"The Judiciary Is Also an Accomplice" 'Child Sexual Exploiter' Son Jung-woo's Extradition to the U.S. Fails, Women Express 'Anger'

Protest Rally Condemning Judiciary for 'Son Jung-woo Release' in Front of East Gate of Seoul Central District Court on the 7th
Women Criticize Judiciary, "We Won't Forget the Court That Allowed Son Jung-woo to Stay in Korea"
"How Long Must We Endure Lenient Punishments?" Post-it Note Protest at the Scene Immediately After Rally

A gathering of women condemning the refusal to extradite Son Jung-woo (24), who was prosecuted for operating the world's largest child sexual exploitation site "Welcome to Video," was held on the afternoon of the 7th at the East Gate of Seoul Central District Court. They criticized the judiciary, saying, "The judiciary is also an accomplice." Photo by Seulgi Kim, Intern Reporter sabiduriakim@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy reporters Seunggon Han and intern Seulgi Kim] As the extradition of Son Jeong-woo (24), who was prosecuted for operating the world's largest child sexual exploitation site 'Welcome to Video,' was denied, women criticized the judiciary on the 7th, saying it granted impunity to a sex offender and released him.

At 2:40 p.m. that day, anonymous individual women held a press conference at the east gate of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, criticizing, "Is the court really a place that can impose just punishment? We clearly know what kind of sentences the courts have handed down to sex offenders so far."

They continued, "When we tracked the judicial processing results of 235 domestic members caught from 'Welcome to Video,' we confirmed that only 43, including Son Jeong-woo, proceeded to court sentencing," expressing outrage.

They added, "Son Jeong-woo received a mere 1 year and 6 months imprisonment, a weak punishment. After seeing this, can we entrust the court with fair judgment and punishment?" They raised their voices, saying, "If the Korean judiciary were a place that could impose just punishment, why did Son Jeong-woo so strongly want to be punished in Korea?"

On the afternoon of the 7th, a protest condemning Sohn Jung-woo, who was denied extradition to the United States, was held at the east gate of the Seoul Central District Court. On that day, women raised their voices, saying the court was also an accomplice. Photo by Seulgi Kim, Intern Reporter sabiduriakim@asiae.co.kr

They went on, "There is no justice in Korea. Korean society has blinded and deafened women and has repeatedly witnessed many sex offenders receiving 'light' punishments and being protected. This case would have been swept under the rug as well," they said, expressing indignation. "But women will no longer be deceived. We will no longer tolerate the judiciary's deception and arrogant judgments. We will not forget Son Jeong-woo, who pleaded to be punished in Korea."

They also said, "We will not forget the judiciary that ultimately kept him in Korea. The government will also not be able to avoid responsibility and criticism if it overlooks this decision by the judiciary," reiterating their criticism. "We strongly condemn the court's decision to deny Son Jeong-woo's extradition to the U.S. and hold the judiciary and Korean society as a whole accountable."

The women criticized, "There is no justice in Korea. Korean society has blinded and deafened women and has repeatedly witnessed many sex offenders receiving 'light' punishments and being protected."

Immediately after the press conference, criticism of the judiciary continued through Post-it notes at the scene. A woman in her 20s, Ms. A, who participated in the protest, expressed her anger, saying, "I wrote, 'The judiciary has lost its qualification as the judiciary, and women and children have lost their country.'"

She added, "The hashtag was '#Judiciary_is_an_accomplice.' The reason I wrote this is because the judiciary should be the most trusted institution in the country, but looking at this ruling and previous rulings, I think they do not recognize women and children as citizens," she criticized.

Especially, she said, "There have been many cases where rulings on women or minorities were unjust, but they need to change. Since it cannot continue like this forever, I hope this case becomes an example so that such things do not happen in the future. Victims should not remain silent in situations where their identities are not even known, so I came out," explaining her reason for participating in the Post-it protest that day.

On the afternoon of the 7th, a protest condemning Son Jung-woo, who was denied extradition to the United States, was held at the East Gate of the Seoul Central District Court. Immediately after the rally, women criticized the judiciary through Post-it notes. Photo by Seulgi Kim, Intern Reporter sabiduriakim@asiae.co.kr

Another woman, Ms. B (26), who wrote 'SHAME' on a Post-it, expressed anger, saying, "Even though the country is exposed to gender discrimination and child sexual exploitation materials, it is not properly protecting its citizens. The judiciary does not empathize with the pain and suffering of the people and seems to lack sensitivity, so I wrote 'shame.' It means they should be ashamed..."

Ms. C (29), who wrote 'I'm tired' on a Post-it, said, "Son Jeong-woo received an absurd sentence of 1 year and 6 months. But this kind of sentence and ruling is not a one-time thing; it has continued like this, so I wrote 'I'm tired.' I thought this (Son Jeong-woo's U.S. extradition ruling) might be different, but it was not, and the same absurd punishment as before was handed down, which is ridiculous," urging the judiciary, "I hope sex offenders are punished severely. I hope at least this one thing is done properly."

Son Jung-woo, the operator of the world's largest child sexual exploitation site "Welcome to Video," was released on the afternoon of the 6th after the court's decision to deny extradition to the United States, leaving Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, on the previous day (6th), the Criminal Division 20 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Kang Young-soo, Jung Moon-kyung, and Lee Jae-chan) denied the extradition of Son Jeong-woo, operator of the world's largest child sexual exploitation site 'Welcome to Video' (W2V). Accordingly, Son Jeong-woo was released that afternoon from Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Son Jeong-woo was indicted for operating W2V on the dark web, where IP address tracking is difficult, from July 2015 to March 2018 for about 2 years and 8 months, posting child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials and pocketing about 400 million won worth of Bitcoin.

It is known that the illegal sexual exploitation materials distributed by Son included videos involving a 6-month-old infant.

He was scheduled to be released on April 27. However, the U.S. Department of Justice requested his compulsory extradition under the extradition treaty, delaying his release. He was immediately released following the Seoul High Court's decision to deny extradition.

The court stated that since investigations related to child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials are still ongoing domestically, being investigated in Korea can prevent recurrence of the crime.

The court explained, "To eradicate child and adolescent pornography crimes, thorough investigations to root out consumers of pornography and members of the 'Welcome to Video' site are necessary. Among those who downloaded pornography from 'Welcome to Video,' only a very small number have been identified through international cooperative investigations. If Son is extradited to the U.S., it is difficult to rule out the possibility that Korea will not be able to secure the identities of users and that investigations will be hindered."

However, the court added, "Son and his lawyer have stated that even if he receives a heavy sentence domestically, he will accept his punishment willingly. This decision does not grant impunity to Son, and he is expected to cooperate with future investigations and trials and receive just punishment."