National Assembly Rebukes Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Ministry of Science and ICT, and Ministry of Education over 'Deepfake Sexual Crimes'

National Assembly's Women and Family Committee Holds Emergency Inquiry on 'Deepfake Sexual Crimes'

The National Assembly's Women and Family Committee conducted an urgent inquiry regarding 'deepfake (AI-based image synthesis technology) sex crimes.' With the Minister of Gender Equality and Family position vacant since former Minister Kim Hyun-sook, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties held the authorities, including the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, accountable.

On the afternoon of the 4th, Lee Dal-hee, a member of the People Power Party, asked during the urgent inquiry on 'deepfake sex crimes' held at the National Assembly, "Since 2021, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has stated it would produce and distribute content for sexual exploitation prevention education," adding, "This content is being distributed through the 'Digital Clean Room.' Has the Vice Minister personally reviewed the content?" Vice Minister Shin Young-sook of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family replied, "I have visited the site, but it is not possible to review each piece individually." In response, Rep. Lee said, "This is the problem," pointing out, "It is the duty of public officials to check whether the produced content is actually used in education, but it seems to be neglected."

Shin Young-sook, Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family (Acting Minister), is speaking about the current status of responses to deepfake sex crimes at the plenary meeting of the Gender Equality and Family Committee held at the National Assembly on the 4th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Furthermore, he stated, "Regarding deepfake sex crimes, the content often expresses the issue very indirectly within 10 or 20 seconds of a 10-minute video," adding, "There is no education emphasizing how severe the damage is or that offenders will truly be caught by the police if they distribute such content." Vice Minister Shin responded, "As you mentioned, we will carefully review the content to ensure it is suitable for the perspective of teenage students."

Kim Nam-hee, a member of the Democratic Party, criticized the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission for not actively cooperating with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Rep. Kim said, "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family supports deletion related to digital sex crimes, but lacks practical authority to enforce restrictions," pointing out, "The Digital Sex Crime Support Center of the Ministry requested deletion of 930,000 cases over the past five years, but 260,000 remain undeleted." She added, "The Center requests platforms where illegal filming materials are found to delete them, but since there is no legal authority to enforce deletion, this situation occurs."

She continued, "Problematic posts are controlled and hidden on Naver and domestic sites, but when searching major sexual exploitation cases on Google, the illegal sex crime materials are still visible," asking, "Does the policy officer of the Ministry of Science and ICT know that under the Telecommunications Business Act, they can inspect the management status of value-added communication service providers like Google regarding distribution?" She also asked, "Are you aware that fines can be imposed if illegal filming material distribution prevention is not enforced?" Um Yeol, the Information and Communication Policy Officer of the Ministry of Science and ICT, answered "Yes" to both questions.

Rep. Kim stated, "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family sent an official letter requesting related measures to the Korea Communications Commission. However, the Commission replied by forwarding the letter to the Korea Communications Standards Commission," adding, "Shouldn't the Ministry of Science and ICT, which has the authority, take preemptive measures to prevent illegal videos from being searchable?" Um agreed, saying, "I agree with your statement."

On the 4th, an emergency inquiry was held to review countermeasures against 'deepfake sex crimes' during the full meeting of the Women and Family Committee at the National Assembly. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Baek Seung-ah, a Democratic Party member, pointed out the Ministry of Education's initial response issues. Rep. Baek said, "At schools where deepfake sex crimes occurred, only female students were called to the auditorium and told to remove SNS photos and be cautious, while male students were playing soccer during that time," criticizing, "Did the crime happen because female students posted photos? Why are female students being controlled?" She emphasized, "The Ministry of Education has not provided a tailored response system suitable for school sites."

Education Policy Planning Officer Bae Dong-in said, "Basically, I agree with the intent of your remarks," but added, "Based on our verification through city and provincial education offices of the matters reported in the media, it is not entirely accurate."