"SNS Star Gangster, Scout for Middle School 3rd Graders"... Growing MZ Gangsters

"Students Admire Luxury and Foreign Cars on SNS, Idolizing Gangsters"
Organizational Maintenance Through Youth Influx... Concerns Over Crime Vicious Cycle

The so-called 'MZ Generation gangsters,' referring to organized crime members in their teens to 30s, are expanding their influence by leveraging social networking services (SNS).

In the past, the core of these organizations was also young people in their 20s and 30s, but after the government declared a 'war on crime' in the early 1990s and launched a massive crackdown, violent organizations continued their activities underground.

However, recently, as violent organizations' activities have gradually become more visible through SNS, they not only enjoy significant influence but also rapidly expand their power by recruiting teenagers through these platforms.

Choi Soon-ho, Chief Prosecutor at the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, stated on YTN Radio on the 3rd, "Unlike in the 1990s when the war on crime was declared and violent organizations disbanded, causing them to operate mainly underground to avoid crackdowns and punishment, recently, taking advantage of gaps in law enforcement's crime response, MZ Generation gangsters have come back into the open, boldly engaging in street fights in public places like broad daylight."

Last year, there was even a case where an influencer gangster scouted a 16-year-old middle school student. Young students, seeing photos of luxury goods and foreign cars posted on SNS, come to admire the gangster lifestyle and fall into the organization's recruitment.

Chief Prosecutor Choi explained, "During the investigation of a group brawl involving the international PJ faction in the Gwangju area last year, we confirmed that there was a so-called 'star gangster' who frequently posted photos of foreign cars, tattoos, and luxury goods on Instagram?pictures that students would envy. That person contacted two 16-year-old delinquent students attending a certain middle school in Gwangju and scouted them, and these two actually joined the international PJ faction."

He added, "When joining the organization, they are given a high-end custom suit worth about 1 million won with the organization's initials embroidered on the sleeve, and seniors take them around, buy them drinks, and give them rides in foreign cars. They enjoy adult entertainment, which fosters loyalty to the organization."

In fact, the number of new teenage gang members is increasing. According to the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters last month, the number of teenage gang members arrested was 154 in 2020, 98 in 2021, but surged to 210 last year.

Seung Jae-hyun from the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice Policy appeared on YTN's 'News Rider' on the afternoon of the 2nd and emphasized, "The more young blood is transfused, the more vicious or reckless organized crime can become, so at the very least, we must prevent teenagers from joining organized crime."

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