Minister of Gender Equality and Family Won Min-kyong / Yonhap
Confronting a sophisticated landscape of digital abuse, the Korean government launched a specialized cross-agency task force Wednesday designed to dismantle the infrastructure of online sex crimes.
The Integrated Support Group for Victims of Digital Sex Crimes officially debuted with a plaque-hanging ceremony attended by top officials, including Minister of Gender Equality and Family Won Min-kyong and acting Commissioner General of the National Police Agency Yoo Jae-sung. The launch follows the enactment of a prime ministerial decree last month aimed at centralizing a response that has previously struggled with bureaucratic delays.
While the government has supported more than 53,000 victims and removed 1.5 million illegal uploads in recent years, officials admitted to significant structural hurdles. Currently, even clear cases of nonconsensual filming require a time-consuming review process before websites can be blocked. Furthermore, offshore servers often ignore deletion requests, leading to a cycle of repeated uploads.
The new task force, housed within the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, is composed of experts from the police, theKorea Media and Communications Commissionand the gender equality ministry. Its mandate goes beyond simple content removal. The group will conduct deep-dive analyses into the revenue models and distribution routes of illicit sites to facilitate asset seizures and international raids.
“We are moving beyond mere deletion support,” Won said, promising a “stronger response system” that uses every available legal tool to hold repeat offenders accountable. Under the new protocol, the task force will bypass certain administrative bottlenecks to issue immediate blocking orders for verified illegal content through telecommunications providers.
The move signals a transition toward a more aggressive, investigative posture. The acting police commissioner warned that authorities will focus on eradicating the entire "criminal ecosystem" of distribution and consumption.
"We will track down perpetrators hiding behind technology to ensure they face the judgment of the law," he said.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Source: Korea Times News
