Cho Joo-bin, the man suspected of blackmailing dozens of victims to perform violent sex acts and selling the content in a Telegram messenger group chat room, appeared in public on Wednesday as he was being transferred to the prosecution for further investigation.
Cho emerged from the Seoul Jongno Police Station around 8 a.m. with his face uncovered, flanked by police officials.
Amid a flurry of questions from the crowd of reporters that met him, the 24-year-old said, "Thank you for stopping this devil's life," and apologized to all those he harmed.
He made no other comments and did not respond to questions about his accomplices.
At least 74 people, including 16 underage girls, are known to have been exploited in the case that is widely known as the "Nth room case," in which the prime suspect allegedly lured victims into taking naked photos and later threatened them into more gruesome sex acts.
Police say up 10,000 members of the group chat are suspected of paying Cho as much as 1.5 million won to view the illicit content.
So far, authorities have tracked down at least 124 people in relation to the case, including Cho and 17 others who have been taken into custody.
A user with the nickname GodGod, who is suspected of first creating the chat room, still remains at large.■
<Photo: Yonhap News>
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