Prosecutors Detain Jo Joo-bin on the 13th... Struggling to Apply Crime Syndicate Organization Charges

Surrendering Weekends for Consecutive Summons with Accomplice
Securing Evidence Such as Code of Conduct and Instruction Traces Is Crucial

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

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] As the prosecution plans to indict Jo Joo-bin (24, in custody), the operator of the 'Baksa Room,' on the day his detention period expires on the 13th, they are focusing their final investigative efforts on including charges of organizing a criminal group in his indictment.

If Jo is charged with organizing a criminal group, it will be possible to impose severe punishments, including life imprisonment, on other accomplices who produced and distributed sexually exploitative videos via Telegram along with him.

According to the prosecution on the 10th, the Digital Sex Crime Special Investigation Task Force of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Yoo Hyun-jung) is making every effort to secure final evidence to apply the charge of organizing a criminal group when indicting Jo on the 13th.

Since conducting the first confrontation investigation on the 5th with Cheon Mo (29), an 8th-grade public official from Geoje City suspected of co-running the Baksa Room with Jo, the prosecution has been summoning and investigating Jo and his accomplices daily, even giving up weekends.

On the previous day, the prosecution conducted the 13th summons interrogation of Jo and also summoned Cheon and another accomplice, Han Mo (26), for questioning. Han is already in custody and indicted on charges of conspiring to sexually assault and directly committing sexual assault with Jo.

A prosecution official stated, "Recent summons interrogations by the investigation team are aimed at applying the charge of organizing a criminal group."

The Supreme Court holds that for the charge of organizing a criminal group to be established, members joining the group must be aware of the group's criminal purpose, and there must be at least a minimal command structure leading the group.

Seemingly aware of this, Jo and his accomplices have reportedly testified during prosecution investigations that they did not know of each other's existence or that they never received instructions from Jo.

Therefore, the key issue is the extent to which the prosecution has secured physical evidence, such as internal codes of conduct supporting that they acted together in an organized manner for specific crimes, or Telegram messages containing specific instructions Jo gave to his accomplices.

Among Supreme Court precedents, there are cases recognizing that lower-level members of a criminal group may not know who the actual boss is because they receive orders from middle managers, so even accomplices unaware of Jo's identity could still be subject to the charge of organizing a criminal group.

Kim Young-jin, a former head of the Violent Crimes Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and a lawyer at Kim & Chang (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 21), said, "The charge of organizing a criminal group has mainly been applied in the past to violent organizations or suspects related to the National Federation of University Student Councils and similar cases under the Assembly and Demonstration Act. Elements such as organization, code of conduct, command system, and group actions must be confirmed."

A current deputy chief prosecutor, identified as A, said, "There must be an actual organization. For example, there are signs of a criminal group such as what happens when someone leaves the organization or the hierarchy within it. In this case, it is a type of crime we have not seen before, so it is unclear what signs can be used to link them."

He added, "To apply the charge of organizing a criminal group, there are many more elements to prove than with ordinary accomplices."

Meanwhile, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced the previous day that it has established strengthened 'Standards for Handling Cases of Sexual Exploitation Video Offenders,' which include detaining all offenders involved in the organized production of child sexual exploitation videos regardless of their degree of participation, and has begun implementing these standards nationwide at all prosecution offices.