A post from an internet cafe run by a "pickup artist" with around 4,700 members shows mosaic-blurred photos of women entering or leaving the poster's front doors. Captured from online cafe website

Online companies promoting courses on how to easily engage with the opposite sex, calling themselves "pickup artists," are sparking controversy as these services are accused of encouraging sexual misconduct.

These courses, which originated from "dating academies" in the early 2000s, have now gone online. The issue goes beyond simply offering tips on attracting women, as many of these services have been criticized for promoting inappropriate and potentially harmful behaviors.

For instance, in one popular online community with 4,700 members, the operator offers courses that range from 680,000 won ($510) for learning how to ask for a stranger's phone number, to over 10 million won for personalized one-on-one training sessions.

In these courses, students share personal stories, including photos of women they interacted with — sometimes involving images suspected to be taken without consent.

One former student who paid 2.3 million won for courses expressed discomfort, saying, "It felt like it was promoting sexual misconduct, and I stopped after realizing it wasn't right." There have been reports of some following the course advice only to later face police investigations.

Some of the courses offered online by a "pickup artist" Captured from website

Legal and ethical concerns

Images are often uploaded in these communities, depicting women entering homes or featuring photos of underwear, accompanied by personal details about their physical attributes. Even when faces or bodies are not clearly visible, legal experts caution that these actions may violate the law.

Lawyer Lee Eun-ui, an expert in sexual violence, said that if such images were posted without the subject's consent, they could fall under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Additionally, photos such as those of women in short skirts could be grounds for charges under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act.

Critics argue that these courses reflect a problematic mindset where women are objectified and treated as tools for fulfilling sexual desires.

Huh Min-sook, a women's studies expert and legislative investigator at the National Assembly, pointed out, "These practices treat women not as equals but as objects for men's convenience. Selling methods to manipulate women for profit shows how distorted societal views on women have become."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.