Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok: "Protecting Citizens' Lives and Safety is the Prosecution's Duty"... First Monthly Meeting Since Inauguration

Lee "Stalking, Digital Sex Crimes, Child Abuse, and Drug Crimes Must Be Actively Addressed"

Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is sharing opinions with officials at the Seoul Southeast Child Protection Agency in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the 4th./Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok emphasized that protecting the public’s “life and safety” is the prosecution’s duty during his first monthly executive meeting since taking office.

At the monthly meeting on the 7th, Prosecutor General Lee urged, "Please keep in mind that protecting the public’s life, safety, and property is the fundamental duty of the prosecution as you carry out your work."

He mentioned stalking crimes, digital sex crimes, child abuse crimes, and drug-related crimes, instructing active responses. He said, "Following the Sindang Station stalking murder case, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and the National Police Agency held a response council and decided to actively respond by linking the stalking offender information systems. Regarding digital sex crimes, we must strictly apply the strengthened sentencing guidelines and cooperate with the Digital Sex Crime Victim Support Center to promptly block and delete sexually exploitative materials."

He also requested, "Last year, child abuse crimes reached 16,988 cases, nearly double compared to 2020, and serious incidents such as child abuse homicides continue to occur. Therefore, please respond strictly from the early stages of cases through collaboration with child protection agencies and ensure thorough protection and support for the affected children."

Regarding drug-related crimes, he announced plans to conduct joint investigations at a metropolitan level in cooperation with related agencies such as the Korea Customs Service and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, targeting drug smuggling, illegal distribution of medical narcotics, and internet drug distribution.

Prosecutor General Lee referred to the currently airing TV drama Cheonwonjari Byeonhosa (Thousand-Won Lawyer), urging efforts to ensure that the phrase “being like a prosecutor” comes to be understood as embodying righteousness, dignity, integrity, dedication, and justice.

Furthermore, he emphasized collaboration, stating, "The era of working alone is over." He said, "The ‘N’ in the globally popular SNS stands for Network, and now that we have entered a hyper-connected society beyond a connected society, sharing information and data with various agencies and working together is not a choice but a very natural thing."

He added, "The Stalking Crime Response Council, the Joint Investigation Team for Financial and Securities Crimes, the Government Joint Investigation Team for Voice Phishing Crimes, and the Joint Investigation Team for National Fiscal Crimes are results of such cooperation," and explained, "Cooperation among various agencies toward the same goal is meaningful in itself, and beyond that, working together leads to achievements."

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