Korean man in S'pore secretly filmed ex-girlfriend's nude video calls, discovered by new girlfriend

A South Korean man secretly recorded his ex-girlfriend while they engaged in nude video calls, only to later be discovered by his new girlfriend.

According to Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min), the 44-year-old man was sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty to one of three charges. These included filming a person without consent and violating the Films Act.

In order to protect the victim, the judge ordered that information that could reveal her identity not be published.

What happened?

The victim, a 45-year-old Korean woman, met the man on Tinder and started dating him in 2022.

When they were in different countries, they would maintain their relationship through video calls.

According to Shin Min, the two engaged in nude video calls, with the victim repeatedly expressing that she did not want to be recorded and requesting to confirm that he was not doing so.

In response, he told her that he did not know how to record his screen.

However, from February to October 2023, the man secretly recorded 17 nude videos of the victim, ranging from 7 to 55 minutes.

He saved them on a hard drive in his Singapore residence for his own sexual gratification.

The two broke up in January 2024, after which he started dating again.

Discovery

His new girlfriend, 37, was cleaning his house on Jan. 6, 2024, when she discovered the hard drive in his room.

The next day, she confronted the man and demanded that he delete all the videos.

Afraid that the hard drive could be used as evidence against him, the man destroyed it.

On May 15, 2024, his girlfriend wrote a comment on his social media page exposing his deeds.

Subsequently, his ex-girlfriend called him after finding out about the matter to tell him that she could not sleep, saying that he had ruined her life and that she had suicidal thoughts.

He responded that all her accusations towards him were "absurd and laughable".

He informed her that he had already destroyed the evidence and that he would never admit to recording her in secret.

However, he did not know that his then-girlfriend had already made copies of the videos and turned them over to the police.

Fearing for her reputation and her job, the ex-girlfriend also made a police report.

Sentenced

According to Shin Min, the defendant's lawyer asked for leniency, saying that the man had committed the acts out of a desire to maintain an emotional connection with his ex-girlfriend.

They further said that he had already compensated her.

His medical team also submitted a report stating that he was suffering from adjustment disorder after the case, an excessive emotional response to stress.

However, the prosecution countered that the report was raised two years after the event, and that the defendant had little evidence to support his claims.

They noted that the man had knowingly and repeatedly committed the crime after hearing his ex-girlfriend's objections, exploiting the trust placed in him.

As such, they asked for three and a half months' imprisonment.