In Extracurricular, an online app called Doggo mediates compensated dates between clients and sex workers, providing the latter with security against psycho clients. Although a work of fiction, the series offered an accidental mirror onto Korea’s current sex case.

Actor Kim Dong-hee who plays Ji-soo shared via Soompi: “When I read the script, it made me think that adults should take more interest in teenagers.”

The main characters are high schoolers with no parents – or dysfunctional ones. All Oh Ji-soo wants is a normal life: get into college, find a job and start a family. To achieve this, he develops the Doggo app to earn big money and send himself to school.

Bae Gyu-ri, who has long wanted to escape her hellish home, sees it as a chance to earn a living and cut ties from her parents; while Seo Min-hee, who finds validation in her thug boyfriend, engages in sex work through the app so she can buy her man expensive gifts.

Despite dead ends, near-death encounters, and struggling with psychological and mental nightmares, the students involved find themselves pushed to the edge, yet still hesitate to tell the police. They want to stop, but take flight when confronted with chances to turn themselves in, dreading the public shame they will have to face for the rest of their lives.

Rape culture

“There is a trend of runaway youth becoming perpetrators of crimes and repeat offenders,” Kyonggi University psychology professor Lee Soo-jung told Al Jazeera, adding that they may form a family among themselves and live from the money they make from sex crimes.

Criminal law expert Felicity Gerry explained via The Interpreter how “criminals adapt to the changes” and the methods used in sexual exploitation advance with technology. Students are adept at using online tools and fluent with the digital language, thus successfully luring their peers into sex jobs masquerading as modelling opportunities.

What has changed with the times, however, is how awareness has caused a shift from victim-blaming to shaming the offenders, sexual health educator Cho A-ra pointed out in The Korea Times.

From citizens to celebrities speaking out against the issue, public outcry has led to the police exposing the suspects and the government creating new anti-sex crime laws. On April 29, The Korea Herald reported on Korea’s National Assembly’s approval of new bills that will implement severe punishment for digital sex crimes.

Nth room

Yonhap News announced last May 11 that a 24-year-old male university student known as God God was in police custody, joining the list of young Nth room suspects: 24-year-old Cho Ju-bin, 18-year-old Kang Hun and 19-year-old army officer Lee Won-ho.

If 2019’s Burning Sun scandal exposed sex crimes perpetuated by the powerful, well-connected idols and celebrities that the public once looked up to; the Nth room scandal uncovered a new level of exploitation. Not only were the crimes more gruesome, violent and inhumane – even more shocking were its underage victims and the young men behind the crimes.

Investigation on the Nth room case is ongoing.

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