A police response to a report that a high school student's photos were being circulated on social media alongside sexually degrading captions has stirred controversy, after the parent who filed the complaint was told to visit a station in person during weekday business hours.
According to SBS, MBC and other outlets, the parent — identified only as A — received a call from their high school-age child on the night of Saturday that photos of the student had been posted on social media with sexually demeaning captions.
The post had already accumulated 70,000 views by that point. Fearing the images would spread further, A immediately called 112, the police emergency line, but was told that matters related to cybercrime investigations required an in-person visit between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays.
A then tracked down the duty-room number for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's cyber investigation unit and called directly. An official there said a deletion request had been submitted to the relevant platform and that it would take about a day at the earliest.
Unable to simply wait while the post remained online, A took further action.
A filed a removal request directly through the Korea Communications Standards Commission website. About four hours after the initial 112 call, the post was taken down at around 1 a.m. Sunday. By the time it was removed, the view count had reached 100,000.
"When I first called 112, they could have at least given me the duty-room number for the cyber unit," A said, expressing frustration with the police's initial response. "From when I confirmed the post to when it was deleted, the view count went up by 30,000."
A added, "My child couldn't go to school today. The victim can't go outside and can't live a normal school life."
betterj@heraldcorp.com
