Hidden camera industry under scrutiny

Seoul: Shin Jang-jin’s shop in Incheon offers seemingly innocuous household items, from pens and lighters to watches and smoke detectors, but with a secret feature – a hidden 1mm-wide-lens that can shoot video.

Over the past decade, Shin has sold thousands of gadgets. But his industry is coming under pressure as ultrawired South Korea battles a growing epidemic of so-called “molka”, or spycam videos – mostly of women, secretly filmed by men in public places.

Shin insists his gadgets serve a useful purpose, allowing people to capture evidence of domestic violence or child abuse, and said he has refused to serve customers looking to spy on women in toilets.

“They thought I would understand them as a fellow man.”

But the 52-year-old admits he can’t always spot unscrupulous buyers.

In 2015 he was questioned by police after one of his products – a camera installed inside a phone cover – was used to film women in a dressing room at a park outside Seoul.

He had sold the device to a female customer and said he had no idea she would use it to film and distribute illicit footage online.

Under current regulations, spycam buyers are not required to give personal information, making it difficult to trace their ownership.

But some lawmakers are hoping to change that, co-sponsoring a Bill in August that requires hidden camera buyers to register with a government database, raising alarm among retailers like Shin. — AFP