Personal Information of Maritime Violent Criminals to Be Disclosed... Korea Coast Guard to Implement from August

Busan Dongbaek Port Murder Case Scene
[Photo by Busan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Recently, as violent crimes at sea have occurred one after another, the Korea Coast Guard has decided to disclose the personal information of heinous criminals.

On the 18th, the Korea Coast Guard announced that starting in August, it will disclose personal information such as the faces of criminals to prevent violent crimes at sea and to guarantee the public's right to know.

To this end, the Coast Guard recently established internal guidelines for disclosing the personal information of suspects involved in specific violent crimes.

Although personal information such as the face and age of the perpetrator is generally kept confidential during investigations, in cases where the crime method is brutal and serious damage has occurred, or where there is sufficient evidence of the crime as stipulated in the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Specific Violent Crimes, personal information may be disclosed if necessary for public interest such as crime prevention.

While the police investigating violent crimes on land have been disclosing the faces and real names of heinous criminals since 2010, the Coast Guard had not disclosed personal information of violent criminals at sea due to the lack of internal guidelines.

However, as violent crimes at sea have recently increased, the Coast Guard has also decided to disclose the personal information of heinous criminals.

In particular, the case in May this year, where A (43) in Dongbaek Port, Gijang, Busan, killed his younger sister B (40), who was suffering from a brain tumor, by putting her in a vehicle and drowning her in the sea, served as a trigger. Prior to this incident, in April this year, A also drove the vehicle carrying B into the sea near Dunchido, Gangseo-gu, Busan.

A's cohabiting partner, who participated in the crime aiming for the 600 million won insurance money B had subscribed to, was arrested and indicted on charges including murder, but A committed suicide on the 3rd of last month after the Coast Guard applied for an arrest warrant on murder charges.

Earlier, in December last year, a brutal murder occurred where a Vietnamese deck officer stabbed a Chinese captain with a weapon on a container ship docked at Daesan Port, Seosan, Chungnam.

A Korea Coast Guard official stated, "The disclosure of personal information regarding violent crimes at sea will be carefully judged by collecting opinions from internal and external committee members, including legal experts, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations," adding, "We plan to implement this by comprehensively considering crime prevention, the public's right to know, and the protection of suspects' human rights."

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