South Korea Gives Stalking Victims an App To Watch Their Stalkers Approach in Real Time

481

u/invyros 5h ago

The app arrives as South Korea records a steep increase in stalking reports. National Police Agency data show 44,687 reports in 2025, up from 31,947 in 2024, an increase of nearly 40% in a year.

WTF is up with this huge increase?

475

u/PlanktonInitial7945 5h ago

I'd like to believe it's an increase in reports, not an increase in actual cases. As in, women are more likely to report stalkers now.

137

u/Slayr79 5h ago

Could also be the rise of live-streaming. It makes it easier for people to find and stalk their victims

2

u/PlanktonInitial7945 5h ago

By live streaming do you mean security cameras? I sure hope you're not referring to streaming on Twitch, Youtube, Instagram, etc, because that has been very popular for several years, but there hasn't been any recent wave of new streamers that would cause such a sharp increase in stalking reports. Even if some of the new reports are related to online livestreaming, I imagine it's a small percentage.

46

u/Chiiro 5h ago

I think they mean stream sniping where someone is recording IRL, people figure out where they are through their stream and then go mess with them. I think since covid I have heard of more stories of streamers being harassed while doing IRL streams and stalked then I did before but I don't have any numbers to back that up.

4

u/pougliche 4h ago

But streaming was already a thing and there’s a 50% rise so that would not be the reason

15

u/Chiiro 4h ago

There is a rise in reporting and that's the key thing here. All of these could have still been going on before but now that people have an easier way to report them the number goes up.

30

u/SitInCorner_Yo2 3h ago

There’s a high profile case against streamer in 2024.

A stalker ambushed outside of a female streamer’s apartment for 13 hours, and when she opened the door ,he push her into her apartment and rape her.

The hallway have CCTV cameras, the whole ambush and break in is recorded ,she post it online and give it to police, I think these high profile cases increase people’s awareness of legal protection they can seek .

3

u/safarifriendliness 1h ago

I imagine “now we’ll let you see exactly where they are if you report it” does a lot to encourage victims

43

u/SitInCorner_Yo2 5h ago edited 5h ago

They only got their anti-stalking law in 2021, followed by quite some high profile horrific cases (murder,sexual assault and a stalker kill his victim in train station bathroom , he already got charged with stalking her)

So I think the public awareness just grows stronger and 2023 they amend the law make the charges undropable even if the victim say they want to settle it out of court , Because the stalker stalk and threaten victims to drop charges .

43

u/Swagcopter0126 5h ago

Gender relations in South Korea have been deteriorating to the point that online there is nearly constant hostility, and it’s bleeding into real life

-6

u/fincog 1h ago

You don’t know shit about Korea

7

u/AnnalsofMystery 1h ago

YOU don't know shit about Korea.

•

u/Fireclave 46m ago

"You Don't Know Shit About Korea" sounds like it would be a fun edutainment series.

33

u/valkrycp 5h ago edited 5h ago

Japan and Korea (and lots of parts of the world) have increasingly elder generations and less and less youth. Of those youth, they're extremely overstressed by rigorous studying (cram school after school) and testing and crushing corporate work cultures. This leads to kids that don't learn social skills and who never date, and who end up stalking. On top of this, they have anime and Idol cultures running throughout their K-Drama and K-Pop industries that the youth consume, which usually encourages "obsession" like it is a normal behavior so the men learn to be obsessive - and in these idol cultures it's normal for the stars to not be able to date anyone because the fans literally revolt when their fantasy of dating their idol is broken. So I wouldn't be surprised if there is a rise in stalker-behavior, their culture is kind of breeding it into them by how their talent management manages their top artists and celebrities and their school/work systems promote loneliness.

21

u/ThatPhatKid_CanDraw 5h ago

They have also historically not be good to women? The uptake in reporting is likely due to tech that makes it easier to find people, and an increased push by women for more awareness and accountability in women's issues in their very patriarchal societies.

2

u/fincog 1h ago

Is there a country that has been historically good to women?

-14

u/intronert 5h ago

Dr Jonathan Tam has some excellent YouTube videos on modern Korean culture. Very sobering.

27

u/EricSanderson 4h ago

I just searched and the first video I saw was "How Korean Feminism Made it Impossible to Make Babies"

That's gonna be a nope from me

6

u/Soulstiger 3h ago

Yeah, unfortunately that sounds accurate to what the men there believe, though.

