No Mercy for New Types of Fraud, Gambling, and Drugged Driving... Police "Strong Response"

Announcement of Major Policy Implementation Plans of the National Police Agency in 2024

The police have set the eradication of ‘new types of fraud crimes’ and ‘gambling crimes’ that cause severe economic and mental damage and destroy lives as a key task for this year. They are determined to strictly respond to various crimes that threaten the daily lives of the public and to ‘protect the peaceful daily lives of the people.’

On the 7th, the National Police Agency announced the '2024 National Police Agency Major Policy Implementation Plan' containing these details. Yoon Hee-geun, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, emphasized, “We will enhance our response capabilities to crimes and accidents that penetrate the daily lives of the people,” adding, “Ensuring that the public can live their daily lives with peace of mind is the foundation and core of public safety.”

Cunning 'Economic Murder'... Eradicating Mutated Fraud Viruses with Police Vaccines

First, the police will promote ‘Public Life Infringement New Fraud Crime Eradication 2.0’ to respond to new types of fraud methods that mutate like viruses, such as investment leading chat rooms and romance scams. This measure comes as fraud crimes continue to increase due to advances in financial and communication technologies, but the sophistication and cross-border nature of the methods have caused the arrest rate to fall below 60% for the first time in four years. In fact, fraud crimes increased by 21% from 267,417 cases in 2018 to 323,634 cases in 2022, but the arrest rate dropped from 74.8% to 58.7% during the same period.

The police plan to move away from the previous single-function response and establish a comprehensive response system for new fraud crimes that follows the sequence of ‘prevention → investigation → arrest,’ with all functions working jointly for an all-out response. They will collect intelligence using the criminal mobile units of city and provincial police agencies nationwide, operate dedicated teams for tracking fraud crimes, and conduct joint crackdowns with overseas law enforcement agencies.

In particular, they plan to actively respond to investment leading chat room fraud, which recorded 1,177 cases and caused damages amounting to 89 billion KRW over three months from October to December last year, as well as to smishing fraud, romance scams, and virtual asset financial fraud, which have recently seen a significant increase in damages.

A National Police Agency official said, “As a result of the first public perception promise (eradication of economic murder and malicious fraud), the frequency of the existing seven major malicious frauds is decreasing,” but added, “We see the current inflection point of increasing new fraud crimes as a ‘golden opportunity’ to completely eradicate new fraud behaviors infringing on public life, and we will concentrate investigative power to respond.”

Gambling Addiction Spreading Even to Youth... "Eradicate to the Root"

The police are also taking strong measures against gambling crimes that have deeply penetrated daily life. According to the National Police Agency, as of 2022, the estimated number of gambling addicts in South Korea is 2.37 million, accounting for 5.5% of the total population. This is three to four times higher than other countries such as the United States (1.5%), the United Kingdom (2.5%), France (1.3%), and Australia (3.7%). Particularly serious is the finding that 5% (190,000) of elementary, middle, and high school students are addicted to gambling.

The National Police Agency will conduct focused crackdowns centered on cyber gambling teams within city and provincial police agencies and concentrate efforts on dismantling operational organizations through the recovery of criminal proceeds. They will also conduct comprehensive crackdowns on gambling advertisements and gambling sites that lure youth, alongside filing summary trials in principle for juvenile gambling offenders and carrying out healing and rehabilitation activities.

Illegal gambling conducted in ‘Hold’em firms’ disguised as legitimate business establishments will also be subject to a permanent crackdown system, and joint responses will be carried out centered on the ‘Hold’em Firm Illegal Response Task Force,’ which includes participation from government agencies. Additionally, active tracking, arrest, and recovery measures will be taken against gambling offenders who have fled overseas to prevent the outflow of national wealth caused by gambling crimes.

Preventing a Second Sindang Station Stalking Murder... Strengthening Crime Prevention Measures for Women and Children

Relationship crimes, which have been highlighted by the Sindang Station stalking murder case, have also been selected as one of the top policy tasks. Since relationship crimes such as stalking, dating violence, domestic violence, and abuse have a high likelihood of recurrence and a significant risk of escalating into violent crimes, there have been continuous calls for separating perpetrators and victims.

The police plan to actively request arrest warrants even for first-time offenders if there are concerns about retaliatory crimes by analyzing the motives, reporting history, criminal records, and degree of harm caused by perpetrators of relationship crimes. Depending on the severity of domestic violence or stalking, they will also take measures to detain offenders in detention centers or jails. Additionally, they will focus efforts on securing the safety of stalking victims by utilizing the electronic monitoring device system implemented since last month.

A National Police Agency official said, “Temporary separation orders, restraining orders, fines, and minor penalties alone are insufficient to fundamentally prevent recidivism,” adding, “We will strengthen preventive sanctions against perpetrators, moving beyond just protecting victims.”

Installation of ‘Prevention Devices’ for Habitual Drunk Drivers... Frequent Fitness Tests for Drug Offenders

Sanctions against habitual drunk driving and driving under the influence of drugs or substances will also be strengthened. Although traffic accident fatalities have been decreasing for 11 consecutive years, the recidivism rate for drunk driving remains steadily in the low 40% range.

First, drivers caught driving under the influence two or more times within five years will be required to install ‘drunk driving prevention devices.’ Customized intensive crackdowns will be conducted during vulnerable periods such as vacation seasons and year-end holidays, and strong measures such as vehicle seizure will be taken against drivers with high risks of recidivism or public condemnation.

On the night of the 25th, police were conducting a drunk driving crackdown on the entrance ramp to the Busan direction at Seocho IC in Seoul. Photo by Mun Honam munonam@

Furthermore, frequent fitness tests for driving licenses will be strengthened for high-risk individuals such as drug users and those with mental illnesses. The frequent fitness test is a system under the Road Traffic Act that assesses the safe driving ability of those who have incurred disqualifications for driving licenses. The evaluation criteria are so strict that only 40% of drivers who undergo the test regain their licenses.

Commissioner Yoon explained, “People with a history of drug-related punishment should not recklessly take the wheel,” adding, “This policy restricts drivers who may pose a threat to the public on the road.”

Operation of Mobile Patrol and Criminal Mobile Units... Concentrating Police Forces Where Needed by the Public

Newly established organizations such as the reorganized mobile patrol and criminal mobile units will begin full-scale activities. Until now, the police have been criticized both internally and externally for lacking a system that can flexibly respond to atypical public safety demands beyond specialized functions such as community policing, investigations, criminal, and traffic units. As a result, they have been unable to respond effectively when unexpected violent crimes occur or when concentrated police force deployment is required.

Following a series of abnormal motive crimes such as the Sillim Station and Seohyeon Station incidents last year, which heightened public anxiety, the National Police Agency conducted special security activities, but concerns were raised that excessive burdens on the field could cause security gaps in other areas. Accordingly, the National Police Agency reorganized last year and deployed 2,668 personnel in 28 mobile patrol units and 1,335 personnel in 43 criminal mobile units.

The police plan to deploy mobile patrol and criminal mobile units intensively when public safety demands surge. Considering the recent public concern over attacks on politicians, they will also focus on securing safety at election campaign venues and preventing harm to key figures ahead of the April 10 general elections.

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