The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family asked police to investigate operators of illegal distribution sites for illicit recordings that host servers overseas. This is the first investigation request since the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's integrated support group for digital sex crime victims was launched in April.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on the 30th, the integrated support group for digital sex crime victims on the 28th submitted related evidence to the Korean National Police Agency, asking for an investigation into the operators of illegal sites on suspicion of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, and the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth against Sexual Offenses.
Focusing on sites that host servers overseas while providing Korean-language services, the integrated support group referred the cases to police. The sites reportedly did not comply with the group's requests to delete illicit recordings or sexual exploitation materials.
In the process of supporting victims of digital sex crimes over the past eight years, the government analyzed 34,628 related illegal sites. Of these, 300 provided Korean-language services.
There were also 1,316 illegal sites with separate categories or boards related to videos of Koreans. The number of videos related to Koreans posted on such sites was estimated at 2.15 million.
An official with the integrated support group said, "There is a need to first address illegal sites where there are Korean victims," and added, "If the operator is a foreign national, even if an investigation is conducted, it is difficult to bring the person to Korea for punishment."
Illegal sites often change servers from time to time to evade investigations or regulations. In response, the integrated support group is seeking ways to provide valid data to investigative authorities that can keep pace with server changes.
In one case, an illegal site had provided services through a hosting company in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. However, when the integrated support group asked the company to block the site, the servers were moved to another hosting provider.
The integrated support group tracked the new hosting company and again requested a site block, receiving a response that hosting services would no longer be provided to the site. The group is said to have sought cooperation on the grounds that the hosting company's terms of service include a clause prohibiting the posting of sexual exploitation materials.