Police open full-scale probe into ‘dark web’

The South Korean police are widening their probe against criminal activity on the “dark web” – parts of internet hidden from public access.

The dark web, which is not indexed by search engines and requires special software to access, has been associated with crimes and other illicit activities as it permits users to dodge identification and keep their browser history discreet.

The police investigation of the dark web, which was hitherto handled by a six-member task force at the National Police Agency, will now be conducted jointly by cyber investigation squads at district agencies across the country.

(123rf)

The NPA said Sunday it would work with investigative bodies in the US and UK to clamp down on the recent surge in dark web-based crimes such as child pornography circulation, drug trafficking and trading of personal information.

The police said their probe would focus on tackling down child pornography.

According to police, some of the illegal dark web contents seized included videos of sexual acts featuring children, toddlers and infants.

Generating or distributing porn involving children or adolescents is subject to a jail time of five years or more under the laws on protection of children and juveniles. The maximum punishment for possessing child or juvenile porn is a year in jail or fine of 20 million won ($17,260).

Police data show about 13,000 Koreans, on daily average, visited the dark web in September. This figure is down from August’s average daily traffic count of 20,000 following a police crackdown.

Last year, the police busted Son Jong-woo, a 23-year-old operator of a dark web child porn site in a joint probe with law enforcement authorities from 32 countries. Of the 310 site users caught worldwide, 223 were Koreans.

Police said over two years and eight months of the site’s operation, Son made around 400-million-won worth in profit in the form of cryptocurrency.

Son was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in jail in May, but faces a separate indictment in the US, for which prosecutors there are seeking his extradition.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)