Revisiting the Shocking Nth Room Case: The Dark Shadow of Digital Crime in South Korea
South Korea, long revered for its glittering K-pop idols and dreamy dramas, hides a disturbing undercurrent of gender inequality, cyber violence, and sexual crimes. One of the most horrifying examples of this hidden darkness is the now-notorious Nth Room case, an online sex crime scandal that shocked the nation and left a permanent scar on its digital and social landscape.
A Digital Hell Begins
The horror began in 2019 on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that enabled anonymity, message deletion, and massive group chats. Here, predators operated “chat rooms” that became hunting grounds for distributing explicit content extorted from victims.
The first criminal, known as “Godgod” (Moon Hyung-wook), used phishing links to infect victims’ devices and steal private data. Armed with this information, he blackmailed mostly young women and minors into sending nude photos and videos that included dehumanizing, violent acts, all to “buy their freedom.”
Enter Baksa – The Master Manipulator
After Godgod disappeared, another criminal took the helm: “Baksa” (Cho Ju-bin). Using a more elaborate scheme, he posed as a modeling recruiter and demanded personal documents that escalated into coercing intimate material.
Another notorious room, the “Doctor’s Room,” was later run by Baksa (Cho Ju-bin), who introduced paid membership tiers for viewing graphic content real-time, sometimes charging up to 1.5 million KRW (~$1,100).
Baksa didn’t stop at explicit content. Victims were forced to self-mutilate, carve words into their skin, and insert objects into their bodies, acts recorded and shared as part of the grotesque pay-to-view abuse.
Journalists, Students, and Silent Screams
Journalist Kim Wan of The Hankyoreh received a tip in November 2019 about a teenager distributing child pornography on Telegram. Initially dismissing it as a typical cybercrime, Kim published a brief article, thinking it was the end. But the nightmare had just begun.
Soon after, Kim’s personal information was leaked into one of the Telegram rooms, with threats against him and his family. Rather than retreat, he led The Hankyoreh’s investigative task force, eventually joined by reporters from SBS, JTBC, and two anonymous student journalists under the aliases “Bul” and “Dan.”
This collaborative effort helped uncover a deeper web of abuse and exploitation. Meanwhile, victims lived in constant fear, with their content spreading faster than they could report or delete.
Bitcoin Trails and the Fall of Baksa
The investigation traced cryptocurrency transactions on Bestcoin, ultimately leading to Cho Ju-bin’s arrest on March 16, 2020. His chilling lack of remorse, describing himself as a “demon” who “mastered control,” horrified the public. Godgod was later tracked and arrested with the help of the hacker group Red Team.
Sentencing:
- Cho Ju-bin (Baksa): Sentenced to 45 years in prison for distributing and filming explicit content of over 70 victims, 16 of whom were underage.
- Moon Hyung-wook (Godgod): Sentenced to 34 years, responsible for coercing at least 20 victims into producing over 3,800 explicit clips.
- 3,757 suspects were arrested by the end of 2020, with 245 imprisoned, many of them young men averaging 21 years old.
Still, these punishments haven’t extinguished the fire. Deepfake crimes, AI-generated pornography featuring real people, have surged, victimizing celebrities and everyday citizens alike. In April 2025 alone, 23 operators were arrested for distributing over 1,100 videos involving around 30 public figures.
Even President Yoon was compelled to speak out, calling on police to “wipe out” AI-driven sexual crime networks.
Silence Enables Violence
After the dust of the Nth Room case settled, many survivors reached out to journalists. Their trembling voices, hiding from parents while calling late at night, were recognized instantly by reporters who had seen the videos, yet had to reassure them, “No one knows.”
In truth, the blame doesn’t lie solely with Baksa or Godgod. Every viewer, every forwarder, every enabler is a participant in the crime. “I only watched,” “I didn’t hurt anyone.” These excuses are daggers to the victims
Final Word
Sexual violence online won’t vanish with prison sentences alone. It demands a cultural reckoning, one that rejects victim-blaming, fights apathy, and insists on accountability. Without demand, supply dies. Without silence, abusers lose their power. The monsters of the Nth Room thrived in darkness, let’s not let them return.
