'My child's photo was turned into a nude deepfake.' 1,283 people sought help here

A, the parent of a middle school student, one day discovered that a photo of their child had been superimposed onto a nude video and was circulating online. Desperate for help, A turned to D4Youth and filed a request for assistance. D4Youth then connected the family with the Korea Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center, which helped the child recover by arranging removal of the video and providing psychological support.

The three-year operational results of D4Youth — an online counseling channel supporting child and youth victims of digital sexual exploitation and their guardians — were made public Friday.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute announced Friday that since D4Youth's launch, the channel has counseled 1,283 victims, children, adolescents and their supporters, and connected 325 cases to direct assistance. The findings were released in an analysis report distributed the same day.

Among users over the three-year period, women accounted for the largest share at 932 (72.6%), followed by men at 54 (4.2%), with 297 (23.2%) of unspecified gender.

By age, children and adolescents under 19 made up the vast majority at 931 (72.6%), while those 19 and older accounted for 59 (4.6%), with 293 (22.8%) of unspecified age.

Digital sex crimes were the most common subject of counseling at 200 cases (28.9%), followed by sexual exploitation and prostitution at 138 cases (19.9%).

Through "cyber outreach" — a proactive approach in which counselors seek out at-risk children and adolescents online and provide counseling and support information — D4Youth reached 12,740 people over three years. Of those, 917 went on to receive formal counseling.

D4Youth also monitored online platforms for content designed to lure minors into sexual exploitation.

Monitoring across 383 online platforms generated 13,201 reports of content soliciting the sexual exploitation of minors, of which 75.8 percent were subsequently removed.

The ministry and the institute plan to distribute the findings to more than 1,000 related organizations nationwide, expand promotion of the counseling channel and further strengthen the support system for online sexual exploitation victims.

"D4Youth has served as a vital gateway for preventing sexual exploitation of children and adolescents and connecting them to support," a ministry official said. "We will work to build an even more comprehensive support system going forward."