Seoul Police Officer Indicted Over Hundreds of Deepfake Videos
A Seoul police officer has been indicted in Busan on charges tied to the creation and distribution of AI-generated exploitative videos, as prosecutors allege hundreds of fabricated clips and thousands of illegally filmed files were involved.
A Seoul police officer has been indicted on allegations that he used artificial intelligence to create hundreds of deepfake videos involving people he knew and distributed dozens of the fabricated clips, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The Busan District Prosecutors Office said the officer, who was assigned to Seoul’s Dongdaemun Police Station, produced roughly 400 deepfake videos between March 2022 and August 2026. About 50 of those videos were distributed, according to prosecutors.
The indictment follows an undercover investigation by the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency. Investigators began the operation in December 2025 after suspicions emerged that illegal and exploitative videos were circulating through Telegram. The officer was arrested and detained before the case was transferred to prosecutors.
Authorities also allege that the officer possessed approximately 5,600 illegally filmed videos. Prosecutors said around 1,600 of those files involved child abuse material. He was additionally accused of using his mobile phone to produce about 10 illegally filmed videos.
The case has drawn particular attention because the defendant was serving as a police officer at the time of his arrest. Prosecutors said he had previously been investigated for a similar offense before joining the police. That earlier inquiry ended without an indictment. The latest proceedings will therefore put both the newly alleged conduct and the circumstances surrounding his law-enforcement employment under scrutiny.
The allegations span several distinct forms of digital abuse: AI-generated fabrication, distribution of exploitative material, possession of illegally recorded content and direct production of unauthorized recordings. The indictment itself is not a finding of guilt, and the charges will be tested in court.
The case also illustrates how conventional illegal filming and newer generative-AI tools can converge in a single criminal investigation. Deepfake technology can create realistic fabricated imagery from photographs or videos, while encrypted or private messaging services can make distribution harder to detect. In this case, police say a long-running undercover operation was required to trace material circulating online.
Neither prosecutors nor police disclosed the officer’s identity in the report. Further details about his plea, legal representation or a trial date were not immediately provided. No additional information about the alleged victims or next investigative steps was announced.