{
  "id": 12987592,
  "title": "South Korea struggles to curb sexual exploitation sites 10 years after Soranet scandal",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/south-korea-struggles-to-curb-sexual-exploitation-sites-10-years",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-09T00:00:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370222/south-korea-struggles-curb-sexual-exploitation-sites-10-years-after-soranet-scandal"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A decade after the shutdown of Soranet, a controversial online hub for secretly filmed and non-consensual sexual videos, South Korea continues to grapple with similar networks and copycat sites. The prevalence of such illegal activities is attributed to the challenges of deterring them, policing the online space, and changing societal attitudes towards women. In May, police shut down a Soranet-inspired site called the \"Honours Club\" and another known as Yadong Korea, which resurfaced after being shut down previously. A police officer in Seoul was recently detained for creating and distributing deepfakes and possessing illegal sexual images and videos. Despite tougher laws, the issue remains unresolved as new sites continue to emerge and criminals adapt their methods to evade detection.",
  "summary": "A decade after the shutdown of Soranet – a sprawling online hub for secretly filmed and non-consensual sexual videos that became a symbol of South Korea’s digital sex-crime crisis – the country is still struggling to stamp out similar networks and copycat sites that have emerged in its wake. Their prevalence reflects the difficulties of deterring such illegal activities, policing the online space…",
  "key_points": [
    "Police shut down two new sites inspired by Soranet: Honours Club and Yadong Korea.",
    "Police officer detained for creating deepfakes and possessing illegal sexual images/videos."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Qatar Tribune",
        "title": "South Korea to recall Ukraine envoy in diplomatic row over North Korea POWs",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/south-korea-to-recall-ukraine-envoy-in-diplomatic-row-over-north",
        "published": "2026-10-08T21:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Tokyo Reporter",
        "title": "Kudo-kai yakuza handed prison term in South Korea over record marijuana smuggling plot",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/kudo-kai-yakuza-handed-prison-term-in-south-korea-over-record",
        "published": "2026-10-08T23:22:40.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}