Four South Korean middle school students arrested for producing fake porn videos with classmates

SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): Four middle school students in South Korea’s Namyangju city have been arrested for producing, possessing and distributing deepfake porn, according to local police.

Police officials confirmed on October 26 that two of the four people are suspected of using photos of their classmates to create sexually explicit deepfake content since November 2023.

The two students are additionally accused of possessing the deepfakes and sharing them with the other two students, who themselves are accused of possessing the content.

The four middle school students were arrested for violating the Special Cases Act on the Punishment of Sexual Offenses. Under South Korean law, possessing deepfake images of sexually explicit minors is a crime.

Based on an investigation, police have so far identified nine victims, all of whom are middle school students. However, police added that the number could rise as the investigation continues.

As for the investigation, police added that detectives searched the suspects’ homes and their cellphones to find evidence of new crimes.

The case is also being investigated by the Cyber ​​Investigation Bureau of the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency, after it was initially reported to the Namyangju Bukbu Police Station.

The incident came to light in August when victims reported to the school that four students had created sexually explicit deepfakes of them and their friends.

The school reported the case to the Guri Namyangju Education Bureau, which formed a School Violence Countermeasure Evaluation Committee. The commission decided to transfer the two students who created the deepfake content and suspend the other two accused of owning the content.

However, local media reports said the victims’ parents filed a complaint, claiming their children suffered “secondary victimization” because of the school’s delayed response – such as taking two months to separate the female victims from the suspects. Secondary victimization refers to subsequent trauma experienced by victims due to insensitivity, blaming, or dismissive attitudes from others.

From 2021 to August 2024, 1,727 digital sex crimes by students were reported to the School Violence Prevention Review Committee, according to data provided by 16 provincial and metropolitan education bureaus to Representative Kang Kyung-sook of the Korean Reconstruction Party .

Of the total number of digital sex crimes, in 765 cases, or 44.3 percent, the committee called for “severe punishment” to be taken against the perpetrators.

In South Korea, cases of school violence are reviewed by a School Violence Countermeasure Review Committee, which meets after an investigation to confirm the incident and decide on disciplinary measures.

Punishments range from written apologies, no-contact orders or community service to more severe measures such as suspension, class transfer, school transfer or expulsion.

According to Ms. Kang, some of the reported digital sex crimes included creating and distributing sexually explicit deepfake videos and using them to threaten the victim, as well as illegally creating and distributing deepfake content and illegal footage online. There were also some cases where the perpetrators sent messages constituting sexual harassment.

“Not only physical violence, but digital sex crimes committed online also constitute a type of school violence,” Ms. Kang said.

“Active attention as well as education for students must be provided by education authorities to prevent further victimization of students and ultimately prevent school violence.” – THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK