University students and civic activists hold a protest to urge the Ministry of Education to prevent and deal with deepfake sexual exploitations within the campus at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

Korea is facing a critical shortage of staff to address the growing problem of deepfake sexual exploitation content.

According to data from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, released Sunday by the office of Rep. Kim Nam-hee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), only 29 people were employed by the Advocacy Center for Online Sexual Abuse Victims, a ministry-funded organization that provides support services for victims of sexual crimes.

Just three years ago, the number of workers there was 41.

Among the current staff, only 15 are assigned to the department responsible for deleting and blocking illegal deepfake content, a notable decrease from 30.

Meanwhile, the amount of work each staff member has to deal with has increased. The figure stood at 166,905 instances of deepfake content in 2021 but jumped to 206,908 in 2022 and 243,607 in 2023. In the first six months of 2024, the center received 165,095 deletion requests. It is expected to exceed 300,000 by the end of the year.

As a result, the number of deletion support cases handled by one deletion support team official surged from 13,908 in 2021 to 17,242 in 2022 and 24,360 in 2023.

Currently, one staff member is responsible for 12,699 cases.

Despite the escalating demand, the center expects to add only two new staff members next year.

"The problem of digital sex crimes has become serious since the 'Nth Room incident,' but the response manpower is still insufficient," said the lawmaker. "The gender ministry should actively strengthen its workforce to better protect victims and delete illegal content more promptly."