Author | Lightnews

Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

AI development is proceeding faster than institutional integrity can keep up.

And in Korea's case, integrity was
already failing before the AI race
began.

Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

• Institutional capture meeting AI
development
• Prestige-driven timelines
overriding safety

Full analysis: blog.genderwatchdog.org/institutiona...

Institutional Capture in Korea: Exploitation Economy, Governance Failures, and AI Safety Hijacking (updated Saturday, 11-Oct-25 07:35:15 UTC)

APEC engagement → surgical suppression on X.com (evidence) BEFORE: APEC liked our reply ...

blog.genderwatchdog.org

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

The October 25 bot traffic wasn't
just about our blog.

It was a warning about:
• An internet breaking under AI
strain
• Countries racing without governance guardrails

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

• Aggressive data scraping
prioritizing speed over internet
commons?
• Unsafe AI deployments prioritizing
prestige over safety?
• Cover-ups of AI harms using same
institutional silence patterns?

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

Current state: AI scraping crashes
infrastructure GLOBALLY, DAILY

Korea's plan: Massively expand AI
capacity by 2027

With documented integrity failures,
what prevents:

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

What's emphasized:

✅ Speed ("top 3 by 2027")
✅ Capacity (15K GPUs, one exaflop)
✅ Prestige ("World Best LLM")
✅ Corporate profits (Samsung/SK
doubling HBM capacity)

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

❌ Independent safety oversight
❌ Ethical data collection
standards
❌ Institutional integrity
prerequisites
❌ Conditions on OpenAI partnership
❌ Accountability for researcher
misconduct

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

It's: "Can institutions that falsify
partnerships & cover up sexual
violence be trusted with AI
development?"

What's missing from Korea's $100T AI
strategy:

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

• LGBT military sexual violence posts
censored on DC Inside
• 200 days of silence on Dongguk
sexual violence testimony
(Xiaohongshu)

The question isn't "was the bot spike
malicious?"

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

• Criminal defamation law =
truth-telling illegal
• Bosses taking staff to hostess
bars/room salons => complicit silence
• Can't report data center fires OR
AI safety risks (career/legal
retaliation)

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

• 2025: Zeta app outputs erotica,
large minor user base, zero
safeguards
• Govt prioritizes "AI startup
success stories" over safety

INSTITUTIONAL CAPTURE CREATES OMERTA:

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

• Same govt that scolded Kakao for
2022 fire couldn't fix its own
infrastructure

AI SAFETY PRECEDENTS IGNORED:
• 2021: Luda chatbot leaked users'
PII from Kakao Talk into training
data

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

• Late Sept 2025: Govt data center
fire → 647 services offline for a
month
• No hot-site backup despite "IT
powerhouse" claims
• Constant hacking at major companies
(KT, others) and govt
• Systematic customer data breaches
across telecom giants

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

Sam Altman praised Korea's
"world-class infrastructure" and
"incredible tech talent"

REALITY CHECK:

Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

• 40% academic partnership fraud
• 61.5% sexual violence crisis with systematic cover-ups
• 190 days of silence on documented exploitation
• Zero independent AI safety oversight

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

But here's what really matters:

Korea just bet $100 TRILLION WON ($72B) to become "top 3 AI nation by 2027"—partnered with OpenAI (which just allowed adult content & attacks safety advocates)—while maintaining:

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 3d

**Bot traffic crashed our blog 48h before APEC. Investigation found it's part of a global AI scraping crisis breaking infrastructure daily.**

Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 5d

ALERT: Our blog exposing Korea's institutional capture was domain-blocked 48 hours before APEC Leaders' Week.

Custom domain stopped resolving Oct 25. APEC meets Oct 27-Nov 1 in Gyeongju—where we documented student exploitation.

Content still accessible: genderwatchdog.bearblog.dev

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 4d

TIMELINE: What happens when you document sexual violence in Korean universities during APEC Korea

✓ 4 months surveillance
✓ Korean platform censorship
✓ Xiaohongshu ghost-banning
✓ Western platform suppression
✓ Domain blocking 48h before summit

link: blog.genderwatchdog.org/surveillance...

Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 5d

ALERT: Our blog exposing Korea's institutional capture was domain-blocked 48 hours before APEC Leaders' Week.

Custom domain stopped resolving Oct 25. APEC meets Oct 27-Nov 1 in Gyeongju—where we documented student exploitation.

Content still accessible: genderwatchdog.bearblog.dev

Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 9d

When millions of Americans declare "No Kings," Korea's captured institutions contemplate crowning one.

This is what institutional capture looks like: unable to distinguish between strategic partnerships and moral compromise.

Full analysis: genderwatchdog.substack.com/p/no-kings-a...

No Kings: As America Rejects Authoritarianism, Korea Prepares to Crown Trump

How institutional capture creates untenable contradictions that reveal a country whose leadership has lost all coherent direction (updated 2025-10-21T04:19:11Z)

genderwatchdog.substack.com

Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 9d

Institutional capture creates contradictions:

• Condemn authoritarianism → Award Trump highest honor
• Announce AI safety → Partner with OpenAI (subpoenaing safety groups)
• Recruit Chinese tourists → Fail to control anti-Chinese violence

Economic opportunism > principles

Hankyoreh (July 14, 2025): "Those with ties to China decry racist intimidation by far right." Shows anti-Chinese rally in Seoul with protesters calling for deportation of Chinese residents.

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 9d

Same period Korea considers this award:

• Data center fire: 647 services offline
• Students housed with tourists in dorms
• Judge caught at hostess bars
• Leadership: K-content events

Infrastructure fails, prestige flourishes.

bsky.app/profile/gend...

ankyoreh editorial (Sept 29, 2025): "Disruptions to government systems raises questions about Korea's status as IT powerhouse." Shows responders examining batteries after data center fire that paralyzed 647 government services.

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 9d

Sept 26: Hankyoreh editorial calls Trump administration "marching toward fascism"

Oct 2: Same outlet celebrates Korean chaebol partnerships with Trump's "Stargate" AI project

You cannot condemn someone as fascist while courting them for business.

Hankyoreh editorial headline "[Column] America is marching toward fascism" published September 26, 2025. Shows photo of Donald Trump with American flags in background.

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 9d

"As America rejects authoritarianism, Korea prepares to crown Trump"

This isn't coincidence. It's predictable when institutions prioritize prestige maintenance over principled governance.

Korea Herald: koreaherald.com/article/1059...
Archive: archive.md/4oJmY

South Korea mulls awarding highest order to Trump during APEC visit

South Korea is considering awarding US President Donald Trump its highest national honor in recognition of his role in promoting peace and security on the Korea

koreaherald.com

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Gender Watchdog @genderwatchdog.org · 9d

While 7 million Americans rallied in 2,700 cities chanting "NO KINGS" against authoritarianism...

Korea Herald reported South Korea was "mulling awarding highest order to Trump during APEC visit."

The contradiction reveals institutional capture in real time.🧵

Korea Herald article (Oct 19, 2025): "South Korea mulls awarding highest order to Trump during APEC visit." Photo shows President Lee Jae Myung giving pen to Trump during their White House summit.

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