Jo Joo-bin, who is serving a finalized sentence of 47 years and 4 months for running the ‘Doctor Room’ on Telegram and producing and distributing sexual exploitation videos, recently posted a ‘boastful post’ on a blog. The blog is known to be operated by his representative, and the platform decided to block it to prevent secondary harm to victims.

[Flat] Jo Joo-bin of the ‘Doctor Room’ with a 42-year sentence, an additional 5 years at first instance for raping a minor

According to reporting by the Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 9th, a post titled ‘Acceptance Speech’ was uploaded to the blog on the 20th of last month. Alongside a photo of the certificate for the ‘Excellence in Intensive Character Education’ awarded by North Gyeongsang Northern No. 1 Prison, it included statements such as “An award is the fruit of effort” and “I confidently asked my family to stick it on the home refrigerator.” At the bottom of the post were also photos of a portrait of Jo drawn by fellow inmates and a rolling paper.

Concerns were raised that the post could inflict secondary harm on the victims. On social media such as X (formerly Twitter), responses included: “This is secondary and even tertiary harm,” “What does a criminal have to be so triumphant about,” and “Shouldn’t someone like this be permanently banned from social media and internet activity?”

However, there is no clear way to prevent a third party from posting an inmate’s writing externally. Correctional facilities can censor an inmate’s general letters sent to family or acquaintances, but not correspondence exchanged with legal counsel. The latest post by Jo also appears to have been conveyed this way. As many as 15 posts were uploaded to this blog last year alone.

Han Min-kyung, a professor in the Department of Public Administration at the Korean National Police University, said, “If such content became public in the process of contact through a legal representative, that would amount to an abuse of the visitation system,” adding, “Correctional facilities need to strengthen management measures such as warnings or sanctions.” The professor continued, “Victims still live with the pain of the past, and the continued posting of such writings through third parties shows a complete lack of remorse.”

Jo also caused controversy in 2022 by posting on another blog. At the time, a blog believed to have been operated by Jo carried a post attacking Park Ji-hyun, former co-chair of the emergency leadership committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, who had tracked and exposed the Nth Room sexual exploitation case as part of ‘Tracking Team Bulkkot’. The Ministry of Justice explained in a press release at the time, “The inmate in question has been designated for letter censorship and is being strictly managed, and there has been no case of photos or documents cited in the post being taken out through ‘letters sent after going through the censorship procedure’.”

[Flat] The operator of the ‘Jo Joo-bin blog’ was his father

Kim Sang-gyun, a professor in the Department of Police Science at Baekseok University (former president of the Korean Association of Criminal Psychology), said, “Jo Joo-bin may use public attention as a means to satisfy a desire to feel he dominates and controls society,” adding, “It is also important that the media and social platforms do not indiscriminately amplify this.”

After media reports made this known, the platform operator AXZ on the afternoon of the 9th blocked the blog of Jo Joo-bin for ‘violation of operating policies’, preventing access.

Jo was brought to trial on charges of running the Doctor Room, producing sexual exploitation videos, and distributing them, and in 2021 the Supreme Court finalized a sentence of 42 years and 4 months in prison. Separately from the ‘Doctor Room’ case, he was additionally indicted for raping a victim who was a minor and producing sexual exploitation material, and in December last year an additional 5-year prison term was finalized.