Increased Drinking Gatherings Lead to More Alcoholics and Drunk Driving Incidents

With Corona First Week, Reports of Alcohol-Related Crimes Double
Drunk Driving Also Increases by Over 10 Cases Per Day on Average

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Since the introduction of the phased daily recovery (With Corona), crimes related to intoxication, such as drunk driving and alcohol-related violence, have increased.

According to the National Police Agency on the 8th, the number of 112 emergency calls nationwide in the first week of November, when the phased With Corona was introduced, recorded 377,886 cases. This is a 5.4% increase, nearly 20,000 cases more than the previous week (358,505 cases). Among these, intoxication-related reports were 7,713 cases, about twice the usual level. On the first weekend (November 6 and 7), intoxication-related reports were 2,863 cases, 750 more than the previous week (2,113 cases), which included Halloween Day. The police analyzed that with the lifting of business hour restrictions for restaurants and others, drinking sessions continued late into the night, leading to an increase in intoxication-related crimes.

Drunk driving also increased. From November 1 to 25, 9,312 cases were caught nationwide through police crackdowns, averaging 372.5 cases per day. This is about 10 cases more than the daily average of the previous month (361.8 cases). Among these, 2,541 cases were at the license suspension level, and 6,771 cases were at the license cancellation level.

The police expect alcohol-related incidents and accidents to continue regardless of With Corona. Recently, in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, a man in his 40s was arrested by the police after hitting another driver with his car because the other driver blocked his way while he was driving under the influence. In Gwanak-gu, a company employee who boarded a taxi while heavily intoxicated, refused to pay the fare, and caused a disturbance by verbally abusing the responding police officers was arrested on the spot.

A police official said, "Since the transition to With Corona, drinking gatherings have naturally increased, so we are strengthening drunk driving crackdowns," adding, "As the year-end and New Year’s party atmosphere is expected to continue, we will conduct special crackdowns applying strengthened enforcement standards."

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