[n번방, The Society That Created the Devil①] There Has Always Been a 'Baksa', Past and Present

Digital Sex Crimes Evolving from 'Soranet' to 'n번방' with Only Form Changes
Tragedy Caused by Lenient Punishments and Delayed Responses
Experts: "Focus on Crime Prevention and Deterring Criminal Intent"

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Cho and Seungyoon Song] The series of digital sex crimes known as the so-called ‘n번방 incident’ did not happen overnight. In our society, there have always been ‘doctors’ lurking everywhere, constantly targeting women. The crimes committed by Jo Joo-bin (24), recently caught by the police, are not significantly different from previous crimes. Only the stage and background have changed.

◆The Origin: Sora’s Guide= The history of digital sex crimes dates back to the 1990s. The illegal pornography distribution site called ‘Sora’s Guide,’ established in 1999, is considered the origin. Later renamed ‘Soranet,’ this site once grew to become the largest in the country, with over one million members. Various illegal recordings and child and adolescent pornography were frequently uploaded on this site.

The site operator evaded law enforcement by moving servers worldwide but was eventually caught by the police in 2016, leading to the site’s closure. In 2018, the police also arrested Song, a co-operator of the site. Song was prosecuted for violating laws protecting children and adolescents from sexual exploitation and for aiding the distribution of obscene materials. However, despite earning an estimated hundreds of billions of won in illicit profits from illegal recordings, including child and adolescent pornography, over more than 13 years, his sentence was only four years in prison.

On the 28th, at the Cheongwadae Fountain in Jongno-gu, Seoul, representatives from women's organizations including the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, who participated in the "Press Conference Urging Special Investigation on Webhard," are calling for a special investigation into the digital sex crime industry. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

◆Digital Sex Crimes Increasingly Moving Underground= Even after Soranet’s closure, large-scale pornography sites known as the second and third Soranets, such as ‘AVSNOOP’ and ‘Kkulbam,’ emerged one after another. These site operators, like ‘doctor’ Jo Joo-bin, conducted financial transactions through virtual currencies to evade law enforcement tracking.

In 2018, the entire country was shaken by the revelation of the so-called ‘webhard cartel’ through the case of Yang Jin-ho, chairman of Korea Future Technology. From December 2013 until his arrest, Yang operated webhard companies like WEDISK and FILENORY, distributing about 52,000 illegal pornographic videos and 230 copyrighted videos, earning tens of billions of won in illicit profits. Among the videos Yang distributed were numerous illegal hidden camera recordings and so-called ‘revenge porn’ videos distributed for retaliatory purposes.

Yang also colluded with digital funeral service providers to establish a system where victims who requested deletion of illegal recordings paid money to have them removed. However, these deleted illegal recordings reappeared again through webhard services.

Jo Joo-bin, the operator of the 'Doctor's Room' who threatened dozens of women including minors on the internet messenger Telegram and forced them to film obscene materials which were then distributed, is coming out of Jongno Police Station in Seoul on the morning of the 25th to be sent to the prosecution. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

◆Repeated Lenient Punishments, What Are the Measures?= The stage for pornography consumed on webhard services and online sites has shifted to internet messengers and SNS (social networking services), including Telegram. Digital sex crimes, increasingly hiding underground like this, eventually led to the tragedy known as the ‘n번방 incident.’

In the past, law enforcement repeatedly promised to “strictly punish to prevent such incidents from happening again” whenever such cases occurred, but digital sex crimes have not disappeared and have reached this point. Prosecutors and other investigative authorities have also announced strict measures regarding the recent n번방 incident.

Experts unanimously agree that this time must be an opportunity to change perceptions of digital sex crimes. Attorney Taeon Koo of Law Firm Lynn said, “The methods used in recent problematic crimes are being portrayed as if they are new, but these methods have existed in the past. Although after-the-fact measures are repeatedly proposed after incidents occur, the important thing is to focus on crime prevention and deterring the intent to commit crimes.”