Undercover investigations by police into digital sex crimes more than triple this year
The number of undercover investigations conducted by the police has more than tripled this year from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, as Korea continues to grapple with digital sex crimes, often involving deepfake technology. The National Office of Investigation under the Korean National Police Agency said it carried out 598 undercover investigations from January to August this year, compared…
The police have conducted more than triple the number of undercover investigations into digital sex crimes compared to the same period last year, according to data released on Sunday. This comes as Korea continues to struggle with digital sex crimes, frequently involving deepfake technology.
From January to August of this year, the National Office of Investigation under the Korean National Police Agency carried out 598 undercover investigations. In the same period last year, there were 179 such investigations. The police first introduced this measure in 2021 following the Nth room case, where underage girls were coerced into obscene acts and the footage shared in paid online chatrooms.
Since adopting the undercover investigation strategy, the police have apprehended a total of 2,873 suspects and formally arrested 164 of them through the end of August. In the first eight months of this year alone, 338 suspects were apprehended through undercover investigations for engaging in conversations with children and adolescents with the intent of sexual exploitation, and six of them were formally arrested.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
