Home > National > Social Affairs

Korean student caught secretly filming Chinese woman in Shanghai, online storm ensues

Published: 14 May. 2025, 18:51

Phone of a student who took pictures of another woman at a motor show in Shanghai, China. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A male student from a public high school in Busan was caught secretly filming a Chinese woman at the Auto Shanghai motor show during a school field trip, according to local reports on Tuesday.

The incident occurred the day before during the motor show in Shanghai. The student, who was visiting the event as part of a school-organized field trip, was apprehended after being discovered secretly filming a woman.

A video uploaded to social media shows the student wearing a name tag that clearly displays his school and name. The venue was crowded with visitors at the time, and the woman, unaware, was engrossed in the exhibits.

The victim reportedly noticed the student’s phone camera pointed at her and immediately confronted him, demanding that he delete the footage.

The student initially denied the accusation, stammering and avoiding eye contact. The woman repeated her demand for the footage to be deleted.

He continued to say “Sorry,” but after further questioning, the woman found a video of herself crouching on the student’s phone.

She then grabbed the student’s wrist and sought help from security personnel.

“The Korean man secretly filmed me,” the woman is heard saying in the video. “I can’t unlock his phone right now, so please call a manager or the police. I saw the footage on his phone. He deleted it, but I couldn’t check the ‘recently deleted’ folder. The phone is Korean, so I didn’t understand it well.

“What’s the point of saying sorry? It’s useless,” she said. “Delete the photos and never do this again.”

Chinese internet users tracked down the student’s social media account and school information, sharing his personal details online. Some even demanded that he be placed on a blacklist and banned from entering the country.

The student’s school told Korean news outlet Yonhap News TV on Tuesday that “the student did not intentionally film the woman” and that Chinese police concluded the case after ensuring the footage was deleted, allowing the student to return to Korea without issue.

“The student is experiencing significant psychological distress due to the wave of social media backlash following the spread of the video,” the school said. “We are looking for a way to offer a direct apology to the victim.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]