The reality of deepfake sexual exploitation in Korea is also causing shock and concern in China. Chinese women have left messages of support for Korean women, while also calling for strict action against sexual crimes using artificial intelligence (AI) in the country.

Keywords dealing with deepfake sex crimes, such as ‘Korean Deepfake Sex Crimes’ and ‘The Second Nth Room Case,’ were on the list of popular searches on Chinese social networking services (SNS) Weibo and Xiaohongshu last weekend.

The trigger was a netizen who identified herself as a Korean woman who posted on Weibo and Xiaohongshu in Chinese about the reality of deepfake sexual crimes on the 28th of last month. The netizen’s screenshot of a chatroom where sexually exploitative material is shared and the ‘Map of the Reality of Sexually Exploitative Material Victims’ created by Korean netizens also quickly spread online. The post received over 800,000 ‘likes’ and 30,000 comments on Weibo, and was shared over 100,000 times. It has been deleted on Xiaohongshu.

Chinese newspapers such as the First Financial Times and the New Democracy Weekly reported that “Korean women have turned to the Chinese internet for help with deepfake sex crimes.” The Global Times said that “deepfake sex crime cases in Korea have also sparked discussions in China,” and that “similar situations have made deepfake technology an international issue.”

Chinese netizens said in related news comments, SNS, and blog comments, “What on earth does 227,000 (deepfake sex crime perpetrators) mean? Only 230,000 people were born in Korea last year,” and “If you’re a woman and your photo is released on the Internet, anyone can become a victim.” Some women made a video of the incident and posted it on X (formerly Twitter) with the message, “We support the Korean women who brought this issue to light.”

Deepfake sex crimes map images shared on Chinese online platforms such as Weibo.

A netizen who posted on Weibo and Xiaohongshu under the name “Eunmin” told Pengpai Newspaper, “I wanted to urge Chinese students and tourists in Korea to take care of their safety,” and “I didn’t expect the outpouring of encouragement and support.”

The reason this incident has drawn so much attention is because the reality of deepfake sexual exploitation materials has emerged as a serious social problem in China as well.

In June, a man in China known as “Baimu” was arrested and is being tried for creating and selling 7,000 composite photos using photos of female students, teachers, and other acquaintances. According to Xinqingbao, it only costs 3 yuan (about 560 won) to create 7,000 deepfake photos using a program online.

Zhou Xiaolei, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said, “The reaction in China is two-faced. Some people are commenting, ‘Korea should ask the United States for help,’ but women are generally showing full support beyond the borders.” She added, “In recent years, the feminist movement in Korea has had a great influence on China. The sense of solidarity and affinity seen in the comments can also be understood in this context.”

Since the novel Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 became a bestseller in China in 2019, the Chinese publishing industry has been actively publishing translated novels by Korean female authors such as Kim Cho-yeop and Kim Ae-ran. Professor Zhou said that criticism of East Asian patriarchal culture and feminism are the main interests of Korean novel lovers in China.

📌(Flat) The country with the most deepfake sexual exploitation material is Korea···53% of characters are Korean, 99% are women

Some women even called domestic men “national men,” a derogatory term for those who mocked deepfake sexual crimes online.

According to the ‘2023 Deepfake Status’ recently released by overseas security service company ‘Security Hero’, Chinese people account for 3% of the characters appearing in sexually exploitative content on 85 deepfake channels on porn websites, YouTube, Dailymotion, etc., ranking 5th in the world. Koreans are in first place, accounting for 53% of all victims.

▼ Beijing | Correspondent Eunha Park eunha999@khan.kr