In the Sindang Station Stalking Murder Case, Ruling Party Proposes Deletion of 'Non-Prosecution Consent Offense'; Opposition Says "We Will Prevent Structural Sexual Violence"

"Even After Experiencing the Gangnam Station Murder Case 6 Years Ago, We Have Not Changed the System or Culture"

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

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The Democratic Party of Korea on the 18th promised fundamental institutional reforms, stating that the political sphere also bears responsibility for the stalking murder case involving a station worker at Sindang Station.

Park Seong-jun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said at a National Assembly briefing, "Even now, we will undertake fundamental institutional reforms to prevent structural sexual violence, including the abolition of the crime of non-prosecution by victim's consent."

Spokesperson Park emphasized, "The current law that forces victims to reach settlements with stalking offenders, colleagues at workplaces who do not protect victims but rather support stalkers, police and courts that do not even request arrest warrants if offenders pretend to repent, the political sphere that failed to change systems and culture despite experiencing the Gangnam Station murder case six years ago?all bear responsibility."

He continued, "The government must focus on changing social awareness of stalking crimes, fundamental institutional reforms, and preparing response manuals, rather than hasty and inadequate measures like 'emergency directives' made under time pressure."

Earlier, the ruling party also proposed an amendment to the Stalking Crime Punishment Act. Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, introduced a bill to enable location tracking of stalking offenders and to delete the 'crime of non-prosecution by victim's consent' clause so that offenders can be punished even if the victim does not wish to prosecute.

The current Stalking Crime Punishment Act stipulates that if the victim does not wish to prosecute, a public prosecution cannot be initiated against the stalking offender, defined as a crime of non-prosecution by victim's consent. Because of this, when a secondary stalking crime occurs and the offender holds a grudge against the crime report and commits retaliatory crimes, there was a problem in taking measures to prevent this.

The amendment allows, in urgent situations where there is concern that stalking crimes may continue or repeat, and to prevent stalking crimes, police officers to track the location of stalking offenders through emergency response measures and provisional court orders.

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