Korea’s Undercover Digital Sex Crime Investigations Triple in 2026

South Korean police sharply expanded their use of undercover tactics against digital sex crimes this year, conducting 598 such investigations from January through August, according to the National Office of Investigation.

The total was more than three times the 179 cases recorded during the same period last year, an increase of 234 percent. Undercover investigations allow officers to conceal their identities or pose as other people while approaching suspected offenders online.

The system was introduced in September 2021 after public outrage over major online sexual exploitation networks known as the Nth Room and Doctor’s Room cases. It initially focused on offenses involving children and teenagers. Since June last year, police have also been able to apply the method to digital sex crimes targeting adults under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.

Police said 1,503 undercover investigations had been conducted from the system’s introduction through the end of August this year. Those operations led to the apprehension of 2,873 suspects, including 164 who were formally arrested and detained.

The expansion has been particularly visible in investigations of adults who engage minors in conversations for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Undercover operations resulted in the apprehension of 338 suspects in that category this year, with six detained. By comparison, 87 suspects had been apprehended for the same type of offense from the launch of the system through the end of last year.

Police attributed the rise partly to a legal change that took effect last October, allowing punishment for attempted sexual-exploitation conversations involving children and teenagers. The change broadened the circumstances in which investigators can pose as minors online.

Across all undercover cases since 2021, offenses involving the sale or distribution of illegal material accounted for 748 investigations, or 49.8 percent. Sexual-exploitation conversations accounted for 562 cases, followed by 143 cases involving production and 46 involving purchase, possession or viewing.

Police also used undercover work to target the infrastructure behind illegal content. During the first eight months of this year, investigators identified 32 people in operator-level roles across 66 sites distributing sexual exploitation material. Nine were detained. Two suspects who allegedly operated 23 illegal sites were identified and detained with the help of undercover tactics.

The National Office of Investigation said it is using the same approach in ongoing investigations of 76 additional illegal sites, focusing on operators, developers, key participants and distribution channels. Authorities warned that undercover officers remain active in online crime spaces and said offenders should not assume that the internet offers investigative blind spots.