A television screen shows Kim Nok-wan (center), the leader of a Telegram-based sex crime ring, during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea on November 24, 2025. Ahn Young-joon/AP Seoul, South Korea AP —

A 33-year-old South Korean man was sentenced to life in prison Monday for running an online blackmail ring that sexually exploited or abused 261 victims, including more than a dozen minors he raped or assaulted, over a four-year period before his arrest in January.

The Seoul Central District Court said the severity of Kim Nok-wan’s crimes warrants his “permanent isolation from society.” It sentenced 10 accomplices to prison terms ranging from two to four years in what law enforcement authorities describe as the country’s largest cybersex crime case to date.

Sta

See Full Page