SKorean court metes woman rare 10-month jail term for ‘molka’ photo

SEOUL: A South Korean court on Monday slapped a woman with a rare jail term of 10 months for secretly photographing her counterpart male nude model, in a case that sparked controversy over double standards.

High-tech South Korea has been battling a growing epidemic of so-called “molka” or spycam videos, which

- lets, changing rooms and on the street.

Spycam crimes reported to police surged from around 1,100 in 2010 to more than 6,500 last year, and many offenders share or sell photos and videos online.

98 percent of offenders are men — ranging from school teachers and college professors to church pastors and percent of victims are women.

But in the latest case the woman in her 20s — also a nude model — was sentenced to 10 months in prison for taking a picture of her male counterpart at a Seoul art college and sharing it on the Internet in May.

She was arrested days later and paraded in front of television cameras while police raided her home to search for evidence — described by many activists as an uncharacteristically swift and aggressive response.

Patriarchal values are deeply ingrained in South Korea despite its economic and technological advances.

State data shows only 8.7 percent of high-tech peeping Toms are jailed on seen by many as a slap on the wrist.

“The whole response by the police to this rare case in which a victim is male is truly unprecedented,” said Seo Seung-hui, head of the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence civic group.

The case of the model — who has not been named — was a catalyst for a recent series of mass women’s rallies in Seoul, at which protestors accused the police and court of treating male victims and offenders more favorably than women.

Smartphones sold in the South are required to make a loud shutter noise when taking pictures, but many offenders use special apps that mute the sound, or turn to high- tech spy cameras hidden inside eye glasses, lighters, watches, car keys and even neckties.