South Korean man jailed for 10 years in landmark deepfake porn case targeting university women

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Activists wearing eye masks, hold posters reading ‘Repeated deepfake sex crimes, the state is an accomplice too’ during a protest against deepfake porn in Seoul August 30, 2024. — AFP pic

SEOUL, Oct 30 — A South Korean court today handed a 10-year jail term to a man who spread deepfake porn images of women who attended the nation’s top university.

South Korea is grappling with a deepfake porn crisis after sprawling Telegram chat groups were identified this year, often preying on female students and staff at schools and universities.

In one of the most high-profile early cases, between 2021 and April of this year two men created and distributed nearly 2,000 degrading AI-generated pornographic images of women who attended the same alma mater as the men, Seoul National University.

One of the two offenders, surnamed Park, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while the other assailant, surnamed Kang, received a four-year sentence, a spokesperson for the Seoul Central District Court told AFP.

The two men “committed a digital sex offense of ‘humiliation of acquaintances’ against their alumni at a university where the nation’s brightest minds are gathered,” the court said in its ruling.

“The victims lived in fear and anxiety, suspecting all male acquaintances until the defendants were apprehended,” it said, adding that they also had to “live in constant unease and the recovery from their trauma (was) nearly impossible”.

Typically, punishments for deepfake crimes have been far weaker, with court and police data released by lawmakers suggesting prosecution rates were low, and fine or probation the most likely outcome.

Since deepfake crimes became punishable in South Korea in 2020, the 10-year sentence is “the most severe penalty that has been handed down, as far as I know”, lawyer Song Ji-eun, who represented 15 of the victims, told AFP.

“The court’s ruling, which affirmed the need for strict punishment of deepfake crimes in our society and imposed a heavy sentence, is highly significant,” Song and her colleague, lawyer Jo Yoon-hee, said in a separate statement.

One of the victims told AFP in August that it had been a “huge trauma” to bring her assailant to justice after she was hit in 2021 with a barrage of Telegram messages containing deepfake images showing her being sexually assaulted.

She had rarely interacted with Park while attending the Seoul National University, but always thought he was “gentle”.

In a letter submitted to the court prior to the ruling, the victim accused Park of screen-capturing her profile images on South Korea’s most popular messenger app KakaoTalk and using them to create degrading pornography.

While creating and distributing such images, Park repeatedly said things like “rape is the answer for feminists”, viewing Telegram as a “safe space” where he believed he wouldn’t be caught for making such remarks, the victim said in the letter.

The offenders had requested leniency in sentencing, citing their own mental health struggles.

But the court today concluded the men’s “actions were a twisted manifestation of inferiority and hatred toward socially successful women”, fuelled by the anonymity that Telegram provides. — AFP

* If you are experiencing sexual violence, the following hotlines offer free and confidential support: Talian Kasih at 15999 or WhatsApp 019-2615999 (24/7); All Women’s Action Society at 016-2374221/016-2284221 (9.30am-5.30pm); and Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) at 03-30008858 or SMS/WhatsApp TINA 018-9888058 (24/7)