


Tens of thousands of furious South Korean women rallied in Seoul in 2018 over molka offences. Last August, more than 70,000 South Korean women protested against molka in Seoul, holding signs saying “My life is not your porn”. Recently, they have joined forces and turned their humiliation into anger. In South Korea’s conservative, patriarchal culture, women who appear in spy cam videos often feel a deep sense of shame and embarrassment. “Having said that, these social problems go on in the West as well and extend beyond K-Pop and Korea.” “Korea is not very good when it comes to gender equality,” Dr Keith told The New Daily. Macquarie University’s Dr Sarah Keith, an expert in Korean popular culture, said the proliferation of spy cams was an “epidemic across South Korea”. In general, about 98 per cent of convicted offenders are men, while more than 80 per cent of victims are women. Last year, around 5500 people – 97 per cent men – were arrested for molka offences, according to police statistics. Since 2012, the number of spy cam crimes reported to police in South Korea skyrocketed from about 2400 to nearly 6500 in 2017. These gadgets can be bought for as little as $160. A cigarette lighter with a built-in camera. That smoke alarm in your hotel room in Seoul could be secretly capturing you getting changed after a shower, and that man holding a cigarette lighter behind you on the escalator could be filming up your skirt. In a country known for its cutting edge technology, even the most innocuous objects like pens and car keys pose a threat. Public toilets, change rooms and hotel rooms are a minefield of hidden cameras.
#Korean hidden cameras install
The recent spate of public sex crimes against women has sharpened the lens on South Korea’s enormous ‘molka’ problem, where men secretly install spy cameras to film women without their knowledge and upload the footage to porn sites. Police have not shared further details about the exact cause of the 28-year-old’s death, but they are investigating what led to her mental state. Months earlier, Hara had taken her ex-boyfriend to court after he threatened to ruin her career by releasing footage of them having sex that he had secretly filmed. Their convictions follow the sudden death of K-Pop singer Goo Hara, who was found dead at her home in Seoul last week. “It is hard to fathom the extent of suffering the victims must have gone through.” “Jung and Choi took part in gang-rape of victims who were intoxicated and unable to resist,” the verdict said, as reported by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. Jung was jailed for six years and Choi for five.
