"More than 90 per cent of spycam porn crimes are due to mobile phones, not specialised items," he said, adding that any crackdown on the gadgets was akin to blaming knife makers for knife-related murders. With the Bill currently under consideration by a parliamentary committee, gadget retailers like Mr Shin fear it will turn away potential customers. "I turn customers away when it isn't clear why and what they want hidden cameras for," Mr Lee Seung-yon, who customises spycam gadgets in Seoul, told AFP.īut he admitted his approach was no guarantee against crimes.
The number of spycam crimes reported to police surged from around 2,400 in 2012 to nearly 6,500 in 2017.Īccording to official statistics, about 98 per cent of convicted offenders are men - ranging from school teachers and college professors to church pastors and police officers - while more than 80 per cent of victims are women. In a burgeoning scandal that has shaken South Korea's entertainment industry, K-pop star Jung Joon-young was arrested this month on charges of filming and distributing illicit sex videos without the consent of his female partners.
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In one case, offenders had live streamed footage of around 800 couples having sex - filmed in hotel rooms using cameras installed inside hairdryer holders, wall sockets and digital TV boxes.Īs well as secretly filming women in schools, toilets and offices, "revenge porn" - private sex videos filmed and shared without permission by disgruntled former boyfriends, former husbands or malicious acquaintances - is believed to be equally widespread. Spycam crimes have become so prevalent that female police officers now regularly inspect public toilets to check for cameras in women's stalls. Under current regulations, spycam buyers are not required to give personal information, making it difficult to trace their ownership and use of the devices.īut some lawmakers are hoping to change that, co-sponsoring a Bill in August that requires hidden camera buyers to register with a government database, raising alarm among retailers like Mr Shin. He had sold the device to a female customer and said he had no idea she would use it to film and distribute illicit footage online. In 2015, he was questioned by police after one of his products - a camera installed inside a mobile phone cover - was used to secretly film women in a dressing room at a water park outside Seoul. But the 52-year-old admits he is not always able to spot unscrupulous buyers.
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