[Back to the takedown index](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns) # Welcome to Video seizure March 2018, Child sexual abuse material Led by [Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/internal-revenue-service-criminal-investigation), [Homeland Security Investigations](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/homeland-security-investigations) Verified core entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026 What was taken down? Server seized in South Korea and site taken offline; approximately eight terabytes of material and roughly 250,000 videos secured; Bitcoin transaction analysis used to identify users.[[1]](#source-1)[[2]](#source-2)[[3]](#source-3) [See what happened](#what-happened) What happened to the people? Officials reported 337 charged and 337 apprehended. 1 charged, 1 apprehended, and 1 convicted named in the public record. Group accounted for: Likely complete [See people and accountability](#people) Did it stay down? After this action later activity was recorded, though its link to the original is not established. Medium confidence in the link between the two. [See what happened afterward](#afterward) ## What happened IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the UK National Crime Agency, and Korean National Police seized the server operating the Welcome to Video darknet site and arrested its operator in South Korea, with Bitcoin tracing identifying hundreds of users worldwide.[[1]](#source-1)[[2]](#source-2)[[3]](#source-3) Announced October 16, 2019. **Date:** March 2018 **Target:** Welcome to Video, tor hidden service **Activity:** Child sexual abuse material, Cryptocurrency laundering **Operational lead:** IRS-CI and HSI **Partners** USAO-DC, KNPA, and 2 more[[1]](#source-1)[[2]](#source-2)[[3]](#source-3) - [United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/united-states-attorney-s-office-for-the-district-of-columbia), charging - [Korean National Police Agency](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/korean-national-police-agency), arresting - [Chainalysis](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/chainalysis), financial tracing - [National Crime Agency](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/national-crime-agency), supporting **Jurisdiction:** South Korea, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Czechia, Canada, Ireland, and Spain **Outcome:** Server seized in South Korea and site taken offline; approximately eight terabytes of material and roughly 250,000 videos secured; Bitcoin transaction analysis used to identify users. **Status:** Completed **Legal mechanism:** Korean judicial process for the server seizure; US indictment and forfeiture (District of Columbia); mutual legal assistance **Group accounted for:** Likely complete ### Infrastructure 1 server seized and 1 onion service seized. | Identifier | Recorded as | Status | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Not published | 1 server | Seized, South Korea | Server seized in South Korea, yielding approximately eight terabytes of material and roughly 250,000 videos.[[1]](#source-1) | | Not published | 1 onion service | Seized | Hidden service taken offline.[[1]](#source-1) | Domains and onion addresses are shown defanged. Where the record gives a count but no identifier, the count is shown in place of one. This list carries only what appears in the cited sources. ## People and accountability Named in the public record: 1 charged, 1 apprehended, and 1 convicted. Figures count individuals named in charging documents and official statements, each person once per outcome. People alleged to be involved but not publicly identified are not counted. Reported and named. Officials reported 337 charged and 337 apprehended. 1 charged, 1 apprehended, and 1 convicted named in the public record. The two figures come from different places and are never added together. Officials publish a headline total, and this index counts only the individuals it can name from the cited record. #### Jong Woo Son Operator of Welcome to Video. Current public status: Arrested, Indicted, and Convicted. **Charging authority:** United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia **Main charges:** Advertisement of child pornography; Distribution of child pornography; Conspiracy to launder monetary instruments **Case number:** Not established in the public record **Arresting authority:** Korean National Police Agency **Arrest location:** South Korea **Extradition status:** Not established in the public record **Conviction or plea:** Convicted **Sentence:** Served a term of imprisonment in South Korea **Segment:** Core operator **Sources:** [[1]](#source-1) **Full record:** [Everything indexed for Jong Woo Son](https://takedownindex.org/people/jong-woo-son) Group accounted for: Likely complete The sole identified operator was arrested, convicted in South Korea, and separately indicted in the United States, and the server was seized. No official statement closes the roster absolutely. A single operator ran the site, per US and Korean charging documents. [See the organizations and roles behind this action](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/welcome-to-video-seizure/organizations) ## What happened afterward Operator convicted in South Korea and separately indicted in the District of Columbia; 337 users arrested and charged across at least 12 countries; 23 children identified and rescued.[[1]](#source-1)[[2]](#source-2)[[3]](#source-3) Date not established No documented return. Relationship not established. Confidence: Medium. Not established.[[1]](#source-1) No affirmative evidence of a return of this specific service was found through the cutoff. Return class F. The class is a research grading carried in the source dataset and its scale is not published, so this page relies on the relationship and confidence values instead. [How this index handles it](https://takedownindex.org/about). ## Sources Numbered markers throughout this entry link to the source that supports the claim beside them. ### Official sources 1. [South Korean National and Hundreds of Others Charged Worldwide in the Takedown of the Largest Darknet Child Pornography Website, Which was Funded by Bitcoin](https://takedownindex.org/sources/united-states-department-of-justice-south-korean-national-and-hundreds-of-others) United States Department of Justice, October 16, 2019, Source grade P1 Server seizure in South Korea, Son's arrest and US indictment, 337 arrests, 23 children rescued, site scale No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. 2. [NCA statement on the Welcome to Video investigation](https://takedownindex.org/sources/national-crime-agency-nca-statement-on-the-welcome-to-video-investigation) National Crime Agency, October 16, 2019, Source grade P2 UK participation and arrests No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. ### Additional reporting and technical analysis 1. [Chainalysis account of blockchain analysis in the Welcome to Video investigation](https://takedownindex.org/sources/chainalysis-chainalysis-account-of-blockchain-analysis-in-the-welcome-to-video-i) Chainalysis, October 16, 2019, Source grade T1 Bitcoin tracing methodology used to identify users No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. Coverage note. - The 337 arrested users are a customer population and are strictly separate from the single core operator. - The action date of 2018-03-05 and the announcement date of 2019-10-16 are more than 19 months apart and are deliberately kept distinct. - Only the operator is carried as a named person record; individually prosecuted users are a deliberate named-person gap. Research context ## How this entry was checked This entry went through a dedicated source verification pass. Publisher, title, publication date, and docket numbers were confirmed against each cited source. Source review: Verified core Sources cited: 3 Research cutoff: August 20, 2026 Last reviewed August 21, 2026 See also [About the Internet Takedown Index](https://takedownindex.org/about) Related entries - [BTC-e disruption](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/btc-e-disruption) - [Kickass Torrents takedown](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/kickass-torrents-takedown) - [Silk Road seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/silk-road-seizure) Report updates or corrections Help keep this record accurate. [Submit feedback](https://takedownindex.org/about#corrections-and-updates)