As 'Deepfake' Question Controversy Grows... Miss Korea Organizers Finally Apologize

"AI Video Intended to Refer to Itself"
"Should Have Paid Much More Attention to the Question"

The organizer, who faced severe criticism for asking Miss Korea pageant contestants a question along the lines of "How would you respond if your deepfake image appeared more attractive than your real self?", has issued an official apology.

On the 26th, Global E&B, the organizer of Miss Korea, stated, "We deeply apologize to all those who felt uncomfortable, including the Miss Korea contestants."

They further explained, "The question about deepfake videos was intended to refer to 'videos that recreate a real appearance using AI technology' itself," adding, "It was a question meant to ask about the difference between a digitally created image and one's actual appearance."

On the 26th, a scene from the '2024 Miss Korea Pageant' held on the 24th was shared across various online communities and social networking services (SNS). [Photo source=Online Community]

They continued, "Using the term 'deepfake' amid situations where illegal videos created with deepfake technology cause harm was clearly a mistake," and bowed their heads, saying, "Although the question aimed to hear thoughts on how AI virtual technology is widely used in movies, advertising, and education, we should have been much more careful with the question considering the current reality where deepfakes are being misused for illegal sexual videos."

The controversy was sparked during the '2024 Miss Korea Pageant' held on the 24th. At that time, the organizer asked the final 15 contestants, "If you appear more attractive in a deepfake video than your real self, how can you reduce the gap between the real you and that image?"

As this fact spread on social networking services (SNS), controversy erupted among netizens. Given that the distribution of illegal sexual exploitation materials using deepfake synthesis has become a social issue, the question was criticized as inappropriate. Protest comments flooded the pageant’s official SNS accounts, and the official website was even paralyzed due to heavy traffic.

Deepfake is a technology that uses AI to synthesize a person's face onto another body. As crimes involving sexual exploitation materials using this technology increase, social awareness is also growing. Recently, it was revealed that among those sharing deepfake sexual exploitation materials in closed SNS group chats on 'Telegram,' there were teenage students, which caused shock.

On the 23rd, the National Assembly’s standing committee passed the 'Deepfake Sexual Crime Prevention Act,' which includes strengthened penalties for deepfake sexual exploitation materials. The police have formed a 'False Video Intensive Task Force (TF)' and began focused crackdowns last month.