Ministry of Culture and Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office Shut Down 'Ajitoon', Operator Arrested
Posted Gambling and Prostitution Ads... Earned Over 100 Million Won in 6 Months
An operator of a site that illegally distributed domestic web novels and webtoons for over three years has been caught.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 27th that, together with the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, they shut down the site 'Ajitoon' and arrested its operator.
Ajitoon is the largest illegal distribution site for web novels in Korea. The number of illegally distributed web novels reached 2,509,963, and webtoons totaled 746,835.
The suspect previously operated an illegal webtoon sharing site and was sentenced to probation. Before the sentence took effect, the suspect, along with Chinese accomplices, separately prepared domains for webtoons and web novels and operated them interconnectedly.
To conceal the crime, the suspect accessed the site remotely from overseas and used virtual private networks (VPNs). Payment costs for using Latvian servers and domains were made through PayPal accounts under Chinese names. The suspect registered mobile phones and internet services under aliases and rented workspaces at third-party crime locations, regularly moving to operate the servers.
Jung Hyang-mi, Director of the Copyright Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "Although the suspect committed crimes without leaving any trace for tracking, persistent investigation led to the arrest."
The Ministry and the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office estimate that the amount of copyright infringement is considerable, as reposted content was found not only on Ajitoon but also on follow-up sites such as 'Booktokki.'
While operating Ajitoon, the suspect posted illegal advertisements related to gambling and prostitution to generate profits. The criminal proceeds accumulated over the past six months amount to approximately 120 million KRW.
The Ministry and the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office plan to strictly take measures not only to recover criminal proceeds but also to prevent repeated copyright infringement. Additionally, to minimize the harm caused by the reappearance of similar illegal sites or the continuation of illegal site operations before final court rulings, all domains of Ajitoon have been seized, and access routes have been changed to redirect users to a 'Website Seizure Notice Page.'
Director Jung said, "Recently, copyright infringement crimes have become internationalized and sophisticated by utilizing overseas servers, VPNs, and international money laundering, but we will protect creators' legitimate rights by cooperating across ministries and strengthening international joint investigations."
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