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National Police Agency headquarters. / Photo by Park Seong-il

The Korean National Police Agency announced on April 17 that it arrested 963 individuals over a seven-month period during a nationwide crackdown on deepfake-related crimes, with teenagers and people in their 20s accounting for 93% of those apprehended.

The National Office of Investigation said the crackdown, which ran from August 28 last year to March 31 this year, led to the arrests of 963 suspects, 59 of whom were formally detained. Prior to the operation, only 267 individuals had been arrested between January and August last year, indicating a 260% increase in enforcement following the campaign.

By age group, those apprehended included 669 teenagers (including 72 under the age of criminal responsibility), 228 in their 20s, 51 in their 30s, 11 in their 40s, and 4 over 50.

The operation focused on crimes involving the production, distribution, possession, or viewing of sexually exploitative deepfake content targeting both adults and minors. Cyber sexual crime and women and youth crime investigation teams from provincial police agencies collaborated for the effort.

In one major case, the Seoul Metropolitan Police arrested 54 people, including key figures, for producing and distributing exploitative content through long-term psychological control and sexual abuse of victims dating back to 2020. Two suspects were formally detained.

In another case, Incheon police arrested 15 individuals—eight of whom were detained—for creating Telegram channels that used victims’ names and university affiliations to distribute about 270 deepfake videos between November 2022 and August 2024.

The police also worked with the Korea Communications Standards Commission and the Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center to request the removal or blocking of 10,535 harmful videos and to provide victim support.

The police plan to continue their ongoing "cyber sexual crime crackdown" through October. Starting in June, a revised sex crime law will allow undercover investigations for adult victims as well. The agency also noted that it is advancing its internally developed deepfake detection software.

A senior official from the National Office of Investigation stated, “Not only the creation of sexual deepfake videos but also their possession, purchase, or viewing is punishable by law. We urge the public to take caution.”