Taking Advantage of the Disappearance of 'n번방'... Illegal Gambling Sites Seizing Telegram

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungyoon Song and Jeongyun Lee] After the 'Nth Room incident,' a noticeable phenomenon has emerged on Telegram where group chat rooms sharing sexual exploitation materials have disappeared or increasingly gone underground. This is evidenced by the disappearance of promotional posts for group chat rooms sharing obscene materials in so-called 'link-sharing rooms (Linggongbang),' which share links to various Telegram group rooms. However, in the place left by the disappearance of obscene material sharing chat rooms, new chat rooms encouraging other illegal activities have appeared. These are 'gambling promotion rooms' that post advertisements related to gambling.

On the 25th, promotional posts for illegal gambling sites were indiscriminately spread across multiple Linggongbangs, each with memberships ranging from as few as 500 to several thousand people. In these Linggongbangs, promotions related to obscene materials have been taboo since the Nth Room incident. Instead, the act of posting links to illegal gambling sites has sharply increased. They recruited people by highlighting the types of online gambling games and event details handled on the sites they promoted.

These promotional activities were sometimes carried out in an organized manner. Just as 'Nth Room' and 'Doctor's Room' divided their chat rooms into sample rooms and paid member rooms, these groups operated organized chat rooms composed of free rooms, distributor rooms, and headquarters rooms, encouraging illegal gambling to an unspecified large audience. In the free rooms, those responsible for promoting gambling sites could freely advertise their sites. Distributor rooms were places where only those verified as illegal gambling site affiliates through KakaoTalk or other means could post advertisements. Headquarters rooms were used as communication spaces where illegal gambling site affiliates exchanged information.

Some rooms even used obscene materials as bait to induce sign-ups to gambling sites. They posted 'sample' obscene materials along with gambling site links, promising that if users accessed the site, made a payment, and verified it, they would be admitted to VIP rooms. They enticed chat room participants by claiming that entering VIP rooms would grant access to original obscene materials, not just short sample videos lasting from a few seconds to several minutes.

Among these chat rooms was one managed by 'Taepyeongyang' (16), an accomplice of Jo Joo-bin (24, detained and indicted), who operated the 'Doctor's Room.' Even now, dozens of gambling site advertisements are posted daily in this room.

The police have announced their intention to eradicate all illegal activities occurring within Telegram through this opportunity. A police agency official stated, "All illegal activities within Telegram, including the distribution of obscene materials and promotion of illegal gambling sites, are subject to investigation," adding, "In addition to seeking cooperation from Telegram, we will do our utmost to eradicate illegal activities using tracking techniques."