[2020 National Audit] Railway Sexual Crimes Doubled and Hidden Camera Cases Quadrupled Over 6 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Crimes in railway facilities and vehicles have been continuously increasing. The rate of increase in sex crimes such as illegal filming has risen sharply, making urgent countermeasures necessary.

According to data submitted by the Railway Special Judicial Police to Kim Hoe-jae, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, railway crimes increased annually from 1,491 cases in 2015 to 1,661 in 2016, 1,951 in 2017, 2,093 in 2018, 2,459 in 2019, and 1,767 cases as of September 2020. A total of 10,849 railway crimes occurred over the past six years.

By type, sex crimes accounted for the largest portion with 4,227 cases, representing 39% of the total. This was followed by theft with 1,866 cases, violence with 1,593 cases, and violations of the Railway Safety Act with 828 cases.

In particular, sex crimes increased from 413 cases in 2015 to 936 cases in 2019. Sex crimes on trains remained similar, from 277 cases in 2015 to 303 cases in 2019, but sex crimes in railway stations surged 4.7 times from 136 cases to 633 cases during the same period.

By type of sex crime, so-called ‘molka’ illegal filming crimes surged from 164 cases in 2015 to 700 cases in 2019.

Despite Korail declaring train stations as ‘molka absolute safe zones’ in 2018 and announcing special preventive measures against hidden cameras by equipping and inspecting all 436 railway stations nationwide with hidden camera detectors, illegal filming crimes continue to be rampant.

In fact, in April of this year, a Korail affiliate employee working as a station staff member at Madu Station was caught attempting illegal filming in the women’s restroom during working hours.

Assemblyman Kim pointed out, “Illegal filming crimes are rapidly increasing, and due to the nature of the crime, the number of undetected cases is likely higher. Since anyone can become a victim of molka filming, special measures to eradicate sex crimes are necessary, such as expanding manpower and equipment and strengthening employee training so that everyone can use trains with peace of mind.”

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