"Even After Takedown Requests, 210,000 'Korean Adult Content' Videos Flood Overseas Site"

6,683 Illegal and Harmful Websites Accessible in Korea
Limitations of Law Enforcement... Urgent Need for Intergovernmental Cooperation System

The government has been stepping up efforts to remove and block illegal recordings to prevent the spread of digital sex crimes, but it has been confirmed that more than 210,000 videos labeled as "Korean adult content" have been posted on a single illegal harmful website hosted overseas, highlighting the difficulty of resolving the issue.

On the 26th, Yonhap News, citing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, reported that a total of 34,628 illegal harmful sites had been identified during the government’s support process for victims of digital sex crimes. Among these, 6,683 sites can be accessed from within Korea through various means.

In particular, one overseas website—accessible via commercial internet networks—supports four languages, including Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese, and allows payment not only in US dollars but also in won.

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Moreover, this website operates a separate board specifically for "Korean adult content," where a large volume of content suspected to be videos involving Korean victims was being distributed. This suggests that Korean users are being targeted as the main audience.

The number of videos posted on the Korean adult content board is about 210,000, which exceeds the total number of illegal recordings, sexual deepfakes, and child and youth sexual exploitation materials—about 140,000—removed or blocked last year by major value-added telecommunications service providers and webhard operators such as Naver, Kakao, Google, and Meta combined.

The government has made multiple requests to the operators of the site to delete illegal recordings and exploitative content, but has received no response. As a result, on the 24th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family sent an official letter to "Company A," which provides hosting services to the site, requesting suspension of the service. It is known that Company A's terms of use include a clause prohibiting the distribution of child and youth sexual exploitation materials.

Experts point out that without governmental-level cooperation, it is unlikely that overseas operators will respond proactively to deletion requests, indicating that the enforcement of domestic law alone has limitations. They stress the importance of establishing an international cooperation system through agreements between the government or related agencies.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to request cooperation from foreign investigative agencies and authorities if the hosting company does not comply, and will consider all possible responses, including extradition, if necessary.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.