Chinese Student in South Korea Jailed Over Deepfake Porn
SingTao · 1 SOURCESabout 4 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
A 30-year-old Chinese student in South Korea was sentenced at first instance to 18 months' imprisonment for using AI face-swapping technology to create 1,141 pornographic videos and images over about three months starting in November last year.
The victims included seven people around him, among them colleagues from his research laboratory, and the Seoul Northern District Court found him guilty of violating South Korea's Sexual Violence Punishment Act.
Besides the jail term, the court ordered him to complete 40 hours of sex-violence prevention education and banned him for five years from working at welfare facilities serving children, adolescents and people with disabilities.
The court said the offence was serious and that he had not obtained the victims' forgiveness, though it also considered his guilty plea, remorse, lack of prior convictions and the absence of evidence that the material had been distributed.
Key Points
- South Korean media, cited by SingTao, said the 30-year-old Chinese defendant created 1,141 obscene videos and images using AI face-swapping technology.
- Prosecutors said the offences were committed over three months from November last year, targeting seven victims including colleagues in his research lab.
- Seongbuk Police Station in Seoul transferred the case to prosecutors on June 24, and prosecutors filed charges in early July.
- At an earlier hearing, prosecutors sought a three-year sentence, public disclosure of the defendant's identity information, and mandatory sex-violence prevention education.
- The defence said each victim was offered 7 million won, totalling 49 million won, and argued the material was for personal use only.
Why It Matters
The case shows how consumer AI tools can be used to generate large volumes of sexual abuse material involving people in a victim's immediate social circle, even without evidence of online distribution.
For Hong Kong readers, it underscores the legal and personal risks tied to AI image manipulation, especially when victims are classmates, co-workers or other identifiable acquaintances.