Deepfake sexual abuse crimes surge in South Korea, 1,800+ victims in one year
South Korea's digital sexual crime support center reported 1,807 victims of deepfake-based sexual abuse in one year, a 128% increase from the previous period. Nearly half the victims were minors, and 97% were women and girls, with cases concentrated in schools and universities.
What happened
The Central Digital Sexual Crime Victims Support Center, under the Korean Women's Human Rights Institute, supported 1,807 victims of deepfake-related sexual crimes between August 26, 2024 and August 25, 2025.
This represents a 128% increase from the 793 victims supported in the 12-month period before the center established a dedicated deepfake crimes team in August 2024. Support services provided 18,523 instances of counseling, referral, and content deletion across the year.
Women comprised 97.1% of victims (1,754 people), with minors aged 10 and under representing 46.4% (839 people) and people in their 20s representing 45.9% (829 people). The center noted that deepfake crimes surge in middle schools, high schools, and university settings.
Reported impact
Analysis of victim support cases revealed that closed social media platforms were being used as tools for deepfake crime, resulting in harm that became widespread and prolonged.
The concentration of victims among teenagers and young women suggests widespread sexual exploitation targeting younger demographics through synthetic media abuse.
Index analysis
The 128% increase in reported victims within a single year indicates rapid growth in deepfake-based sexual abuse in South Korea.
Governance controls
The government established a dedicated deepfake crimes team within the support center in August 2024 to coordinate victim support and content removal efforts across government agencies including police, education, and military departments.
The center plans to establish an integrated deletion support solution by the end of 2025, including a unified online reporting portal, automation of deletion requests through AI systems providing 24/7 monitoring, and deployment of deepfake detection and analysis systems to proactively identify and report child sexual abuse material and grooming content on social media and mobile applications.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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