He and his young accomplices hunted women on social media – the ‘sextortion’ ring case roiling South Korea


Cho’s (middle) case has ignited a fierce debate in South Korea about justice and how to exact punishment for digital sex crimes. The wide-reaching scandal has again exposed an underlying culture of cavalier consumption of material depicting sexual abuse. — AFP

Trolling behind the anonymity afforded by an encrypted chat app, the man who called himself “Baksa” pretended he was many things: a no-holds-barred loan shark, a private eye for hire and a fortysomething Korean with a prosthetic leg living outside the law’s reach in Cambodia.

In reality he was an out-of-work recent college grad who’d been bedridden for a year after a limb-lengthening surgery to overcome insecurities about his height.

Subscribe now and receive free sooka plan for 1 month. T&C applies.

Monthly Plan

RM13.90/month

Annual Plan

RM12.33/month

Billed as RM148.00/year

1 month

Free Trial

For new subscribers only


Cancel anytime. No ads. Auto-renewal. Unlimited access to the web and app. Personalised features. Members rewards.
Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In Tech News

Weeks after Amazon's Alexa+ AI launch, a mystery: where are the users?
Abortion-rights groups denounce censorship on Meta-owned apps in Latin America and beyond
Intel spars with EU regulators over $421.4 million antitrust fine
Microsoft offers to sell Office without Teams at lower price in EU antitrust probe
Sailing from Oregon to Hawaii after quitting his job turns a man with a cat into social media star
Chinese student Xu Yang breaks ‘impossible’ microdrone world speed record
Deep love or deepfake? Dating in the time of AI
Influencer's murder shows dark side of Mexican social media fame
Why was Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok preoccupied with South Africa's racial politics?
YouTube star MrBeast upsets Mexican officials with temple videos

Others Also Read