In a photo taken on March 26, 2019 electrical component vendor and technician Lee Seung-yon holds a mini camera unit capabale of being built into custom-made devices, at his store in a market in Seoul. - Under current regulations, spycam buyers are not required to give personal information, making it difficult to trace their ownership and use of the devices. But some lawmakers are hoping to change that, co-sponsoring a bill in August that requires hidden camera buyers to register with a government database, raising alarm among retailers. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY SKorea-crime-surveillance-spycam-gender / FOCUS BY Kang Jin-kyu
SEOUL: Shin Jang-jin’s shop in Incheon offers seemingly innocuous household items, from pens and lighters to watches and smoke detectors, but with a secret feature – a hidden one millimetre-wide-lens that can shoot video.
Over the past decade, Shin has sold thousands of gadgets. But his industry is coming under pressure as ultra-wired South Korea battles a growing epidemic of so-called “molka”, or spycam videos – mostly of women, secretly filmed by men in public places.
