"Strip Female Soldiers and Destroy Them"...This Time, Active Duty Soldiers' Deepfake Chatroom 'Shocking'

"Strip Female Soldiers and Ruin Them," "Today's Lunch is Female Soldier ○○○"
After Seoul National University and Inha University, Now Active Duty Soldiers Targeted in Deepfake Chatrooms

Amid controversy over the so-called 'deepfake chat rooms' where nude photos were synthesized and shared onto female students' faces at Seoul National University and Inha University, a report has emerged that active-duty soldiers are operating similar chat rooms targeting female soldiers. Recently, photos of a chat room called the 'Military Supplies Warehouse Waiting Room,' which creates deepfake photos of female soldiers, have been rapidly spreading on social networking services (SNS). It is known that more than 900 people have joined the problematic chat room, most of whom are active-duty soldiers.

They derogatorily referred to female soldiers as 'military supplies.' According to the notice, to participate in the chat room, one must submit to the operator a photo of the female soldier in uniform they want to turn into 'military supplies,' along with personal information such as phone number, affiliation, rank, and age. Additionally, participants must send a 'humiliation message' to the female soldier and provide a photo verifying her reaction to be allowed to join. After the Inha University incident caused controversy, the operator even posted an additional notice stating, "For the time being, we will not accept anyone who has not completed the mission of sending a 'humiliation message.'"

Photos of the chat room that were made public reveal numerous derogatory remarks about female soldiers, such as "We cannot forgive female soldiers," "We will strip and ruin them," and "Saturday lunch is female soldier ○○○," alongside the deepfake composites. Particularly shocking is a post stating, "The reason they feel superior is because they wear military uniforms. If all their uniforms are stripped off, only humiliation and degradation will remain, not superiority."

As deepfake technology advances, crimes using it are also rapidly increasing. According to the 'Deepfake Crime Status' submitted by the National Police Agency to Jo Eun-hee, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, on the 21st, crimes related to false video materials increased from 156 cases in 2021 to 160 cases in 2022, and 180 cases in 2023.

Meanwhile, Pavel Durov (39), the founder of Telegram where the chat room is operated, was recently arrested in France on charges of neglecting to prevent criminal misuse. Durov is accused of failing to take measures to stop Telegram from being exploited for various crimes. Telegram has been criticized for becoming a hotbed of crime recently, leveraging its strong security features as a weapon.