[Exclusive] Crime Victim Protection Fund Allocates Only 3% for Direct Support to Victims by Police

Severely Insufficient Funds for Police Personal Protection and Other Uses
Fund Usage Mainly Supported Indirectly by the Ministry of Justice
"Ministry of Justice Support Projects Should Be Transferred to Police"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Gong Byung-sun and Park Joon-yi] It has been revealed that the fund created to help crime victims is not being utilized by the police. There are calls for some support projects managed by the Ministry of Justice to be transferred to the police to provide prompt and sufficient assistance to victims.

According to the office of Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the amount used by the police from this year's Crime Victim Protection Fund under the Ministry of Justice was 3.1 billion KRW. The total expenditure of the Crime Victim Protection Fund this year was 100.1 billion KRW, meaning the police used only about 3% of the fund.

The Crime Victim Protection Fund is established to protect and support crime victims. Victims of stalking crimes, such as the 'Sindang Station stalking murder case' that occurred last month, as well as victims of violent crimes like murder, robbery, and rape, can receive protection and other support through the Crime Victim Protection Fund. The fund is managed and operated by the Minister of Justice under the 'Crime Victim Protection Fund Act.' The main source of the fund is fines, and income generated from private donations and fund operations is also utilized.

The police directly support crime victims through the Crime Victim Protection Fund. They lend smartwatches to those requiring safety measures and provide temporary accommodation to victims if necessary. Additionally, the program includes special cleaning support such as bloodstain removal from the residences of violent crime victims.

However, due to the severely insufficient fund, direct support by the police is difficult. Since the Stalking Punishment Act was enforced last year, the number of protection cases has exceeded 20,000, but there is no budget to handle this. A police official said, “We want to support victims from the incident stage, but the decision-making authority for fund usage lies with the Ministry of Justice,” adding, “The Ministry of Justice also runs its own projects using the Crime Victim Protection Fund, so there are limits to the police actively utilizing it.”

There are also criticisms that prompt victim support is not being provided. The Ministry of Justice’s work is distant from the field, making the system ineffective for victims who need quick assistance. A police official said, “Victims want protection from the incident or investigation stage, but it takes a long time to request and get approval from the prosecution,” adding, “Sometimes support funds are only released after the case is sent to the prosecution.”

It has been confirmed that the Ministry of Justice uses a significant portion of the fund for indirect support rather than direct assistance to victims. Not only the police but also ministries such as the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which provide indirect support to victims, use the fund. As of this year, 53% of the Crime Victim Protection Fund was used for indirect support projects. These projects mainly include operating victim recovery centers, counseling offices, protective facilities, and child protection specialized agencies. Professor Jeong Eui-rom of the Department of Police Administration at Busan University of Foreign Studies pointed out in his paper titled 'Problems and Improvement Measures in the Operation of the Crime Victim Protection Fund' that “there is a tendency for budget allocation and project system construction to be done from the perspective of the project managing institutions rather than victim-centered projects.”

Lawmaker Kim said, “It is necessary to organize and execute the fund centered on the needs of the users,” and added, “Considering that recent problematic retaliatory crimes mainly occur during the police investigation stage, it is necessary to promote transferring support projects such as relocation and medical expenses, currently managed by the Ministry of Justice, to the police.”

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