A YouTuber who repeatedly disclosed the identities of the perpetrators in the 'Miryang Middle School Girl Group Sexual Assault Case' that occurred 20 years ago announced that they deleted all videos after communicating with the victim, but a victim support organization denied this claim.

On the 7th, the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center, one of the victim support organizations, released a statement revealing this. The organization stated, "The YouTube channel 'Narak Bogwanso' posted a notice around 5:40 PM saying, 'We had close talks with the Miryang victims. There was a sincere request from the victims. I have removed all the videos related to Miryang that I produced,' but this notice is not true."

Videos revealing the identities of the perpetrators in the Miryang sexual assault case uploaded on the YouTube channel 'Narakbogwanso' [Image source=YouTube capture, Yonhap News]

The counseling center also repeatedly denied the YouTuber's announcement on the 5th that "I had email conversations with the victim's family and it was concluded to disclose all 44 perpetrators' identities." The center said, "Until the afternoon of the 5th, the victims repeatedly requested Narak Bogwanso to remove the statement that the victim's family agreed to the disclosure of identities, but it was not reflected. After consulting with the center, a press release was distributed that night and the post was deleted," adding, "There has been no communication with the YouTuber since the afternoon of the 5th. On the 6th, Narak Bogwanso continued to upload videos unilaterally," they revealed.

The counseling center criticized, "(Narak Bogwanso) is posting false notices as if they removed the videos reflecting the victims' intentions after close communication with them," and added, "From beginning to end, Narak Bogwanso neither confirmed, listened to, nor reflected the victims' intentions. We raise issues with Narak Bogwanso's behavior. It is as if the victim was sacrificed for YouTube content." They further emphasized, "We clearly state that any public discussion by a third party without the voluntary and genuine intention of the victim cannot take precedence over the victim's well-being and safety."

Since the 1st, the YouTube channel 'Narak Bogwanso' has uploaded videos including the names, photos, and workplaces of the perpetrators in the 'Miryang Middle School Girl Group Sexual Assault Case.' This reignited public outrage over the case, leading to repercussions such as the closure of a restaurant where a perpetrator worked and the dismissal of another perpetrator from their job.

On the 5th, the YouTuber posted a notice stating, "I had email conversations with the victim's family and it was concluded to disclose all 44 perpetrators," but the counseling center immediately stated, "The victim and their family never agreed to disclose the perpetrators. They requested the videos be deleted." This notice was later deleted. The YouTube channel has currently removed all videos and changed its account name.

Meanwhile, the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency has received five complaints related to the YouTube videos exposing the perpetrators' identities, alleging defamation by unauthorized disclosure of personal information without consent. Among the complainants are a man identified as a perpetrator who was dismissed from his job and a woman mistakenly known as the perpetrator's girlfriend.

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