In the Name of Scarlet Letter and Condemnation... Capturing Perpetrators' Weaknesses to Enslave Them

Police Launch Investigation into Telegram's 'Juhonggeulssi'
Male Perpetrator of Sexual Exploitation Pornography Intentionally Approaches
Extracts Personal Information for Blackmail and Indiscriminate Distribution
Orders Cruel Acts, Using Them as 'Playthings'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The Telegram group chat room 'Juhonggeulssi,' which has claimed to be a 'vigilante group' by publicly revealing the identities of sexual exploitation pornography criminals, has been found to have itself exploited the weaknesses of perpetrators to commit severe acts such as sexual exploitation. The police plan to investigate Juhonggeulssi's indiscriminate identity disclosures and harsh actions.

According to a compilation of Asia Economy's coverage on the 6th, Juhonggeulssi, established in July last year, has been 'punishing' men who produce, purchase, or view sexual exploitation pornography by publicly revealing their identities. They also used a method of approaching men searching for pornography on Telegram, providing them with explicit material, and then extracting their personal information.

Some men fell into becoming 'slaves' of Juhonggeulssi due to threats that their identities would be disclosed to acquaintances. Juhonggeulssi first forced these enslaved men to write letters of repentance. Then, they issued various orders and required proof of compliance through photos and videos. After receiving photos or videos from the perpetrator men, Juhonggeulssi held evaluation meetings to assess the degree of compliance. They continued issuing orders until satisfied.

In January, they threatened a man who purchased child and adolescent pornography to take photos of himself inserting foreign objects into his body and upload them. In February, they forced another man to insert foreign objects and tattoo the phrase 'Juhonggeulssi XX-chung I apologize' on his body. The men complied with Juhonggeulssi's threats, pleading, 'Please forgive me just once' and 'I won't do it again.' However, new orders such as 'Eat X' and 'Take photos of grandmother's underwear and send them' were continuously issued.

Juhonggeulssi also operated systematically to secure male slaves and use them as a kind of plaything. The chat room 'Akatsuki,' under its control, was responsible for approaching perpetrator men by sending messages and enslaving them. They also cooperated with the chat room called 'Central Intelligence Department,' which extracted personal information by approaching perpetrators. When these groups found perpetrator men, they issued orders together. Juhonggeulssi and these chat rooms shared materials of enslaved men and indiscriminately distributed their personal information.

At the center of these actions is the nickname 'Junggukjeonmun,' known as the administrator of Juhonggeulssi. Orders such as inserting foreign objects into the body were issued by him. Conscious of his leading role in committing harsh acts, Junggukjeonmun said on the 29th of last month, "It seems like the Dr. rumor is spreading." This is seen as evidence that he recognizes his actions are not much different from the crimes of Jo Joo-bin, who was arrested for operating the 'Doctor's Room.' A police official stated regarding the deviations of vigilante groups like Juhonggeulssi on Telegram, "We will investigate the distribution of personal information along with the harsh acts."