“Nth Room” Creator Moon Hyung Wook Sentenced To 34 Years In Prison

He is a key member of the online sexual blackmail ring.

Content Warning

This article includes descriptions of sexual assault that may disturb some readers.

The creator of Nth Room, Moon Hyung Wook, has been sentenced to 34 years in prison.

Moon Hyung Wook | Yonhap

On Thursday, a court sentenced the key member of the online sexual blackmail ring, Moon Hyung Wook, to 34 years in prison. Since 2017, he had lured both young women and girls by promising them high-paying jobs before coercing them into pornography. Additionally, while pretending to be a police officer investigating pornography, he hacked accounts of women who had posted explicit content. With the footage he obtained, he blackmailed the women, even threatening to send the clips to their parents if they did not send him additional content.

Moon Hyung Wook | Yonhap

Under the username God God, Moon is responsible for creating and operating the “Nth Room” chat rooms on the Telegram app in which he shared at least 3,700 illicit pornographic clips of the victims. The police have investigated 3,500 suspects, arrested 245, and also identified 1,100 victims. Previously, Moon was arrested in May 2020 then indicted in June on 12 counts. Prosecutors demanded Moon be sentenced to life, but he has been given 34 years in prison. 

The accused inflicted irreparable damage on his victims through his anti-society crime that undermined human dignity.

The presiding judge, Cho Soon Pyo

Efforts are being made to stop and prevent these types of sexually explicit file-sharing websites and apps. South Korean police have been working to identify and expose the sites and those responsible. The National Assembly has also passed the Nth Room Prevention Act, which will increase the legal maximum sentence for blackmailing based on sexual content.

Previously, one of the Nth Room scandal’s main perpetrators, Cho Ju Bin, was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Source: The Korea Times, The New York Times and Hankyoreh

Nth Room Sex Abuse Case