Yongsan-gu CCTV Monitoring Officer Awarded for Assisting in Arrest of Sexual Harassment Suspect

Sexual Harassment Incident Occurred in Cheongpa-dong from Night of June 4 to Early Morning of June 5... District Analyzes Nearby CCTV Footage at Police Request, Identifies Suspect

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seongjanghyun) awarded commendations from the mayor on the 21st to four u-Yongsan Integrated Control Center workers (three control operators and one police officer) who helped capture a sexual assault suspect.

The incident occurred on June 4th at around 11:38 PM in Cheongpa-dong, Yongsan-gu. A man in his 30s wandering around the one-room apartment area near Sookmyung Women's University forcibly hugged a woman returning home and sexually assaulted her. Fortunately, the woman escaped.

However, the man did not stop there and chased another woman on the morning of the 5th. When the woman entered her home, he shook the doorknob and tried pressing the password, showing bold behavior. The attempted break-in was unsuccessful.

After receiving reports from the victims, the Yongsan Police Station immediately requested closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the Cheongpa-dong area from the district office. The district office reviewed the surrounding footage from the relevant time and identified a man in his 30s suspected to be the perpetrator, then provided the related footage to the police.

A district official said, “Due to the sudden nature of the incident, the reporter was unable to properly remember the suspect’s appearance, making it difficult to identify the suspect. However, the control operators did not give up and analyzed the CCTV footage, estimating a pedestrian looking at a cellphone near the subway station in front of Sookmyung University as the suspect, confirming the appearance and movement path, and relayed this information to the Yongsan Police Station.”

Subsequently, the police analyzed the CCTV footage, identified the suspect, and succeeded in arresting him on June 15th. The man initially denied the crime, but the CCTV footage became decisive evidence.

Seongjanghyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “I am saddened that an unfortunate incident occurred in the community. We will continue to do our best with the police to create a city free of crime.”

The u-Yongsan Integrated Control Center is located on the second basement floor of the Yongsan-gu Office. It covers an area of 319㎡. In 2010, the district invested 1.3 billion KRW to establish the center to prevent crimes in the area and crack down on illegal dumping and illegal parking.

Currently, the district manages 693 CCTV locations in the area through the center and plans to install 20 additional smart CCTVs with facial recognition and other functions by the end of this year. Along with the CCTV, 100 analog emergency bells will be converted to digital (IP) systems this year.

Cooperation with the police has continued since 2013. The district provides the police with about 3,000 video records annually for use in capturing criminals. Besides this sexual assault suspect, the footage has helped identify suspects in crimes such as voice phishing and snatching, aiding in their arrest.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.