By Jenny Lee WIRED Korea

Thirty-four-year-old Lee Sul had no idea that a seemingly ordinary gift she received in November 2018 would turn her life upside down.

The gift from a former coworker, whose relationship with Lee goes back more than seven years, was a small alarm clock – which he said he had received for free, and which she gladly accepted. That clock soon made itself at home on a nightstand next to her bed in her parents’ apartment in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province.

“The bright light from the clock can be disturbing at night, and so I had to move it away from my bed from time to time,” Lee said. “But whenever I did, he knew and told me to put the clock back to where it was.”

“And I realized something was very dangerously wrong,” she said.

It took her more than half a month to grasp that what outwardly appeared as an everyday item was in fact a mini hidden spy camera, which was secretly documenting (and live-streaming) her daily routine – from sleeping at night, to changing clothes, and to getting ready for work. And the footage was available at all times for her coworker, who is married and in his late 40s – and possibly, everyone on the internet.

“Imagine someone watching you when you think you’re alone,” Lee said. “Just thinking of it still gives me chills.”
 

Spy Cams Lurking Everywhere

The use of hidden cameras to spy on women is not uncommon in South Korea, a country that is renowned for pioneering new technology and where there is the highest levels of connectedness and smartphone ownership. It has become a massive problem in recent years, with thousands of South Korean women having already fallen victim. They have been filmed in their own homes, caught on miniature cameras installed in public restrooms and had upskirt photos taken on stairs or subways, to name just a few.

Many times, these voyeuristic images and videos were shared or sold online without knowledge or consent of those on camera, spreading at a rapid pace across various platforms – including file-sharing sites, makeshift pornography sites, social media messengers and private sites to which only a few have access.

One fairly recent, egregious case in South Korea’s so called “spy-cam epidemic” involves two men accused of setting up tiny cameras in 42 rooms at 30 hotels, filming the intimate moments of more than 1,600 guests and streaming the footage live online. They were arrested in March of this year.

Such filming and sharing hidden-camera footage is of course illegal, violating South Korea’s Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes, which also stipulates that if the subject consents to being filmed but does not consent to distribution of said video can result in up to three years in prison or a fine up to 5 million won (about $4,300).

According to the Korean National Police Agency, more than 6,400 crimes related to illegal filming were reported in 2017, which is about a five-fold increase from 2011. Of those who committed crimes of filming and distributing images of non-consensual, sexual acts, only about 5 percent were sentenced to imprisonment, according to the analysis result of trials in the Seoul District Court between January 2011 and April 2016.

The statistics, said Lee Jin-seon of the non-profit Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, paint only a “tiny part of the picture” as so many cases go unnoticed by the authorities partly due to lack of reporting from victims. Lee said women have long complained that their fears about hidden cameras are not being treated seriously enough by the authorities. The center helps victims whose videos have spread online.

“We receive a stream of phone calls every day from women who are in fear of the possibility that footage of themselves may have been shared,” said the activist. “Digital sex crimes are prevalent and come with all kinds of wounds.”

Victims of illegal filming are haunted by the thought that someone might recognize them and having a hard time coming to terms with the past suffering. While some move into new homes, change their names or alter their appearances, some make very extreme choices like a young woman who was surreptitiously filmed in a hospital changing room. She has reportedly killed herself in late September.

According to recent statistics released by the Korean Women’s Development Institute, nearly half of digital sex crime victims have considered committing suicide, and one in five people attempted it.

Smaller Size, Cheaper Price

The overwhelming consensus across the board is that this phenomenon of illegal filming is made possible by advances in technology.

“Technological advances mean smaller cameras – usually less than 1mm in size – that can be hidden in every nook and cranny,” said Lee Won-up, a spy-cam detection expert with more than 20 years of experience. “They are WiFi-enabled, have an ample amount of storage and are either with an astonishingly large battery life or connected to a power source.”

Some cameras have infrared night vision and are equipped to operate in the dark, he added.

Lee, director of Spy-Zone Korea, said spy cameras on offer today are much more wide-ranging in choice and are cunningly disguised as pens, alarm clocks, wrist watches, brooches, rings, smoke detectors, toys, USB hubs, Bluetooth speakers, and many other innovations.

And they can be easily purchased on South Korean e-commerce websites, as well as on global retailers like Amazon and Alibaba, which are selling them at a price as low as a few dollars.

Lee said: “As long as these cameras have the KC (Korea Certification) mark, they can be sold legally in the country. Currently hundreds of certified cameras are available for sale on South Korean websites, which allow people to make purchases without disclosing their identity. Tracking buyers of these gadgets therefore is difficult, if not impossible. When purchasing spy cameras from China, Taiwan, Russia and the U.S., shipments almost never get caught in customs clearance because they are considered parts and components for communication equipment.”

Government in Action

To tackle this spiraling problem of illegal filming, which has sparked massive protests against the practice last year under the slogan "My Life is Not Your Porn," the South Korean government has been taking steps to strengthen preventive measures.

The City of Seoul not only has a team of trained women and men that regularly inspects public places vulnerable to illegal filming, but also offers one-on-one counseling programs for victims.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission(KCSC), the country’s internet censorship body, has launched a team in September that now runs 24 hours to promptly delete and block videos from local websites and overseas networks upon receipt of request from victims of digital sex crimes.

The clips victims ask KCSC to eliminate online include spy cam videos, revenge porns and “deepfake” videos, which are fake pornographic images based on pictures of real people made with artificial intelligence software.

“It took three days on average for deliberation, which is too long given the viral spread of pornographic visuals,” said Lee Yong-bae, an executive manager at KCSC’s Digital Sex Crime Information Review Bureau. “When a victim requests deletion of an illegal footage, our goal is to do it within 24 hours.”

According to KCSC, the commission deliberated on 19,919 online sexual crime cases this year, up from 2,977 cases in 2017. Of them, four cases have been removed and the rest blocked.

“Since a large amount of digital sex crime information is distributed on sites with servers overseas, we are strengthening cooperation with global companies like Google and Facebook to ensure the deletion of illegal information at source,” Lee said. “But with each country having different laws, blocking South Koreans from accessing the information is virtually the best option at this time.”

Completely eliminating videos that have spread widely online – especially to servers overseas – may be false hope, of which victims themselves appear to be well aware. But still, some victims, who are scrambling to find footage of themselves online, even go the extra mile of quitting their jobs, Director Lee said.

“The world we live in is not at all safe,” said Lee, who is taking legal proceedings against her coworker. “If there’s anyone out there who still thinks ‘such a thing would never happen to me,’ I warn her. It is time for us women to be on alert.”