“Obscene wording on a high school-aged daughter’s photo”... Told “Come in on a weekday” after a 112 call—outrageous

[Financial News] A delayed response has come under fire after a parent urgently called 112 when photos of their high school-aged daughter were posted on social media without permission alongside sexually degrading language, only to be told by police to “come in and file a report on a weekday.” By the time the victim’s mother, desperately trying to find help, managed to get the post removed through the Broadcast Media and Communications Review Commission, its views had surged from 70,000 to 100,000.

According to reports by SBS and others on the 10th, parent A received a shocking message from their high school-aged daughter on the night of the 7th. Several photos of the daughter’s face had been posted without permission on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), accompanied by sexually degrading language that was too vile to repeat, and were spreading rapidly.
A said, “The sexual content written alongside the photos was so shocking,” and immediately called 112 to stop it from spreading further. The post was already spreading quickly, with about 70,000 views at the time.
The response, however, offered little help. According to A, the 112 operator said, “For matters related to cyber investigations, come to the police station in person to file a report on a weekday after 9 a.m., not on a weekend.” Despite this being a digital sex crime requiring an urgent response, no report was accepted immediately because it was nighttime and a weekend.
Growing desperate, A searched online and found the contact number for the duty office of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Cyber Crime Investigation Unit. The officer on duty who answered the call said, “We’ll request that the post be removed, but even if things go quickly, it will take about a day to process.”
Unable to check on the progress, A went straight to the review commission’s website and filed a request to have the harmful post removed. A said that during the process, a commission official explained, “Because communication with the police has not been smooth, the removal process through the police is not underway. We’ll handle the cases filed directly by parents first.”
In the end, the post was removed not through the police but at the victim’s mother’s direct request. But during the time between the initial report to police and the post’s removal, its views rose by 30,000, from 70,000 to 100,000. A fumed, saying, “If they had at least immediately given me the Cyber Crime Investigation Unit’s duty office number when I first called 112, they could have further reduced the harm.”
The police also drew criticism for giving inconsistent explanations. In initial comments to the media, police said, “At the 112 reporting stage, the contact number for the Cyber Crime Investigation Unit’s duty office was properly provided.” They later changed their account, saying, “It is true that the victim’s side found the number and called directly.” Police added that, as a follow-up measure, they had formally asked X to remove the post.

[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter