Claire Hsu '27
Edited by Hannah Field '27
An undergraduate of a top 20 university in South Korea, earning a 4.0 GPA, and even part of the university’s newspaper department. This sounds like a Korean undergraduate living their dream. However, these are the puzzle pieces that makeup, as the BBC claims, “the mastermind of one of the country’s biggest sex scandals”, Cho Ju-Bin. Now that Cho Ju-Bin has been sentenced to 42 years in prison, the question is: are women, especially in South Korea, truly safe from digital sex crimes?
From Molka to Deepfake
South Korea has had a long history of digital sex crimes, including cases like the nth room, the scandal of the burning sun, and most recently, the deepfake crisis. Due to the nth room and the scandal of the burning sun, molka (몰카) became a more familiar term globally. It is the Korean term for secretly installed miniature cameras to capture explicit images and videos of women. However, as the nth room case was suppressed and the birth of AI caught the attention of many perpetrators, the deepfake crisis officially began.
First, defining Deepfakes. Deepfakes are images, videos, and recordings that are altered in order to fit a certain person’s appearance. They are often considered misleading. With this technological assistance, many perpetrators have been taking advantage of AI, using unconsented photos or videos from the victim and creating fake explicit videos such as pornography. With this technological assistance, many perpetrators have been taking advantage of AI, using unconsented photos or videos from the victim and creating fake explicit videos such as pornography. According to the Guardian, there have been over 290 cases of Deepfake crimes on sexual content reported within the last seven months. Furthermore, reports of similar crimes date back to 2021 and have not been emphasized until now. More shockingly, the 178 perpetrators in this case that have been charged are mostly teenagers. The perpetrators were also mainly anonymous, as the widely used app was Telegram. Victims have also claimed that the perpetrators could’ve been anyone, even someone around them. In 2019, one of the guardians of a victim from a sexual digital crime was interviewed. He said that his daughter committed suicide not long after being, as Heather Barr says, “covertly filmed by a male colleague in the changing room of the hospital where she worked”. The prevalence of these heinous crimes related to deepfake have not only put the South Korean citizens in terror but have also put the female population in an extremely vulnerable position. The South Korean ident, Yoon Suk Yeol, even claims that many perpetrators believe that their actions are purely “just a prank”.
The South Korean females rise
From this globally impactful issue, there have not only been women in South Korea standing up and raising their voices by conducting national social movements, but there has also been help from females in neighboring countries such as China.
Protests conducted by the Seoul Women’s Association with participants ranging from university students to parents of past digital sex crime victims advocating for minority rights and for deepfake contents to be taken down. “South Korean women protest against ‘New Nth Room’ deepfake scandal” by Tribune.
On August 29th (Korean time), women in Korea stood up against this big scheme plotted against all females in the world. Teenagers and university students were not the only ones targeted, even renowned K-pop groups such as Twice were targeted. Thus, this gathering demanded the Korean government to act. Every woman at the protest, no matter their appearances or their profiles, were all courageous enough to stand up. This protest was not a fruitless attempt but rather an impactful national social movement unlike any others. With the pro sides of social media, this event has been informing more potential victims all around the world. A 13-year-old middle school student was shocked to receive a message from a friend to immediately take down all her social media posts to prevent any possible perpetrators from using her photos. The protest also led to the coalition of women’s rights organizations to call for action. They demanded the rights of digital citizens to be protected, and also requested the Korean government to take action.
The South Korean Citizens Reach Out to Neighboring Countries
As the protests against the deepfake crisis in South Korea continues, South Korean females started reaching out towards the female population of other countries such as China. It is clear how South Korean females not only wish for this issue to stop within their country, but also to protect the global female population. One post made by a South Korean girl on Weibo, an influential micro-blogging platform used vastly in China, was published to warn Chinese girls on how rapidly deepfakes are spreading.
Yeon is an 18-year-old South Korean girl, she uses the platform Weibo to spread her warnings on the deepfake crisis and uses a desperate tone by apologizing for her translated Chinese. “韩国”，by Weibo
The significance of considering such a post is to highlight the cross-border relationship between the females of both countries. Many Chinese women have commented under the post that borders between the two countries should no longer be the barrier, thus they say, “girls help girls.”
Chinese females comment below Yeon’s post and gives their encouraging words from the depth of their hearts. “韩国”，by Weibo
Furthermore, Chinese females are also using translators to respond to Yeon, showing their passion in spreading the word on this issue. The fear that has also been spread again emphasizes the importance of ending historically repeated sexual digital crimes.
How Will Digital Sex Crimes and the Deepfake Crisis Come to an End?
There are still too many unknowns with the deepfake crisis. The uncertainty of whether Telegram will be paralyzed and whether if the preventive measures taken by the South Korean government will be effective is still ambiguous. However, what the innocent victims and the vulnerable population have done are actions that words cannot describe. We acknowledge that asking for true equality is impossible, but being an ethical global citizen should be the standard for all. Digital sex crimes should not be repeated, and the persistence of South Korean females has amplified this issue to an international level, meaning greater awareness, and more action.
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