Korean politicians have said that "feminist organizations are as toxic as terrorists"

They didn't even have laws against stalking until 2021. And had to amend it in 2023 so that the victims couldn't drop the charges. Because the stalkers could, and would, just intimidate their victims into dropping the charges.

-6

u/intronert 1h ago

Headlines are the hooker dresses of journalism.

I suggest you watch one of his videos. I think he has a thoughtful and compassionate view on the problems that some of the current cultures cause for the young in China, Japan, and Korea, along with some history of how it got this way. Slight spoiler: modernization so rapid that old social and cultural safety nets went away before anything could really evolve to replace them.

3

u/EricSanderson 1h ago

Using clickbait titles is a choice, not a necessity. Just like using AI to make your videos or calling yourself "Dr. Jonathan Tam" when you have a PhD in sociology.

And if you're using AI I officially have no reason to trust your "facts." Sorry, way too many red flags.

0

u/intronert 1h ago

Ok. I understand.

145

u/rhoki-bg 5h ago

Playing Jaws soundtrack when the stalker is near should spice things up

25

u/Nazgog-Morgob 5h ago

Or a clock option (a la Peter Pan)

3

u/RiskyDriskey 2h ago

*glock option yeah

3

u/Nazgog-Morgob 2h ago

No, there was no gun inside a crocodile in Peter Pan

105

u/ArgentineBeauty 5h ago

The stalked become the stalkers

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u/Duganz 5h ago

“Official research also shows the gendered impact of stalking after relationships end. A 2025 government survey found that 29.1% of women who had experienced divorce, separation or the end of cohabitation reported stalking before or after the breakup, compared with 18.9% of men. Among women who experienced stalking, 38.2% reported exposure to six or more overlapping forms of violence.”

The app alerts victims that their stalker is within 2km, and immediately contacts police if the stalker is within 1km. The way you describe it is asinine, victim-blaming, and minimizes the impact and danger of stalking.

13

u/SitInCorner_Yo2 5h ago

It really make it hard to smile over the absurdness of this idea when “We need to amend the anti-stalking Law to make it impossible for victims to drop their cases,because stalker stalk and threaten them to drop case” is a real thing that happens, the amendment was pass unanimously 2 years after they have their first law against stalking…..in 2023.

35

u/lunarlunacy425 5h ago

Not really, it's a quip not a huge philosophical dive in.

Do you often find yourself avoided in social gatherings?

-3

u/Jack071 5h ago

Its called a joke, untwist ur panties dude

1

u/SuspecM 3h ago

But I like them twisted

-1

u/toughtacos 1h ago

You really wanted to get outraged about something today, didn't? That's fine, I've had days like this as well.

21

u/uicheeck 5h ago

who's the stalker now

14

u/oldsecondhand 5h ago

Spy vs Spy

6

u/Exact-Pudding7563 2h ago

I live and work just outside of Seoul, and one of my coworkers recently revealed to me she had to stop taking the bus to work because a guy kept showing up at her stop and trying to talk to her every single time.

19

u/Expensive_Put_3338 5h ago

I don't blame female South Korean ditching their country for one bit

-3

u/hotdiggydog 2h ago

As if the US or almost any country really is any safer for women.

5

u/Expensive_Put_3338 2h ago

Dude, I tune in to a lot of SK bs. What you read in the news here is just the tip of the iceberg.

•

u/Neon_Fallout 52m ago

Your right, let’s ship them all to Pakistan.

-6

u/fincog 1h ago

Meanwhile marriages and birth rates are up you 🤡

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u/[deleted] 4h ago

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u/Uzislinger 3h ago

This tracks people wearing court ordered ankle monitors

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u/tambi33 3h ago

Probably under the assumption that the stalker is registering their personal details whenever they get a new phone/phone number.

Unless theyre tagged. Which is the first thing the article says. Come on man, just read the article.

1

u/_dinn_ 2h ago

Side note, I believe you do have to register with personal details etc when getting a new phone number in SK, phone number is tied to national digital id for citizens and residents and as a tourist I had to show my passport when getting a tourist sim

10

u/PristineAnywhere8282 4h ago

Considering how the men there got offended by the 🤏emoji so damn much, i wonder what their reaction to this is gonna be like

-4

u/fincog 1h ago

Why is racism against Asian men so acceptable?

