police-digital sex crimes

▲ This image, provided by Yonhap News TV, depicts digital sex crimes targeting children and adolescents. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- The number of undercover investigations conducted by the police has more than tripled this year from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, as South Korea continues to grapple with digital sex crimes, often involving deepfake technology.

The National Office of Investigation under the Korean National Police Agency said it carried out 598 undercover investigations from January to August this year, compared with 179 cases during the same period last year.

The police first introduced such undercover investigations in 2021 following the "Nth room" case, in which underage girls were coerced into obscene acts in front of cameras and the footage was shared in paid online chatrooms.

Since adopting the measure, the police have conducted 1,503 undercover investigations through the end of August, apprehended 2,873 suspects and formally arrested 164 of them.

In the first eight months of this year, police apprehended 338 suspects through undercover investigations for engaging in conversations with children and adolescents for the purpose of sexual exploitation, six of whom were formally arrested.

Police said the scope of investigations in which officers pose as children or teenagers has expanded since a law criminalizing attempts to engage in conversations with minors for the purpose of sexual exploitation took effect in October last year.

Meanwhile, the government also expanded the scope of such undercover investigations to include cases involving adult victims in June last year.

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