South Korea has been taking pride in its high digital literacy, but such technological advancements in recent years have enabled perpetrators to exploit sexually explicit content on the dark web. A report on Korea’s safety published by Statistics Korea showed that 10,605 digital sex crimes were reported in 2022, double the 5,079 reported just a year earlier, thanks to improvements in protections for victims who report them. A total of 243,855 illegally produced and distributed sexual photos and videos were deleted in 2023, according to data compiled by the Digital Sex Crime Victims Support Center, an organization affiliated with the Gender Ministry.
The figure was up 30,855 from 213,000 in 2022, revealing an alarming picture that more people are becoming victims of digital sex crimes. Experts argue that a distorted awareness of sex and weak laws that fail to promote public understanding of sex crimes' societal impact, particularly on minors, helps such content proliferate. The lack of comprehensive sex education forms a pipeline of “online predators,” as perpetrators offend out of a sense of curiosity and exploration, they say.
“Without adequately understanding sex and the intricacies of it, people these days, especially the younger generation, are exposed to explicit content more easily before they are ready to process it,” said Huh Chang-deog, a sociology professor at Yeungnam University. He said ignorance allows people to absorb content from various forms of medi.