While gaming... frequently reports "being insulted with sexual profanity"

Referral Rate for Obscenity Using Communication Media
Drops Below 50% Due to Reckless Reporting
Once Approached 80%

Choi (30), an office worker living in Seoul, was notified last year to appear at the police station after being booked on charges of violating the Special Act on Sexual Violence. The reason was that he allegedly used sexual slurs against another player in a fit of anger during an online game. Although Choi was cleared of charges after the police investigation, he said, "I feel unfair and conflicted whenever I think about that day."

Reports of online sex crimes to the police have surged over the past several years, but the referral rate (the rate at which cases are forwarded to the prosecution for indictment) has significantly decreased. This has led to criticism that excessive reporting wastes police resources that should be devoted to actual criminal investigations.

According to the National Police Agency on the 24th, the number of police reports related to the crime of obscenity using communication media increased more than fivefold from 1,437 cases in 2019 to 8,004 cases in 2023. However, the referral rate dropped from 78.8% in 2019 to 47.6% in 2023. A declining referral rate indicates a high volume of excessive reports. Since these reports involve sex crimes, it is often necessary to summon the parties involved for direct investigation. This consumes police resources and, if it worsens, can lead to neglect of investigations that are truly necessary.

The crime of obscenity using communication media is established when a person uses communication media to transmit information that causes sexual shame or disgust to another person with the intent to arouse or satisfy their own or another’s sexual desire. Eun-ui Lee, a lawyer specializing in sex crime cases, explained, "This law was enacted to punish those who send obscene photos, videos, etc., against the will of the recipient."

The surge in such sex crime reports began around 2022 when methods to punish opponents who used abusive language in online games spread mainly through online communities. The key point was that many Korean swear words originate from sexual insults. Since sex crimes hinge on whether the victim felt sexual shame, it is relatively easier to specify the charges.

This characteristic has been exploited to threaten others or extort settlement money. According to the police, there have been cases where people deliberately ruined games online to provoke sexual slurs or induced obscene remarks in anonymous chat rooms. Some even hired lawyers to file mass lawsuits against opponents and then approached them to receive settlement money. A police official said, "There were cases where, after online disputes, the accuser selectively captured only the opponent’s sexual remarks, excluding their own abusive language, to file complaints."

A female youth police officer in Seoul said, "While the reports themselves cannot be deemed illegal, there has been a tremendous increase in reports that cannot be considered as coming from actual sex crime victims," adding, "This inevitably causes setbacks in investigations of genuinely important sex crimes such as stalking."

Regarding this, Professor Geonsu Lee of the Department of Police Administration at Baekseok University suggested, "A police investigation manual should be created for this type of sex crime report to reduce wasted investigative resources," and added, "A representative approach is to book and investigate the accused if they are habitual offenders and their actions violate social norms."