It only takes a number: Random chat apps becoming hotbed for teen drug, sex crimes

A stock image of cocaine and other drugs. Image is not related to the article. [GETTY IMAGES] Random chat apps are increasingly becoming hubs for illegal teenage activity, including gambling, drug use and sex crimes. “Interested in some ice,” a 17-year-old runaway, surnamed Park, posted in the random chat app ZulTalk, using a slang term for methamphetamine. Related ArticlePolice probe Telegram chat room sharing explicit photos of Inha University students‘Candies’ and ‘cold drinks’: Korea’s chat apps flooded with covert drug invitesPolice bust drug ring with narcotics smuggled from U.S. Unlike common messenger services like KakaoTalk, which connect known contacts, random chat apps connect strangers based on user-set categories like location and gender. Some of these apps allow users to join simply by verifying a phone number without age verification. A 52-year-old man surnamed Yang saw the message and approached Park, claiming to have drugs. Park and her two friends verified Yang’s possession of drugs via a video call on Telegram, then met him at motels in Seoul’s Jungnang District, eastern Seoul, and Jung District, central Seoul, to use drugs together. Park checked into these motels by pretending to be an adult, presenting someone else’s mobile identification to the motel staff. Screen capture of the log-in menu of random chat app ZulTalk. All that is required to log in is the prospective user's phone number. [SCREEN CAPTURE] The Seoul Gangnam Police Precinct apprehended Park and the two other teens at a hotel in Gangnam. Upon investigating, the police suspected an adult was behind the teens’ access to drugs, and subsequently captured Yang, along with a 47-year-old man surnamed Oh, who was with him. In total, five people were handed over to the prosecution for violating the Narcotics Control Act. As of Monday, approximately 250 random chat apps were available on Google Play and Apple's App Store in Korea. As of the same day, ZulTalk only required a phone number without additional age or real-name verification to log in. Drug-related chat rooms using slang terms were common on other apps as well. There were also many chat rooms hinting at prostitution or other sex crimes. When a reporter at the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, set up a random chat app profile as a "19-year-old woman" and selected an interest in “finding a lover,” numerous messages appeared within five minutes, including an invitation to meet up from a man in his late 30s. Chat rooms with titles like “Seeking Perverted Women” also stood out. Despite random chat apps being classified as "media products harmful to youth" by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in 2020, the ministry has been criticized for not taking active measures to block or report such content, effectively allowing crime to spread. Since their appearance in 2015, crimes related to minors on these chat apps have been rising. According to data submitted to Democratic Party Rep. Han Min-soo by the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), instances of obscene or prostitution-related content discovered on them climbed from 3,297 cases in 2019 to 14,958 cases last year — a fourfold increase. The count for January to September of this year was already at 14,341, and is projected to set a new record by the end of the year. Requests for deletion, user suspension or blocking according to regulation data on overall internet and communications from the KCSC found 65,508 cases of obscene or prostitution content, 58,802 cases of digital sex crimes, 53,086 gambling cases and 26,413 cases of illegal food and pharmaceuticals. As drug use, sex crimes and gambling proliferate among 10- to 19-year-olds through digital mediums, the Gender Ministry, the KCSC and other related agencies have come under fire for inaction. Although the ministry announced in 2020 that random chat apps would require age verification for sign-up, companies have exploited loopholes by using phone number verification or providing chat-saving, reporting and management functions to avoid the harmful media designation. The only active regulation is monitoring obscene content every four months via a censorship task force under the Korea Youth Counseling and Welfare Institute, which employs a team of 100. A ministry official noted, “Even if users are banned, they can rejoin, and it’s practically impossible to monitor all private conversations on random chat apps.” The KCSC has also cited staffing shortages. An official said, “We receive over 10,000 review requests related to random chat apps yearly from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, but only eight personnel handle all obscene or prostitution-related content on foreign sites.” Currently, user bans are the only corrective action taken, with no direct restrictions on apps. After the 2019 “Nth Room” incident, then-KCSC Chairperson Kang Sang-hyun promised during a parliamentary audit to work with relevant agencies to enforce real-name authentication on random chat apps amid rising concerns about teenage prostitution. The "Nth Room" was a criminal case that involved blackmailing, cybersex trafficking and the distribution of sexually exploitative videos between 2018 and 2020 in Korea. Underage girls were coerced into providing sexually explicit and degrading photographs and videos of themselves, which were then sold to tens of thousands of members of Telegram, an encrypted messenger app. Related ArticleKorean police, Interpol seize $1B in drugs, nab 29 offenders in Golden Triangle operationSeoul to crack down on clubs, entertainment facilities as war on drugs escalates Luxury hotels, fast cars and illegal drugs: Elite university students busted for hard-partying social club However, no significant action has been taken over the last four years. Experts argue that, since most random chat app providers are small-scale operations that only implement the minimum requirements, the government must take stronger steps. Prof. Hwang Seok-jin of Dongguk University’s Graduate School of International Affairs and Information Security stressed the need for proactive measures like keyword filtering to block terms related to prostitution, gambling, and drugs, as well as banning problematic users. Some experts also emphasize the need for unified data collection and management among government agencies. “Currently, different agencies monitor illegal online content independently by category, rendering the process ineffective,” said Prof. Song Bong-gyu of Hansei University’s Department of Industrial Security. “An intermediary agency is needed to manage and process this information.” BY LEE BO-RAM, LEE CHAN-KYU, KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]