Trigger warning: this story contains disturbing content and details of sexual abuse.
In March 2020, just as the world was learning about a virus called Covid-19, South Korea was rocked by another news story. The details were the stuff of nightmares: a sexual crime operation on an encrypted messaging app called Telegram where women – and underage girls – were blackmailed and trafficked into sexual slavery. Known as the “Nth room”case to the public, the chat rooms were found to have sold sexually exploitative videos to around 260,000 users, and is now believed to be one of the biggest organised sex crimes of the modern era.
Now, a new Korean Netflix documentary, Cyber Hell: Exposing An Internet Horror, will lift the lid on the notorious scandal and the remarkable efforts of those who fought to bring the perpetrators to justice.
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The new documentary, which airs in May, tells the story of two female college students, a group of journalists and the cybercrime police officers who chased down those involved in the online criminal network of sexual exploitation.
According to the official synopsis, the documentary will compile interviews, archives, animation and reenactments to build a picture of how women and girls were coerced into uploading explicit materials of themselves to Telegram chat rooms, which ringleaders charged fees in cryptocurrency for tens of thousands of users to access.
The cybersex crimes committed against victims on the Nth room were of a horrifying, violent and degrading nature, and involved sharing malicious videos of, among other things, non-consexual sex, hidden cameras (known as molka), incest between siblings as well as sexual crimes towards children and the elderly.
As well as chronicling the timeline of events that led to one of the most devastating digital crimes of the region, Cyber Hell will also explore the age of digital anonymity that allowed it to thrive, and the victims who spoke out to help bring it down.
In the chilling trailer for the new documentary, we hear how dozens of victims, including minors, were coerced into filming pornographic videos.
“With personal information held hostage,” the commentary begins, “the victims couldn’t escape.”
“This is not one person’s act. The people in that chat room did it together.”
The clip also reveals how many determined reporters worked tirelessly to compile evidence, track down suspects and uncover the locations of the perpetrators, who goaded the investigative authorities and believed they would never be caught.
“This was not a typical case of illegal pornography,” one woman explains. “This is abuse.”
There’s also real-life paparazzi footage of the criminal mastermind of the operation, Cho Joo-bin, who was found guilty of his crimes and sentenced to 40 years in prison in November 2020.
“Aren’t you going to apologise to the victims,” shouts an enraged reporter as Cho is led away outside court.
Once shrouded in secrecy, the chat room atrocities are a story the whole world needs to know about. And with director Choi Jin-sung explaining that the public knowledge of the case is really just the “tip of the iceberg”, the documentary is sure to reveal the true nature of these infamous cybercrimes.
Cyber Hell: Exposing An Internet Horror is available to watch on Netflix on 18 May 2022.
Images: Netflix
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