If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. I,L', ,"'" Crime and Criminal Justice in the :Republic of Korea , .... "",,' .. Crime and Criminal Justice !f I 4 in the Republic of Korea Ministry of Justice / J/" Republic of Korea Foreword; , . This booklet has been prepared to serve as a brief introduc­ tion to'the subject of tne' present condition of crimes, pre­ ventive measures and the criminal justice in Korea. Nowadays, due to rapid progres!:l in the means of transpor­ tation and commurlicatiO'n, and expanding international 'ex­ <:hanges of people and' material, the problem of crime has become a concern far beyond the sphere Of each state. It is clear that the question of whether an act constitutes a crime, or how such an act shall be dealt with depends on the internal law of each government. It is, however, also clear that close inter­ national cooperation can help to resolve the crime problem of individual states. Such cooperation on the urgent crime problem must start from mutual understanding assisted by an exchange of information. - With this in mind, this booklet intends to offer' some assistance for the exchange of such information bearing on the subject of crime. , For those whose needs will not be satisfied with the brief information in this booklet, more detailed information will be furnished by the authorities listed 6elow. Attn: The First Prosecution Section Prosecution Bureau Ministry of Justice Republic of Korea ,," ·'1 ' , Recent Crime Conditions and Preventive Measures in Korea robbery incidents it reaches up to about 90% of all oc­ , . currences. The matter of speedy trial shall be explained (1 ) Surveying th~ trend of crimes for the past ten years in next. Korea, it is possible to see a generally decreasing phase of /2. The second one is forming a joint authority of investi­ criminal occurrenC"3, as shown in the following chart. In brief, gation or special task force. During the past, under the overlooking slight exceptions, the number of crim<;s in 1974 leadership and superVision of the prosecutor, there have decreased down to 81.5% compared with that of 1965. ,/ been several joint authorities of investigation or special This decreasing trend can be explained as the result of task forces against some specified crimes of social concern, political stability, good progress in the economy and the all of which resulted in great ·success. For instance, these effective exercise of preventive measures. are "The Joint Authority of Investigation 9,f Smuggling", (2) Among the total number of the crimes, the number of and "The Special Task Force Against Narcotic Offenses". the Penal Code Crimes is also on thl;! decrease; the number in The former, formed of police and custom officers· under 1974 is 19.3% below that of 1965. the supervision of a prosecutor, succeeded in rooting. out This general trend is also shown same in such major cases as such smuggling as was being committed by the vessel murder, robbery and larceny. exclusively used fq.l>t~at purpose, while the latter, organ­ Murder cases decreased to 79.4%, robbery cases to 89.6%, ized body of police officers and narcotic inspectQrsunder and larceny cases to 57.6% compared with 1965 as indicated in the leadership of prosecutors, succeeded in IJliminating a the same chart. number of narcotic addicts in Korea, and yet takes an (3) Notwithstanding' th~s decreasing· trend, bodily harm active part in the struggle against drug abuses. offenses such as assault and violence cases increased to 145.6% 3. The third measure is the enactment and exercise of in number (annual increase rate of about 4.5%) compared the aggravated punishment provisions. Whenever a certain with that of 1965, and sexual crimes also considerably increased. crime was rampant, the government unhesitatingly used It is, however, to be noted that the' annual increase rate of to provide and enforce special law providing aggravated recent several' years is obviously decreasing. punishment, by whiclt such crime should be duly deal~ (4) This decreasing trend of crimes in Korea contrasts with with, as a countermeasure. For instance, as' a counter­ some advanced countries where crimes are on an