318 Suspects Arrested for Deepfake Sexual Crimes This Year... 78.9% Are Teenagers

Currently Under Investigation: 513 Cases

Police have arrested 318 suspects involved in deepfake sex crimes, with teenagers accounting for 78.9% of the total.

According to the National Police Agency on the 11th, there are currently 513 ongoing investigations related to deepfake sex crimes. Among the suspects arrested this year, 251 are teenagers (including 63 juvenile offenders exempt from prosecution), 57 are in their 20s, 9 in their 30s, and 1 in their 40s.

On the 2nd, at the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee comprehensive policy inquiry, Police Commissioner Jo Ji-ho stated, "About 75% of the arrested individuals are teenagers, and if you include those in their 20s, it expands to about 95%. Many tend to commit crimes without a sense of guilt or criminal awareness, so we will conduct preventive education through school police officers."

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has organized a task force (TF) to intensively respond to deepfake sex crimes and other false video materials. The TF is led by the head of the Cyber Investigation Division as the general team leader and consists of three dedicated investigation teams, a cyber profiling team, a digital forensic team, and a support department team. It will operate until March 31 of next year.