Whole Nation is Victim: Deepfake Sexual Crimes Shock South Korea with Disturbing School Lists

The deepfake sexual crimes in South Korea have sparked outrage. It is reported that women’s faces were photoshopped onto explicit materials and were circulated in Telegram group chat.

Yesterday, posts titled “Deepfake Victim School List” and “Telegram Deepfake List” began circulating on X (formerly Twitter). These posts featured lists of Telegram chat rooms named after specific regions and educational institutions, such as “XX University Room” and “XX High School Room.” The lists revealed over 200 educational institutions.

According to reports from several media outlets, large-scale group Telegram chats distributing explicit deepfake videos were exposed. Authorities arrested operators who targeted students and graduates from Inha University. These individuals created deepfake group chats, “Gyeopjiinbang,” targeting their female acquaintances. However, the scale of the victims, which included middle and high schoolers, shocked the public.

As of 7 a.m. on the 27th, “deepfake” trended on X. Many people wanted to verify deepfake sexual crime materials, including images, facial photos, the identities of perpetrators, and victim lists. From this, the identity of the perpetrator was also disclosed. While the authenticity of these posts remains unverified, fear among women is rising. Due to such crime, experts recommended setting their social media accounts private.

However, police have encountered difficulties in identifying the operators of the group chats. Telegram’s privacy clause enables users to delete their data rather easily, which limits the capabilities of law enforcement agencies even after receiving reports.