A well-known South Korean broadcaster has resigned after allegedly taking photographs of a woman’s “lower body” without her knowledge, in the latest molka voyeurism scandal to hit the country.
Kim Sung-joon submitted his resignation on Monday to Seoul Broadcasting System [SBS] after he was reportedly caught last week taking the photographs with his mobile phone at a subway station in the South Korean capital, Yonhap news agency said.
He was apprehended shortly after the alleged incident after a witness warned the women she was being photographed and called police, it added.
Kim is reported to have initially denied he had taken the photographs, but was then confronted with images found on his phone.
He was not detained, but is being investigated, media reports said.
He later apologized to the victim and his former employer.
“I apologize for leaving a permanent scar on the victim’s heart,” he said in a statement quoted by Yonhap.
“I also wish to ask for forgiveness from everyone at SBS, my former workplace, for causing trouble,” he said.
Kim, 55, joined SBS in 1991 and became a familiar face as the main anchor for the news program SBS 8 News and has presented a current affairs program on radio since becoming an editorial writer at the broadcaster in 2017.
Raphael Rashid, a freelance journalist based in Seoul, said SBS had reported the case — without naming the alleged offender — on its Web site, but added that the article appeared to have been removed after Kim was identified publicly.
Noting that Kim’s name was trending on Twitter and Naver, a popular South Korean search engine, Rashid added: “It’s only #1 because he’s a TV personality. But let’s face it, #molka porn spycam crime is a daily, repeated occurrence. So many cases don’t make the news in Korea because, well, there are just so many.”
Molka — secretly filmed images of a sexual nature that often end up online — has reached epidemic proportions in South Korea, where tiny spycams are easily available and offenders are rarely punished.
An average of almost 18 cases of molka were reported every day in 2017, according to the Korean National Police Agency.
The number of recorded molka crimes rose from 1,353 in 2011 to 6,470 in 2017.
However, the actual number is thought to be much higher, as many women are unaware they have been secretly photographed or filmed, while others are reluctant to report the crimes to the police.
In a market in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, customers flock to Ache Moussa’s stall to have their long plaits smeared with a special paste in an age-old ritual. Each strand of hair, from the root to the end, is slathered in a traditional mixture of cherry seeds, cloves and chebe seeds, the most important ingredient of all. Users say the recipe makes their hair grow longer and more lustrous. Local and natural hair products are gaining popularity across Africa as people turn away from commercial cosmetics. Moussa applies the mixture and shapes the client’s locks into a gourone — a traditional hairstyle consisting of
The US yesterday wrapped up its first multidomain exercise with Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea, a step forward in Washington’s efforts to enhance and lock in its security partnerships with key Asian allies in the face of growing threats from North Korea and China. The three-day Freedom Edge increased the sophistication of previous exercises with simultaneous air and naval drills geared toward improving joint ballistic-missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and other skills and capabilities. The exercise, which is expected to expand in years to come, was also intended to improve the countries’ abilities to share missile warnings —
‘ONE FELL SWOOP’: Overturning a landmark ruling that said judges should defer to experts would ‘cause a massive shock to the legal system,’ a dissenting opinion said Prosecutors overstepped in charging Jan. 6, 2021, rioters with obstruction for trying to prevent certification of the 2020 presidential election, the US Supreme Court said on Friday, throwing hundreds of cases into doubt, while another controversial ruling struck down 40 years of legal precedent on federal agencies’ ability to regulate critical issues. The matter was brought to the court through an appeal by former police officer Joseph Fischer, a supporter of former US president Donald Trump who entered the Capitol with hundreds of others in 2021. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said prosecutors’ interpretation of the law would “criminalize
‘APOCALYPTIC : An UN official said that Lebanon was ‘the flashpoint beyond all flashpoints,’ and a conflict that involved it would draw in Syria and other nations Israel on Wednesday said that it does not want war in Lebanon, but could send its neighbor “back to the Stone Age.” The border between the two countries has seen daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants since the attack on Israel by Hezbollah’s ally Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which triggered the war in Gaza. Fears those exchanges could escalate have grown in the past few weeks as cross-border attacks intensified and after Israel revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive, prompting new threats from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said