Key facts
- South Korea is introducing a new policy package to combat illegal digital sex-crime sites.
- The plan aims to create a new standalone crime for operating sites that distribute sexual exploitation material.
- The government will also work to block advertisements on illegal pornography sites.
- A dedicated illegal-site investigation team will be established by the police.
- The measures follow the shutdown of Soranet, a notorious illegal pornography site, ten years ago.
- The number of digital sex crime cases has fluctuated, with a rise to 4,273 cases in 2025.
South Korea is intensifying its efforts to combat illegal digital sex-crime sites, a decade after the notorious Soranet hub was shut down. The government has introduced a comprehensive policy package aimed at deterring operators and cutting off financial lifelines for these platforms.
The new measures, announced by a pan-government digital sex crime response council including the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Korea Communications Commission, and the Korean National Police Agency, seek to address long-standing loopholes that have allowed operators to profit from illicit content with relatively light punishments.
A key component of the plan is the creation of a new offense, tentatively named "illegal site establishment," which would criminalize the act of setting up and operating a site for the purpose of distributing sexual exploitation material as a standalone crime. This aims to prosecute operators as principal offenders, rather than accessories, a move prompted by criticism that existing penalties were too lenient, especially when compared to sentences in countries like the United States.
Further actions include blocking advertising links to illegal sites and imposing penalties on businesses that place advertisements on them. The government also plans to establish a dedicated illegal-site investigation team and enhance cooperation with international bodies like the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The plan also introduces an "active defense system," or lawful hacking, to allow authorities to directly access illegal sites to gather evidence and delete illicit material, subject to court warrants.
Analysis of 34,628 identified illegal sites revealed an average of 34.7 illegal banner advertisements per site, with some sites hosting up to 300. Each illegal site was estimated to generate at least 300 million won annually. Digital sex crime cases have seen fluctuations, falling from 4,439 in 2021 to 2,314 in 2023, but rising to 4,273 in 2025. The rate of noncompliance with deletion requests from victim support centers has also increased.