South Korea takes pride in its tech prowess, from ultra-fast broadband to cutting-edge smartphones. But with that prowess, sex offenders in South Korea are also given new sophisticated ways for voyeurism. Now, the South Korean Police and the concerned citizens have waged war against the high-tech peeping toms.
According to Yahoo, Park Kwang-Mi, Seoul city's all-female "hidden camera-hunting" squad is concern about the safety of Korean women in using bathroom stalls and other places. She is currently at the forefront of a battle against "molka" or "secret camera" porn.
In a country that excels in technology, their culture has also given rise to an army of tech-savvy peeping toms which made Kwang-Mi's group and the Korean police to team up and catch these criminals. And according to the police data, the number of "molka" crimes jumped more than six-fold from about 1,110 in 2010 to more than 6,600 in 2014.
While some offenders use smartphones, others employ spy-style gadgets including ballpoint pens, glasses or wrist watches equipped with micro lens, said Hyn Heung-Ho, a detective attached to Seoul police's metro squad. Making it really hard to spot.
In another article written at VICE, in an attempt to fight the crime, South Korea has introduced a law requiring all mobile phone manufacturers to ensure that devices make a "camera shutter" sound of at least 64 decibels when a picture is taken. But even with this law being implemented, multiple apps are still available from various app stores and websites that offer to help perpetrators of "molka" crimes by muting the mandated shutter sound.
To further assist in stopping this heinous crime, police have offered cash rewards to those reporting "molka" crimes and the Seoul city council has hired dozens of women like Park Kwang-Mi to scour bathrooms and other spaces for hidden cameras.