annual measure against organized "hoodlums", the government increase. Clearly this is due to the comparatively effective law enacted and enforced "The Aggravated Violence Punish­ enforcement in atmosphere of political stability during past. ment Law". In consequence, we have succeeded in con­ ten years, and to the sta~ility in standard of living in the trolling the occurrences of violence offences committed succef'sful course of economic development project. by them. Other examples are 4'The Law for Providing Besides the above factors, it indicates that the effort of the Special Punishment for The Specified Offences Against government and the citizen, focused on tl\e prevention and Public Health"· as a countermeasure against the offences suppression of crimes, has been effective. The following are which injure public health, and "The Law for Providing some of the countermeasures taken for that purpose as of now. Special Punishment for Specified Crimes'" against bribery I. Above all, the best measure is to assure a criminal that of governmental officers. or tax violations. he will be surely arrested after he commits a crime, b:ythe 4. The fourth measure is voluntary cooperation of the citi­ maintenance of a high clearance rate and speedy trial. zen ~n the struggle against crimes. As a matter of fact, such The clearance rate in Korea has been maintained' at around cooperation has. been accelerated. .by the continuQUs 80% successively, and moreover, in cases of murder and effort· of police . officers. As a. typical expression of this 1 2 (,"', q~W- = ,~':ry- ~ ':, ~ :: ("~ = -0 0 0-) = - VI - 0 = fIl 0 - ~ -. 0 0-) = = ::;' ':i':;S e: . 0·..., fIl e: ..., ::r :;.. a 0 ':i'a~ ~O~~~=~ ~ a~~o 0-· 'g0~ ~O::r o=~o ... g~~ cn==O= ;-=OOOfllO~<OOO =~=<fIl~ - ""~e:~ao<e; 000 0 ~ 0-0 a o-c=­ ~~-=-OO=~~~fIl_fIle: ... -- ~ < r" OQ _ ~ - O· 0 0 = -- =- 0 .,4 ~ _. =_ -. = e:-::roo~=:e~o:e- n=-"'­ -=O~ ~Oa-~fIloe:~-~oO - _ a a .Dr 0= ::r-O'--~- = - 0 e. 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OQ1!2. a::ra _. ::. -6:-'(D::r (D .e = =_= - OQ= (D(D(')~(DfIl-O 1:1 -02' e: ... ::r(D~- =~ e:::rOQO~ >~ °o~ "':ee:o g~~ao ~~ ~""(D~~(D:;=: o ~:!. 0 ::;' OQ ... ~ :;, = 0 fIl 0 (') (D~~~..., e:= ~oo=a-~_ (D -. e: ~ _ 0 -... 0 _.... -- o (D = _ = (D - = n'S s·o ~ c'= ..., = OQ 0 = : 'i" • (D fIl _ = fIl fIl ~ Criminal Trends for the Past 10 Yean; (From th~ Year of 1965 to 1974) I ~Offenses 1965 1966 1967 J968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 Crimes number 628,d74 672,271 651,333 604,844 619,509 518,543 522,498 600,953 530,287 512,738 Disposed by l'ublic Prosecutor ratio 100% 106.9% 103.6% 96.2% 98.5% 82.5% 83.1% Ji·3.3% 84.3% 81.5% number 351,862 337,781 321,184 306,668 269,467 253,787 258,239 29".'.931 286,820 283,808 Penal Code Crime ratio 100% 96.0% 91.3% 87.2% 76.6% 72.0% 73.4% 84.7% 81.5% 80,7% number 715 723 Homicide 911 80S 793 874 853 885 793 893 (Including Death resulting from Robbery. etc) ratio 100% 88.4% 87.0% 95.9% 93.6% 97.1% 87.0% 98.0% 78.5% 79.4% S" ' number 2,323 2,424 2,020 1,526 1,644 1,667 1,771 2,017 1,537 2,081 Robbery ratio 100% 104.3% 87.0% 65.7% 70.8% 71.8% 76.2% 86.8% 66.2% 89.6% I I number 2,646 3,151 3,628 3,847 3,960 4,528 4,905 5,608 5,614 5,505 I Crimes Concerning Chastity I (Including Rape) rati~ 100% 119.1% 137.1% 145.4% 149.7% 171.1% 185.4% 2119% 212.2% 208.1% I ! I number 120,308 94,062 86,620 76,574 6;'289 56,014 56,669 69,838 64,909 69,340 Larceny ratio 100% 78.2% 72.0% 63.6%' 50.9% 46.6% 47.1% 58.0% 54.0% 57.6% ~ 146,259 127,088 136,505 Violence number 93,759 115,425 126,843 135,711 131,924 132,235 138,541 (Including Assault and Aggravated Assault) ratio .100% 123.1% 135.3% 144.7% 140.7% 141.0% 147.8% 156.0% 135.5% 145.6% ',. ...- ~ .... ,... Wi,-i.';;;':.j;' * . ','-~~".~.~~~~~~~~~ " '... ". ,--,-----0 I' r> r , , .' , ~ t Criminal Justice Administration by the court when the police intends to detain a suspect. Usually the police submits to the public prosecutor the The criminal justice administration in' Korea, as in most materials which establish a reasonable ground to suspect that countries, begins with the investigation of crime by the police, the suspect has committed a certain crime.