Identities of suppliers/buyers of sexual exploitation material could be disclosed

Police is considering disclosing the identities of buyers as well as suppliers sexually exploitative materials.

The National Office of Investigation under the National Police Agency is reviewing a measure of disclosing the identities of both suppliers and buyers of sexually exploitative materials by the deliberation of the identity disclosure deliberation committee. The Act on Special Cases concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes stipulates penalties for possessing, purchasing, storing, or watching illegally recorded sexual materials. A police official said the measure is based on a judgment that not only supply but demand of sexually explicit materials should be curbed in order to prevent the spread of digital sex crimes.

Police is consulting the matter with government agencies, including the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the Financial Services Commission, and the Korea Communications Commission through meetings presided over by the Office for Government Policy Coordination. Related-agencies have also begun reviewing the items proposed by police.

Until now, police has reviewed whether to disclose the identities of only producers and suppliers of sexually explicit materials. Since last year, Police have so far disclosed the identities of eight sexual exploitation offenders and accomplices such as the so-called “Doctor’s Room” and the “Nth Room,” who have systematically produced and distributed sexually exploitative materials.

The National Police Agency plans to introduce face recognition technology by next year to help the victims of illegally recorded sexual exploitative materials. Once the technology is introduced, they will be able to track online sexual abuse materials that even the victims have not been aware of, using the images submitted by the victims.

Police is also planning to establish a “one-stop” report system, which, upon a victim’s request to the police through the cybercrime reporting system, immediately analyzes online sexual abuse materials and notifies it to the Korea Communications Standards Commission and organizations supporting the victims, and helps deleting and blocking online sexual abuse materials.


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