olice will invest 9.1 billion won (US$6.8 million) over the next three years to develop technology for detecting deepfake, voice cloning and other fabricated content, the police agency said Thursday. The National Police Agency announced the investment as part of its budget plan for next year, which totals 13.54 trillion won, up 4.2 percent from this year. Next year's budget plan includes 2.7 billion won allocated for developing deep-learning technology to detect fabricated content, such as deepfake and voice cloning materials. Through 2027, 9.1 trillion won will be invested in the technology development to combat the increasing number of such crimes, the police said. For 2025, police have also allocated a budget of 500 million won to enhance their existing software program for monitoring deepfake and other AI-generated videos, according to officials. The 2025 budget plan also includes the establishment of a 1 billion-won fund to reward those who provide tips on organized crimes, such as online gambling or phishing schemes. Nearly 5.5 billion won will also be invested in enhancing the state response center for financial fraud schemes using telecommunications, adding a new function to block telephone numbers used for phishing. An additional 7.7 billion won will be spent on a plan to distribute nearly 9,000 body cameras to police personnel by 2026 for recording crime scenes and gathering evidence. Another 7.6 billion won will be allocated to better equip police personnel with more advanced combat jackets, batons and stun guns. The budget plan requires a review by the National Assembly for final approval. Source: Yonhap News Agency