Woman accused of deepfake sex crime against ex-boyfriend

A woman in her 20s is under investigation over allegations of releasing digitally produced pornographic images of her former boyfriend, in the first reported deepfake case involving a male victim in Korea.

According to local media reports on Tuesday, Busan Metropolitan Police is investigating the suspect for allegedly releasing fake pornographic videos and images of the male victim, also in his 20s. She is also accused of other crimes such as sharing the victim's nude photos on social media.

The two broke up in April last year after dating for 11 months. The suspect reportedly demanded that they should get back together, and started spreading the damaging videos and images of the victim when he refused.

"I decided to file for charges after consistent threats and damages (inflicted by the suspect), which included her sending my acquaintance an illegally-filmed video in August. ... I wanted people to know that both women and men could become victims of deepfake sex crimes," the victim was quoted as saying.

An overwhelming majority of the sex crimes victims in South Korea are women, but data shows that male victims do exist. According to the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, 8.6 percent of sex crimes victims who received consultation last year were men -- increasing from 5.2 percent in 2021.

Of the 8,983 victims who sought assistance of the state-run Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center last year, 26 percent were men.