Recorded video of another person’s body does not constitute “illegal filming” if the image in question had been knowingly transmitted by the victim

(Graphic by Park Ji-young/The Korea Herald)
(Graphic by Park Ji-young/The Korea Herald)

The Supreme Court recently ruled that owning a secretly filmed image of a person nude cannot be deemed illegal if the person who was filmed had voluntarily transmitted the said images during a video chat.

South Korea's highest court upheld an earlier ruling that cleared a defendant of violating Article 14 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, which bans filming images or videos of another person's body that may cause any sexual shame to that person.

The defendant was tried for his violent outburst that occurred in 2022 with his then-girlfriend. The victim claimed that the defendant recorded, without consent, a past video call, which showed the victim taking a shower and getting dressed. During the argument over the video, he assaulted her and destroyed her property.

While the defendant was found guilty of violence and destruction of property, he was cleared of taking and possessing a sexually shameful video of the victim. The lower courts and the top court all agreed that the defendant cannot be considered as "filming" the problematic footage, as the victim herself transmitted the images through the video call, and the defendant simply used the recording function of his phone.

Distributing videos or photos taken in such a situation could be punished by law, but the defendant did not distribute the videos. The court thus said the defendant should not be punished for simply owning the video recording.

"Article 14 is intended to restrict the access and demand of the illegally filmed sexual content, by punishing the filming, distribution and possession. ... It cannot be regarded that (the subject matter) includes the footage that was not meant to be filmed and distributed," the Supreme Court said in its ruling.


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com