Viral Jennie clip tests limits of South Korea’s AI deepfake laws

For a few seconds during Blackpink member Jennie’s headline set at Tokyo’s Summer Sonic festival last month, it looked like something had come undone.

She turned away from the crowd, adjusted herself and then, the moment was gone. But online, the clip never disappeared – and more than 10 million views later, it has become the latest test of South Korea’s fight against AI-enabled sexual abuse.

Fans were quick to cry deepfake, dissecting the footage frame by frame for signs of possible AI manipulation and calling for it to be taken down.

The K-pop star’s agency, OA Entertainment, neither confirmed nor denied the clip’s authenticity, merely saying in a statement on August 18 that it had “recently identified ongoing misconduct targeting the artist [Jennie] across online communities and social media platforms”.

It added that it was working with lawyers to pursue civil and criminal action, vowing “no compromise or leniency whatsoever”.

The account believed to have first posted the video has now been suspended, but no official police or prosecutorial follow-up has yet been announced.