Cheong, Unprecedented Swift Response to Petition for 'N번방 Perpetrators' Identity Disclosure'... "Possibly Tomorrow"

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] The Blue House plans to respond as early as tomorrow (the 24th) to a national petition demanding the disclosure of personal information of Jo Mo, the so-called 'Telegram n-bang' operator accused of heinous sexual exploitation of underage adolescents. It is very unusual to respond before the petition ends.

A Blue House official said in a phone call with Asia Economy on the 23rd, "Public interest is extremely high, and the number of petition participants is increasing very rapidly," adding, "After internal review this morning, we plan to respond as early as tomorrow." According to the Blue House website, as of 8:30 a.m. that day, more than 2,151,200 people agreed to the national petition titled 'Please disclose the identity of the Telegram n-bang suspect and put him on the photo line.' This is the highest participation record since the national petition system was established with the launch of the Moon Jae-in administration.

The petitioner appealed, "Please put the perpetrator who drove young students into hell on the photo line," and "Please do not let him cover his face with a hat or mask under any circumstances."

The petition, raised on the 18th, is scheduled to close on the 17th of next month. According to the existing operation method, the response would be by May 17, one month after the petition ends, but it appears that the Blue House judged the urgency and impact of the matter and decided to respond promptly.

The case known as the 'Telegram n-bang' involves sharing bizarre and brutal sexual exploitation materials mainly targeting underage adolescents in a mobile messenger space and profiting from it. It has caused public outrage after being exposed through media reports.

Jo Mo, in his 20s, who operated the messenger under the name 'Doctor's Room,' was arrested by the police on the 16th. Jo is suspected of luring victims with bait such as part-time jobs, obtaining nude photos showing their faces, and threatening them to film sexual exploitation materials using these as leverage.

Regarding this, the police investigating the case plan to hold a personal information disclosure review committee on the 24th to decide whether to disclose Jo's personal information.