Internet Freakshow

Chip Chan

Internet Freakshow - Chip Chan

In 2006, a user on 4 chan accidentally stumbled across a live stream of a Korean woman’s apartment. The woman on the camera was sleeping so deeply that the 4-chan user believed her to be dead, but she did awake and quickly hid behind some hand-written signs, written in Korean. He posted his discovery to 4-chan and thus begins the story of Chip Chan.

Before we go any further, I want to touch on the name “chip chan”. Apparently, the woman is not fond of this nickname, so for the remainder of this episode I’ll use the name she prefers to be known by, which is simply, “Jane”.

As I mentioned before, Jane streams nearly her whole life live online and has been doing that since 1999. Her life starts to take shape a bit through the signs that she holds up to the camera, as well as chats that she sometimes participates in with the people watching her live stream, and the blogs she’s maintained throughout the years.

Jane believes that she’s been implanted with a microchip that controls her. This microchip was implanted by a man she only refers to as “P”, and she claims “P” is a police officer in Korea who holds her captive. She claims that she comes from a very wealthy family and “P” is after this money.

Most of her life is spent streaming online, although she does seem to leave her apartment sometimes. So if she’s really being held captive, her captor doesn’t seem to be very good at holding her captive. When she leaves her apartment, she frequently does it in disguise.

Throughout the years she’s maintained blogs, one at Wordpress which hasn’t been updated since 2013. Another blog at naver went quiet in 2014, but came back for 1 entry in August of 2018, and hasn’t been updated since. The more you dig, the more blogs you find. Some at Wordpress, some at blogspot. All of these are very outdated. Some were opened and only have 1 entry. They all have approximately the same format of links to the old, outdated feeds along with passwords to view them.

Her YouTube channel is the most active online presence she has, operating at a channel named “Mind Control Weapon”. Her streaming sessions last varying amounts of time, but several go on for several days at a time. Typically her streams are just her sleeping, and sometimes for 30 hours or more at a time.

Some of her hand-written signs have been translated to English. They say things like:

“Don’t get tricked, don’t get fooled. Early every morning. If someone comes that paralyzes the person. I can’t be stopped.”

To the straight up creepy…

“The stalker use this skill from 2006, I have slept for 20 hours everyday since then. I do not know what have happened while I sleep, I have been always afraid of sleeping.”

“Stalker P breaks in after disable camera.”

“Korean cop P makes me lose my consciousness at any time, so I always sleep on the chair for years. How can you sleep sitting on the chair everyday if you don’t lose your consciousness. I haven’t dreamed for years ’cause I lose my consciousness”

The days of her streaming 24/7 for days or weeks at a time are gone. Her YouTube streams now go silent for days at a time, and when she streams it is only for a few hours. She usually sleeps in a chair, but sometimes she sleeps in a filing cabinet.

Some users have chatted with her while she is live streaming, others have interacted with her via email. In chats and emails, she always mentions “P”.

She does have a canned email response that she sends to many people who reach out to her. The email reads:

Recent streams of hers have been showing off some cuts, scrapes, and bruises, leading some to wonder if she is harming herself. This wouldn’t be unheard of with Jane. In 2017 some people thought she tried to kill herself by hanging, live on a stream of course.

Who is Jane? Some details are known, like we know she’s a woman living in an apartment in South Korea. She’s moved several times over the years, and at one point the location of her apartment was known. During one stream we saw an older couple poke their heads into the video, leading some to believe that the neighbors or relatives are helping care for her. Beyond that, we don’t know much. Even after 20 years of streaming, lots of blogs, and countless streaming hours, we don’t even know her name.

Who is “P”? Jane claims to know the man’s full name, and rank in the police force but refuses to say. This whole situation has been reported to police departments in South Korea, so you’d think that if there were truth to any of the claims, “P” would have already been discovered.

What’s the deal with the cameras? At first, people believed that “P” placed the cameras there himself to surveil Jane while he held her captive, and he made the streams public by accident. This theory falls apart with the most basic scrutiny. Wouldn’t “P” have a problem with his prisoner writing signs and holding to the camera, as well as giving her access to computers, email, chatting, and blogs? Wouldn’t he be more protective than that?

And that’s without mentioning her trips outside of the apartment. If she’s being held prisoner by “P”, he may be the worst prison guard I’ve ever heard about, allowing her to broadcast freely, communicate her predicament with others, come and go as she pleases.

For the conclusion of this story, please stay tuned after these words from our sponsors.

There’s really only 2 prevailing theories about Jane.

The first is that it is some sort of performance art. We’ve covered this theory in other episodes and it is a frequent excuse people go to in situations like these. Something weird pops up on the internet, people struggle to figure out why or how it exists, so they default to an art installation. In the case of Jane, some people have theorized that Jane is played by several different actresses. I guess an art project isn’t totally impossible, but it’s a little too convenient and a pretty lazy explanation.

The second is that Jane is suffering from mental health issues, namely schizophrenia and paranoia. I won’t pretend to be someone who can diagnose mental health issues based on a random South Korean’s web presence, but this seems a lot more likely to me than performance art.

The internet gives all of us the chance to put some of our lives online. We can share photos, status updates, and live 1 on 1 videos or even public videos. Some people like sharing more than others, and then people like Jane who share their entire lives. Jane’s story online shows the good and bad sides of the internet better than most stories. Some people making fun of her or using her live streams like they’re some sort of human zoo, while others contact police and officials in South Korea, hundreds or thousands of miles away, in an effort to get her the help that she needs.

I take some comfort in the fact that Jane has so many supporters and viewers, who are in a way, watching over her and hoping for her safety and comfort. Authorities have been contacted and what we assume are caretakers have poked their heads into the videos. I hope Jane isn’t as alone as it seems from her streams, and I hope the concern of thousands of random internet users is helpful or at least comforting to Jane.