Shocking digital sex crimes

Fundamental solution needed to eliminate abuse of women

Public rage is soaring at a “sex slave” video case, in which heinous predators made and distributed videos and photos of women being abused, including underage girls, for commercial gain through group chat rooms of the Telegram messenger service.

On Monday, President Moon Jae-in stepped in, calling for a thorough investigation of the incident ― widely known as the “Nth room case" ― and working out fundamental measures to eliminate similar crimes. He instructed the police to investigate not only the operators of more than 60 chat rooms but also all members, estimated at around 260,000, by activating a special unit if necessary.

At least 74 women, including 16 minors, were sexually abused and exploited for several months, as they were enslaved with threats of spreading their photos. on March 16, the National Police Agency arrested a 25-year-old man, Cho Ju-bin, who was accused of forcing victims to film videos containing sexual content, which he then distributed via paid chat rooms on Telegram. The police also rounded up 123 others for their suspected involvement in the case.

Belatedly, the political parties are scrambling to enact a law aimed at strengthening the punishment of digital sex crimes. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is vowing to pass bills to prevent this kind of cybersex crime. The opposition parties also made election pledges to establish an investigative organization exclusively responsible for such crimes and making it mandatory to deal with them with close international cooperation.

However, the politicians' moves do not make much sense. It was only recently that some civic groups submitted a legislative petition against such content ― only to be snubbed by lawmakers. As President Moon said, cybersex crimes are acts of “murdering” character that deserve harsh punishment. This society cannot resolve these problems with one-off punishments. When law enforcement officers cracked down on the controversial chat rooms, the suspects moved to other online messenger platforms and opened new sites.

All this shows why Korea needs more radical measures to banish this kind of human garbage from society for good. We welcome the police's decision to disclose the personal information of the main culprits to prevent similar crimes and additional victims. The government should drastically strengthen the punishment of these digital predators. Politicians ought to follow through by enacting laws with far stiffer penalties instead of using the case only to their advantage in the upcoming April 15 general election.