[4] The "Nth Room" case is a recent heinous collective sexual crime in South Korea. The perpetrators impersonated police officers to coerce and lure victims into taking nude photos, then used these photos to threaten the victims, committing sexual crimes against them. They also filmed the criminal process and distributed it in paid membership chat groups.
 

[5] As of March 22, 2020, the South Korean police had identified 74 female victims, including 16 minors. The youngest victim was an 11-year-old elementary school student. The number of users who had joined the rooms and shared illegal content reached as many as 260,000.
 

The large number of victims and the involvement of public officials have caused a huge uproar in South Korea. Netizens have petitioned on the Blue House website, demanding the disclosure of the identities of the perpetrators and the 260,000 members of the chat groups.
 

As of March 22, 2020, South Korean police have filed cases against 13 accomplices involved and arrested the ringleader, a man surnamed Cho, known as "Doctor." He is 25 years old, majored in information and communication, and previously served as the editor-in-chief of a school journal. He maintained a GPA of 4.0 for multiple semesters. His name is Jo Joo-bin (phonetic).
 

According to Yonhap News Agency, on March 23, South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered a thorough investigation into the "Nth Room" incident, where sexual exploitation videos of minors were distributed via the social platform Telegram. He vowed that all perpetrators, including viewers of the videos, would be punished. Moon promised that the government would delete all related videos and provide legal, medical, and other necessary support to the victims. Additionally, the government will treat the "Nth Room" incident as a major crime and conduct a comprehensive investigation. All members of the chat groups involved in the "Nth Room" incident will be included in the investigation. If necessary, the police will establish a special investigation team.
 

A lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm stated that even if the real information of the 260,000 members is disclosed, it would have little practical significance. At most, they could face moral condemnation, but it would be difficult to impose legal penalties on them.
 

Although it is said that without demand, there would be no harm, based on current reports, the vast majority of these 260,000 members merely paid to watch adult content. Their actions could at most be defined as purchasing pornography, i.e., buying obscene materials. Moreover, do these individuals include South Korea's chaebol and officials? As is well known, South Korea is a country heavily controlled by chaebols. Not to mention that it is difficult to impose legal penalties on such individuals in South Korea, even in China, it would be challenging.
 

China's Criminal Law only explicitly stipulates penalties for acts of "producing, copying, publishing, selling, and disseminating obscene materials," and the "Public Security Administration Punishments Law of the People's Republic of China" only prohibits acts of "producing, copying, selling, renting, or disseminating" obscene materials.
 

Although Chinese law does not have specific provisions regarding "purchasing pornography," relevant internet regulations issued by the state stipulate that no individual or organization may use the internet to access obscene information. From the perspective of protecting minors, most countries in the world prohibit the publication and dissemination of obscene information online. Purchasing pornography via the internet is essentially a form of dissemination and should be considered illegal. Public security authorities can impose penalties based on public security management regulations. However, in reality, because many people engage in purchasing pornography, the principle of "the law cannot punish the majority" makes it difficult to handle properly.
 

Online obscene materials such as pornographic videos and images are explicitly classified as illegal items by the state. If purchasing pornography online is non-profit in nature and does not involve dissemination, it does not constitute a crime. However, it is still an illegal act. If the quantity purchased is large, it may lead to dissemination. Depending on the severity of the specific circumstances, such as the quantity of obscene items purchased and held and the degree of obscenity of the content, public security authorities may impose certain penalties on the parties involved in accordance with relevant regulations.
 

Image source from the internet, delete if infringing!