Seoul, April 5 South Korean police said Saturday they have apprehended 435 suspects in a sweeping international probe on online child pornography crimes carried out jointly with five other Asian law enforcement authorities.
The National Office of Investigation (NOI) said the investigation was conducted in February and March in collaboration with police from Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, at Singapore's request, Yonhap news agency reported.
South Korea accounted for the largest number of crackdowns, with police apprehending 374 individuals. Of those, 258 were caught possessing or viewing child sexual abuse material, 74 were identified as content producers and 42 were involved in distribution. Thirteen suspects were arrested.
The majority of offenders in South Korea were teenagers, with 213 in their teens, followed by 127 in their 20s and 23 in their 30s.
In Japan, authorities reported the apprehension of 111 individuals on charges, including child prostitution and violations of child pornography laws.
"These crimes cause irreparable harm to children and require a strong international response, as digital exploitation goes beyond borders," an NOI official said. "We will continue to strengthen cross-border cooperation to tackle child sexual exploitation online."
In November last year, the global messaging service Telegram designated an officer in charge of protecting underage users from illicit content amid criticism over its passive response against sexually exploitative materials circulating on the platform in South Korea.
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said Telegram made the designation and set up an email account as a hotline at its request. Telegram also vowed to sternly respond to the distribution of illicit content or copyright violations on its platform, according to the KCC.
The move came as the government announced its plan to strengthen regulations on domestic and foreign platform operators after a series of pornography targeting young women on Telegram sparked public outrage in the country.
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