South Korean President Demands Crackdown on Digital Sex Crimes Amid Deepfake Pervasion

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has urged a thorough investigation into digital sex crimes following media reports about deepfake images and videos of South Korean women in Telegram chatrooms. The Korea Communications Standards Commission plans to discuss countermeasures. Telegram’s founder was recently arrested, intensifying the issue's visibility.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday urged a thorough investigation into digital sex crimes, following media reports that sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of South Korean women were being found in Telegram chatrooms.

The development comes amid the recent arrest of Telegram's Russian-born founder, Pavel Durov, part of a French probe into child pornography, drug trafficking, and fraud on the encrypted messaging app. The Korea Communications Standards Commission, South Korea's state media regulator, is set to discuss measures to combat such sexually explicit deepfakes in their meeting on Wednesday.

Yoon, during a televised cabinet meeting, termed the acts as an exploitation of technology under the guise of anonymity, calling them clear criminal actions. Deepfake sex crimes have surged dramatically this year, with South Korean police reporting 297 cases in the first seven months, almost double the figures from 2021 when data first began to be collated.

(With inputs from agencies.)