In South Korea's hyper-connected society, digital infrastructure facilitates the control of victims in intimate relationships, as highlighted by researcher Bae Seong-shin from Monash University. During a meeting in Melbourne, Bae revealed that the homicide rate for intimate partners in South Korea is approximately three times higher than in Australia, attributing this to the ease of control enabled by technology. He noted that in Korea, there is a strong expectation for constant connectivity in intimate relationships, where sharing location and passwords as an expression of care is commonplace. This often leads to controlling behavior being perceived not as obsession, but rather as love or responsibility.

Bae also introduced the concept of 'digital confinement' to explain how digital infrastructure perpetuates everyday control and complicates victims' efforts to escape these structures. He pointed out that whereas overt surveillance methods, like installing home cameras or GPS trackers, were previously the main concern, individuals are increasingly pressured under the guise of affection to share sensitive information such as messaging history or social media passwords. The real issue arises when victims attempt to refuse or withdraw consent, often facing accusations from offenders who claim they were initially agreeable. This form of manipulation turns the refusal into a betrayal of trust.

Drawing on the definition of coercive control that has been criminalized since 2015 in the UK, Bae stressed that the focal point is the significant negative impact on the victim's daily life, rather than merely the initial consent. In South Korea, platforms like KakaoTalk have become tools through which control is exercised, and the normalization of sharing personal information under the pretext of love makes it increasingly difficult for victims to resist or escape such dynamics. This ongoing research will be published later this year in an international journal, contributing to the discourse on preventing gender-based violence and protecting vulnerable individuals in digital spaces.