The Welcome to Video case involved the investigation and prosecution of a child pornography ring which traded videos through the South Korean website Welcome to Video, owned and operated by Son Jung-woo (or Jeong-woo). Authorities estimated about 360,000 downloads had been made through the website, which had roughly 1.2 million members, 4,000 of which were paid members, from 38 countries. Through international cooperation and investigations, 337 people were arrested on charges of possessing child pornography.
Offenses Son downloaded videos of child sexual exploitation from child sexual abuse material distribution site AVSNOO and re-uploaded them to his own server. Users download videos using points purchased with bitcoin and could trade video uploads for points, encouraging them to add their own material. Forty-five percent of the videos on the site had not been encountered previously by investigators.
Investigations and trials
Start of international cooperation investigation The first organization to investigate Welcome To Video was the United States Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), which found transactions made with cryptocurrency on child pornography websites, and asked the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for cooperation in their work. IRS-CI investigators, in the Cyber and Forensic Services, led by executive director Jarod Koopman, found that the Welcome to Video servers were poorly secured, finding the IP address of the server embedded within the source code, allowing them to determine the location of the server. This action revealed the website was operating from South Korea. This allowed investigators to identify and trace Bitcoin payments from suspects. HSI delivered related information to the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA), leading to the arrest of Son.
Prosecution of Son Jung-woo
First trial Son was arrested in March 2018 and charged in May. His charges included receiving about ₩400 million (~$360,000) in cryptocurrency from 4,000 paid members and providing them with 3,055 articles of child pornography. In addition, 156 Korean citizens were charged with possession of child pornography (as of 1 May 2019). Many of those charged were unmarried men in their 20s, including office workers and college students; others included doctors, civil servants, and school teachers. One user had a history of child sex crimes and had access to roughly 48,000 articles of child pornography. Son reportedly appointed seven lawyers through a law firm. The first trial court found Son violated the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth Against Sex Offenses and Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. and sentenced him to two years in prison and three years of probation. However, the sentence was suspended.
Second trial and sentence confirmed As a result of the first trial, Son left the detention center after six months. He was represented by a public defender during the second trial. In April 2019, in the midst of this trial, he registered his marriage and appealed to the court that he had a family to support. In May 2019, the second trial court sentenced him to one and a half years in prison, stating "Acts such as selling child pornography for a large profit for a long time can distort the perception of children sexually." Authorities also seized the revenues from the website.
Examination of US extradition warrant In October 2019, when authorities publicly announced the international investigation, US prosecutors indicted Son on nine charges, including conspiracy to post child pornography. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) requested his extradition from South Korea. In April 2020, South Korea's Ministry of Justice requested a criminal extradition warrant for Son. On 27 April, the expiration date of Son's sentence, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office executed this warrant, resulting in his continued confinement at the Seoul Detention Center. The extradition warrant had been filed for international money laundering, a crime in South Korea which did not overlap with the convictions made domestically. At a 19 May hearing, the prosecution argued that the evidence was sufficient for extradition, while Son's lawyer expressed concerns about additional punishment (double jeopardy). At a 16 June hearing, Son said he would "gladly accept any severe sentence" if tried in South Korea but said he did not wish to be extradited and leave his family. The prosecution noted the South Korea–U.S. Extradition Treaty stated an extradited person can only be punished for the extradition crimes. On 6 July, the extradition request was denied. The High Court decided that Son's continued presence in South Korea would be useful in the country's continuing investigations against child exploitation.
Third trial In July 2022, Son was sentenced to 24 months in prison for concealing his financial proceeds from the Welcome to Video operation and for using some of those proceeds for online gambling.
Outcome from the international cooperation investigation According to the announcement of the KNPA and the US DOJ on 16 October 2019, investigative agencies from 38 countries made arrests based on the evidence jointly collected from Welcome to Video by the KNPA; the US HSI, IRS and Federal Attorney's Office; the UK National Crime Agency; and the German District Attorney's Office. At that time, the number of arrests was reported as 310 from 32 countries (per KNPA) or 337 from 38 countries (per US officials) including UK, Ireland, US, South Korea, Germany, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Czech Republic, Canada, etc. Among them were 223 Koreans, who accounted for 72 percent of the people arrested.
United States Americans convicted and sentenced for their roles in the case include:
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