Luring Users with Pornography to Online Gambling Sites... 4.7 Trillion Won Traded

[Anchor]

A gang that operated the largest illegal pornography website in South Korea has been arrested by the police. They lured members gathered through pornographic content into illegal gambling sites, and an investigation revealed that a computer engineering PhD participated in building and operating the sites.

Reporter Bae Seong-jae has the details.

[Reporter]

Police place handcuffs on a man's wrists.

[As of this moment, you are being arrested on charges of distributing sex exploitation materials, illicitly filmed footage, and pornography, as well as opening gambling spaces.]

This is the moment when Mr. A, a computer engineering PhD who created and managed illegal gambling and pornography distribution websites, is being arrested.

Mr. A and his accomplices have been charged with operating two of the largest illegal pornography distribution sites in South Korea, including child sexual exploitation materials, based in the Philippines since 2019.

The sites contained about 116,000 illegal videos, 2.85 million registered accounts, and a cumulative view count reaching 5.3 billion.

They lured members gathered through the pornography to illegal online casinos operated by themselves.

[Lee Sook-young, Head of Cybercrime Investigation Division 3, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: We became convinced that this was not simply a pornography site, but something akin to a comprehensive solution provider linked to gambling sites....]

Over the past five years, the total betting amount on gambling sites associated with them was investigated to be approximately 4.7 trillion won, with criminal proceeds exceeding 47 billion won.

The police launched an investigation after a women's organization filed a complaint against the pornography site in November of last year. It is reported that they confirmed specific crime-related data after apprehending Mr. A, the computer engineering PhD who played a pivotal role in simultaneously operating the pornography distribution and gambling sites.

The police have sent Mr. B, a man in his 40s and site operator who briefly entered the country from Korea alongside Mr. A, to the prosecution under detention, and plan to pursue Interpol red notices for the masterminds remaining overseas.

Having shut down all 10 illegal sites operated by them, the police are also proceeding with procedures to confiscate and collect criminal proceeds amounting to 47 billion won.

(Video by: Kim Heung-ki | Video editing by: Kim Ho-jin | Footage source: Women's News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.