I'm not sure what my personal concerns are specifically, so I don't have a good answer to that question.
But I think there's a difference between a crud photoshop picture that a person has on their PC, and a (more or less) convincing deepfake video of a person being broadcast.
I think you're likely right that there is an element of panic. I don't know a lot about Korean culture, but I imagine the concern is that deepfakes can have real-life negative impact on people's lives, either because people think it's real or because it creates a hyper-sexualised social environment that endangers women. Both are worthy of concern in my view.
Photoshop has for decades been able to produce fake images indistinguishable from real life.
There's still no case for why fake video is apparently so much worse than fake images. Both achieve the same effects when sent maliciously to a relative or contacts list.
I'll (try to) steelman the case for why video's worse: because people don't realise how easy fake videos are to make. But in 1-2 years... meh... most of society will have it figured out.
But I think there's a difference between a crud photoshop picture that a person has on their PC, and a (more or less) convincing deepfake video of a person being broadcast.
I think you're likely right that there is an element of panic. I don't know a lot about Korean culture, but I imagine the concern is that deepfakes can have real-life negative impact on people's lives, either because people think it's real or because it creates a hyper-sexualised social environment that endangers women. Both are worthy of concern in my view.