The Copyright Crime Forensic Investigation Team under Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) conducted a full-scale investigation into Korea’s largest copyright-infringing website, “Nunu TV,” as well as its illegal sister websites “TVWiki” and “OKTOON,” and revealed on December 20 the alleged operator of the websites was arrested in November.

OKTOON is known for illegally uploading webtoons and for making a profit from them. The other two websites are illegal streaming services.

MCST seized the domains of Nunu TV, TVWiki, and OKTOON, redirecting access routes to a “Domain Seizure Notice” page, effectively preventing the transmission or distribution of unauthorized copied works.

The arrest was the result of close cooperation among the MCST, the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office, the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, the National Intelligence Service, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Korea Office, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and other overseas investigative agencies.

The operator of OKTOON used a particularly meticulous method by collecting user accounts from legitimate domestic webtoon platforms from unspecified persons and then illegally copying and posting the webtoon content.

MCST Copyright Bureau Director Jeong Hyang-mi stated, “The apprehension of the OKTOON operator is the greatest achievement since establishing the ‘K-Content Illegal Distribution Eradication Plan’ and launching the Copyright Crime Forensic Investigation Team. It also demonstrates that illegal website operators who threaten the rights of domestic creators can no longer evade our investigative network.”

Earlier this year, Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) collaborated with the Copyright Overseas promotion Association (COA) of South Korea to file criminal complaints against several piracy websites in Brazil. Together the organizations targeted eight websites: three sites were exposed through a CODA member company and five websites were exposed that had pirated webtoons.

Sources: MSCT Official Website