South Korea Shuts Down 66 Sexually Exploitative Websites, Arrests 32 Operators in Interagency Crackdown
South Korean authorities shut down 66 websites distributing sexually exploitative material this year and arrested 32 operators, up from six sites last year, as a joint task force also seized criminal proceeds and took down gambling sites tied to the trade.
The figures stem from an interagency effort launched in April, when the Ministry of Gender Equality, the Korea Media and Communications Commission and the National Police Agency formed a joint task force to respond more quickly to digital sex crimes and to strengthen support for victims.
The latest crackdown targeted sites with servers located overseas whose operators repeatedly refused to cooperate with authorities' requests to take down illegal material, the ministry said.
Officials remotely deleted illegally filmed material from 16 of the 66 sites in order to prevent it from being redistributed, and seized 2.7 billion won, about US$2 million, in criminal proceeds.
Under the broader interagency programme, the number of sites carrying illegal material that remain accessible to the public dropped from 6,683 last month to 4,736, according to the ministry. The ministry said the government has concentrated on shortening approval procedures needed to block access to such sites.
Separately, authorities shut down 236 illegal gambling websites suspected of providing funding to sites that distribute sexually exploitative material. In that part of the operation, 3,663 people were apprehended and 176 billion won in proceeds was seized.