The police have begun investigating deepfake videos related to Lee Jae-myung, a candidate in the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential primary.
Park Hyun-soo, acting commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, noted at a regular press briefing that "the Democratic Party has filed charges against 14 individuals concerning six cases related to deepfake videos." This case has been assigned to the Cyber Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
Previously, the candidate's camp stated that they had confirmed the continuous distribution of false manipulated information containing defamatory content about the candidate made with malicious intent in a deepfake video and reported certain YouTubers for defamation and violations of the Public Official Election Act.
Recently, false information was spread in online communities and social media regarding the so-called 'Dobong Station Benz disturbance' incident, claiming that the individual involved was the candidate's son. The candidate's camp called it "illegal defamation" and reported it to the police for violations of the Public Official Election Act related to disseminating false information. This case has been taken up by the Public Crimes Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.