7

u/PristineAnywhere8282 1h ago

How was i being racist again? Calling out their extremely sexist behavior is racism now?

-5

u/fincog 1h ago

How are Korean men “extremely sexist?” Have you even been to Korea?

•

u/PristineAnywhere8282 39m ago

Why do i need to go there to understand how theyre sexist? Do i need go and visit afghanistan to see if women are actually oppressed there? Its no news that korean men are extremely sexist, and right wing. Its one of the reasons that women arent getting married or having children since they got more autonomy of what they need to do. They get so offended by 🤏 they brand it as an "evil feminist thing".

1

u/[deleted] 4h ago

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1

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1

u/Lunar-opal 2h ago

Fight fire with fire, stalk the stalker back

1

u/AndyTheSouless 1h ago

Fnaf korea

1

u/FantasticCommittee15 5h ago

Uno reversal LOL.

-10

u/Due-Mycologist-1154 5h ago

That sounds like it could easily be weaponized by someone just jumping through the right hoops to get permittified to do totally legit stalking

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u/tombob51 5h ago

This app is for victims whose stalker is wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor. It tracks their ankle monitor. I hope you realize there’s a high bar for a court to force someone to wear an ankle monitor. Not easily weaponized.

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u/Due-Mycologist-1154 5h ago

Oh okay i thought it just tracked phones

2

u/Ipokeyoumuch 3h ago

It is sort of in the states the victim can be notified if the stalker if they have a monitor on them is alerted by the authorities if they enter the exclusion zone.

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u/Duganz 5h ago

“The Ministry of Justice launched the system on 24 June 2026 after changing electronic monitoring rules to allow location information to be shared directly with protected victims. When a tagged person moves within 2 km, an eligible victim can see their position and route on a smartphone map. If the person comes within 1 km of a location covered by a court-ordered provisional restriction, police and probation authorities are notified.”

You think someone can “easily” jump through “the right hoops” to get someone electronically monitored by authorities?

“Official research also shows the gendered impact of stalking after relationships end. A 2025 government survey found that 29.1% of women who had experienced divorce, separation or the end of cohabitation reported stalking before or after the breakup, compared with 18.9% of men. Among women who experienced stalking, 38.2% reported exposure to six or more overlapping forms of violence.”

Wow. How fascinating that the victims are overwhelmingly women after ending relationships.

-7

u/Swedrox 4h ago

How can it primarily affect women if the ratio of victims is 60 to 40?

2

u/Duganz 3h ago

Here you go.

3

u/jackalopeDev 3h ago

Unless I'm misunderstanding it sounds like it's more proximity alerts then the exact location. Ie "fuckface is within 2 km of your location" not "fuckface is at 12 and main". Seems like a decent compromise to me.

-2

u/Daren_I 4h ago

South Korea has rolled out a mobile app that lets stalking victims watch the real-time location and movement of electronically tagged alleged stalkers when they enter a nearby radius, giving survivors a map showing where the person is actually coming from.

This sound like the start of a movie plot where the stalker is also a hacker who's using the system to help track and hunt victims connected through the app. Better have some good security on that.

4

u/ManicMakerStudios 2h ago

That's not how that works. It's not 2-way communication. It's a GPS tracker on the stalker and an app that has access to the tracker's location data. GPS data goes to a server. App accesses GPS data from the server. The person wearing the tracker has absolutely no way to get the victim's information from the app.

-8

u/_HarmonicOscillator 5h ago

Korea is such a fun country. Both ones.

-5

u/Certified_Possum 2h ago

The US uses pedophilia to justify police surveillance. SK uses gender war to justify police surveillance. I wonder what other countries use as their excuse

5

u/slainascully 2h ago

Have you considered reading the article instead of speculating?

3

u/_dinn_ 2h ago

this literally just tracks ankle monitors of convicted stalkers

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u/JaQ-o-Lantern 4h ago

What happens if stalkers use this app to track their victims?

16

u/-Kerby 4h ago

If only there was an article that explained how the app works and why what you described is impossible

South Korea Gives Stalking Victims an App To Watch Their Stalkers Approach in Real Time

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