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…
This year, the number of undercover investigations conducted by police has more than tripled compared to the same period last year, according to data released on Sunday. The surge in investigations is attributed to Korea's ongoing battle with digital sex crimes, which frequently involve deepfake technology. The National Office of Investigation, part of the Korean National Police Agency, reported conducting 598 undercover operations from January to August this year, a significant increase from 179 cases in the corresponding period last year.
The police introduced undercover investigations in 2021 in response to the Nth room case, where underage girls were coerced into explicit acts for recording and sharing online. Since then, police have carried out 1,503 undercover investigations, leading to the apprehension of 2,873 suspects and formal arrests of 164 individuals.
In just the first eight months of this year, 338 suspects were apprehended through undercover methods for attempting to sexually exploit children and adolescents, with six suspects ultimately being 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.
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