LawTalk News has been running a special series lately on hidden camera crimes, often called 몰카 ("molka") in Korean, from a contraction of 몰래 (hidden, secretive) + 카메라 (camera). In one of the articles was this interesting infographic that shows the general locations of where victims were filmed in over a thousand cases that went to trial.
So if you're at all curious about what types of locations have, practically speaking, been hotbeds of hidden cam activity, take a look at this. It's surprisingly distributed pretty equally among different locations.
Locations of hidden cam crimes in South Korea
 |
| Hidden cam crimes by location in Korea. Image: LawTalk News |
- 21.5% - Public transportation
- 18.5% - Hotels, Motels
- 17.7% - Homes, dormitories
- 15.2% - Public restrooms
- 10.4% - Public streets
- 16.4% - Other
I find this data interesting because it seems like we hear about these crimes happening at workplaces, but it turns out you're most likely to be filmed covertly on the bus or subway.
Bear in mind that these are cases where the perp was caught and tried, and Korea has strict laws about filming people's body parts in provocative ways.
So a lot of these cases will involve little to no actual nudity. Most are random pervs taking butt and cleavage shots on the subway and busses. Like this story, of a guy who had thousands of creepshots on his phone when caught taking pics on a bus:
 |
| Man taking creepshots on the bus. Image: Dailian |
Or, if you can believe it, this man in his 50s who had a hidden cam on his own shirt to better snap the beauties sitting in front of him:
 |
| Shirt mounted hidden cam. Image: Hankyung |
This probably explains why you see so many signs in subway stations and bus terminals warning against molka crime:
 |
| Image: Hankook Ilbo |
The subway station bathrooms have been especially targeted for spycam investigations, but there is uncertainty as to whether that is particularly effective. Not only are these hidden cams hard to find, but installing them in a busy public bathroom like at a subway station is difficult. In those cases you're more likely to find them in shared bathroom areas where the perp has easy and frequent access to locations where women are.
One of the interesting takeaways from the LawTalk series is that most of these criminals do not just take creep shots once, on a whim or impulse. They do it almost daily, amassing large collections, in the thousands or tens of thousands, of pictures of women. One perp had taken daily pics for 3 months straight.
Personal thoughts
Part of me wonders though about the nature of this crime compared to the stats. Sure, crowded public places like subway cars offer a good spot to indulge in simple molka activity, but it also seems to me like an easy place to get caught, too. With vigilance from passangers and victims, and the relatively easy ability to prove on the spot the existence of these creep shots, it seems to me this could inflate the numbers.
And since we're talking about crimes that went to trial, these would probably involve public strangers filming strangers more often than, say, a boyfriend (presumably ex boyfriend) who filmed his girlfriend while they did the deed at a love motel, and possibly the crime wasn't reported or a non-trial settlement was reached. Just speculation.
Of course, one of the biggest single hidden cam molka perverts was a wealthy playboy who apparently used dating apps to lure nearly a hundred women back to his place and filmed himself having sex with each of them. He was caught trying to flee to LA via Incheon Airport with the video evidence in his carry-on bag. It's suspected that many of those videos are already leaked to the internet. Interestingly, I don't think I've seen any English language coverage of him.
Yet surely these are the kind of leaked videos that would do the most residual damage to the victims. I'm no woman, but while a picture of my thighs as I stand on the subway getting leaked to the internet might be source of shame, a full video with full face exposure, nudity, love making, and the awkward before/after smalltalk would surely be a near life-ending breach of privacy and dignity. And with the impossibility of scrubbing this stuff from the internet, it's a crime that haunts you forever. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these molka victims committed suicide. I honestly don't think these perps think about this kind of thing before they do these crimes.
For my two cents, I'd advise people to be aware of their surroundings on public transport. It's natural that everyone has their phone out and up in those locations, and with plenty of silent cam apps that mimic normal browser screens, it's easy to be filmed unknowingly. And if you have a funny suspicion that someone is filming you, you're probably right. I think intuitions like that have more accuracy than we give them credit for.
Anyway stay safe out there folks.
Comments