Busan court sentences defendant to 8 months in prison for flying drones to spy on others

The Busan District Court Eastern Branch sentenced a 39-year-old man to eight months in prison last week for flying a drone from an apartment in July to illegally video record four adult men and women shirtless inside the LCT skyscraper 1.8 kilometers away.

In February, another man was also sentenced to eight months in prison for using a drone to record a couple during sexual intercourse in an apartment.

Both crimes happened near the Gwangandaegyo Bridge or Haeundae Beach where many residents live without curtains or blinds to enjoy the open view of the ocean.

According to studies by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, out of 1,276 cases of complaints related to drone abuse between 2018 and May 2020, 30.8 percent dealt with ‘inconvenience caused by drone flights.

While over 80 percent of all illegal cases of photography resulted in probation, cases of drone-related photography are being punished by prison sentences, indicating the severity of drone crimes.