According to Korean newspaper Kookmin Ilbo, each of the eight “nth rooms” hosted videos from three to four girls who had been blackmailed by chatroom operators.<\/p>\n
The girls were active on chat apps, or Twitter, and engaged in prostitution or sexting for money.<\/p>\n
The chatroom operators contacted the girls, promising modelling or escort jobs.<\/p>\n
They were then directed to a Telegram account where the operator extracted personal details which were used to blackmail them.<\/p>\n
Who were the victims?<\/h2>\n
One school girl – speaking to Kim Hyun Jung on South Korea’s CBS radio – said she was approached online after looking for work.<\/p>\n
After being promised money and a phone, she was told to send pictures of herself, followed by sexual abuse videos.<\/p>\n
The victim said there were at least 40 videos in total.<\/p>\n
“He already had my face, my voice, my personal information,” the victim said.<\/p>\n
“I was afraid that he would threaten me with that information if I said I would quit.”<\/p>\n
What was the public reaction?<\/h2>\n
Details emerged via a newspaper report in November, followed by another report in March.<\/p>\n
The story caused outrage in a country where another abuse scandal –\u00a0the Burning Sun case<\/a>\u00a0– dominated headlines last year.<\/p>\n A petition on the presidential website, calling for the main suspect to be named, was signed 2.6m times.<\/p>\n Another petition on the same site, calling for all chatroom users to be named, was signed almost 2m times.<\/p>\n President Moon Jae-in regarded the chatrooms as a “cruel act that destroyed lives”, according to a spokesman.<\/p>\n “The fact that more than three million people signed the petition…is a serious plea to the government from the people, especially women, requesting a stop to such malicious digital sex crimes,” the spokesman added.<\/p>\n The National Police Agency told reporters that 124 suspects had been arrested – with 18 chat room operators in custody – since September. Cho is one of the 18.<\/p>\n A user called GodGod, who is suspected of first creating the chat room, remains at large.<\/p>\n “Through strict investigation, the police will entirely transform the social apathy to digital sex crime and strongly root out such crime from our society,” said Min Gap-ryong, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency.<\/p>\n Angry South Koreans don’t just have a name – they now know the face of the man who allegedly called himself “The Doctor”.<\/p>\n His comments outside the Seoul police station will have done nothing to quell the deep wave of anger sweeping through supporters of women’s rights in the country.<\/p>\n Over two million signed a petition to have Cho’s identity made public. They got their wish. But the fury will not stop there.<\/p>\n Over and over again women have told me they feel the justice system does not adequately punish sex crimes and does not act as a deterrent.<\/p>\n And over and over again tens of thousands of women have urged the current administration to act.<\/p>\n This became apparent during South Korea’s so called spy camera demonstrations.<\/p>\n Large-scale protests were held over several weeks at the authorities’ lack of action over illicit videos – taken in places such as public bathrooms and changing rooms – and posted online.<\/p>\n The Minister for Gender Equality Lee Jung-ok has vowed to revise the laws governing sex crimes including online grooming and the blackmail of children and teenagers.<\/p>\n But will the changes go far enough in a country where being drunk is a defence for rape?<\/p>\n The level of outrage at this case should be a warning to the current administration that women in this country are watching closely – and will not wait forever for well overdue reforms.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who else has been arrested?<\/h2>\n
‘The fury will not stop here’<\/h2>\n
![\"Analysis](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/97E2\/production\/_106028883_laurabicker-nc.png\")
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