Extradition plea of South Korean porn site operator rejected

SEOUL: A Seoul court on Monday denied an extradition request by the US for a South Korean criminal who ran one of the world's biggest child porn sites. The Seoul High Court said it decided to reject the request to extradite Son Jong-woo, the operator of Welcome to Video, which ran on the darknet, inaccessible by regular web browsers, because having him here in South Korea would be more helpful for the country's fight against child pornography, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"It cannot be ruled out that the extradition could hamper South Korea's investigation into sexually exploitative content," the court said, citing that extraditing him would make it harder for Korean authorities, which have been investigating his case, to secure evidence to crack down on illegal content consumers in the country.

"The decision should not be interpreted as exonerating him," the court said, adding that "Son should actively cooperate with the investigation and face proper punishment". (IANS)

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