Over 10,000 seek help for AI deepfake and digital sex crimes in South Korea in 2023
Over 10,000 people in South Korea sought help in 2023 for digital sex crimes, including deepfake pornography, marking a 14.7 percent increase from the prior year. Deepfake cases involving AI-generated synthetic media tripled to 1,384 reported incidents, predominantly affecting women and youth through social media platforms.
What happened
In 2023, 10,305 individuals sought government assistance from South Korea's Advocacy Center for Online Sexual Abuse Victims, a 14.7 percent increase from 8,983 the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
Deepfake-related crimes involving synthetic and edited media created using AI saw a steep increase, with 1,384 reported cases in 2023 — a 3.3-fold rise from 423 in the previous year, according to the ministry.
Young people in their teens and 20s were victimized the most, with 92.6 percent of deepfake victims under 30, mostly through social media, messenger services and anonymous online platforms.
Reported impact
Women accounted for 72.1 percent of those seeking assistance, with 50.9 percent of victims reporting distribution anxiety and images of women's faces and bodies primarily exploited in deepfake sex crimes.
Teenagers accounted for 27.8 percent of victims, with officials warning that growing numbers of reports involved elementary school students because of how easily accessible AI tools have become.
Index analysis
The number of cases involving illicit filming increased from 2,927 to 4,182 cases, while distribution anxiety — victims fearing that videos of past consensual activity might be leaked — was the most common form of harm at 25.9 percent of reported cases.
Officials warned that as AI systems become more personalised through data accumulation, the scale and sophistication of digital sex crimes are likely to grow.
Governance controls
The South Korean government plans to review recent cases and engage platform operators to implement stronger measures to combat digital sex crimes and protect vulnerable users.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.