Retaliatory Crimes Up 46% in One Year... 'Murder After Stalking' System Remains Stagnant

Threats, Use of Force, and Murder
Strict Enhanced Punishments... Growing Calls for Strengthened Victim Protection

At the entrance of the women's restroom at Sindang Station on Seoul Subway Line 2, where a female attendant was killed by a coworker who had been stalking her, citizens continue to visit to pay their respects. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] It has been confirmed that revenge crimes have increased by 46% over the past year. In particular, as extreme cases of stalking victims leading to murder have recently occurred, there are calls to improve laws and systems.

According to data received by Jeong Woo-taek, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Police Agency on the 17th, revenge crimes occurred 434 times last year, an increase of about 46% compared to 298 cases a year earlier. Revenge crimes have been on the rise every year. By year, there were 268 cases in 2018, 294 in 2019, and 298 in 2020. This year, 281 cases have occurred up to last month.

Among the types of revenge crimes, threats were the most common with 600 cases, followed by abuse of power (274 cases), assault (260 cases), and injury (127 cases).

Recently, incidents of continuously stalking victims and then committing revenge crimes by visiting them have also occurred one after another.

On the 15th, a man named Jeon Mo chased a female station worker in her 20s who was patrolling the women's restroom at Sindang Station and killed her by wielding a weapon inside a restroom stall. Jeon was a former employee of Seoul Metro and was a colleague of the victim.

Jeon had been stalking the victim by forcing meetings and was reportedly sued twice by the victim last year and this year. Jeon was brought to trial in February and July of this year, and the combined trial of the two cases was scheduled for sentencing on this day.

The Yangcheon Police Station in Seoul arrested and sent a man in his 50s, Mr. A, on charges of violating the Stalking Punishment Act and revenge crime under the Special Act. Mr. A is accused of visiting the workplace of his ex-girlfriend, Ms. B, around 9 p.m. on the 12th, assaulting her, and pouring gasoline on her body. It is known that Mr. A committed the crime after stalking Ms. B for two months because she refused to meet him.

Assemblyman Jeong emphasized, "The suspect who killed a female station worker in her 20s with a weapon in a Seoul subway station restroom was known to have a history of stalking the victim, indicating a high possibility of revenge crime," and added, "Revenge crimes are a direct challenge to the rule of law and the national security system and must be strictly punished with heavier penalties."

Meanwhile, President Yoon Seok-yeol also pointed out last year that despite the enactment and enforcement of the Stalking Prevention Act, protection for victims was insufficient, and he instructed the Ministry of Justice to improve the system.

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