45 Gang Members Arrested for Retaliatory Assaults with Weapons Amid Power Struggle in Downtown Busan

Members in their 20s and 30s from the two major violent gangs in the Busan area have been repeatedly involved in retaliatory assaults and have now been referred to the prosecution en masse.

According to the police on November 10, the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency has referred 19 key members and one accomplice from the Chilsungpa and New 20th Century gangs to the prosecution in custody on charges including violations of the Act on the Punishment of Violent Acts (organization and activities of groups). An additional 26 new members have been referred without detention.

Of the 26 members referred without detention, two have fled overseas and are now the subjects of Interpol red notices. Among the 45 gang members referred by the police, 13 belong to Chilsungpa and 32 to New 20th Century. They are accused of repeatedly carrying out retaliatory assaults from November 2024 to August this year.

The conflict began on November 7, 2023, when members of Chilsungpa assaulted a New 20th Century member at a karaoke bar in Busanjin District, demanding that he leave the gang. The victim suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and other injuries requiring four weeks of recovery. It was reported that the victim had previously followed Chilsungpa before joining New 20th Century. In retaliation, New 20th Century members, from November 29 of the same year to February 19 this year, threatened Chilsungpa members with weapons on three separate occasions.

Violent gang members gathered at a store last April. Photo by Busan Police Agency and Yonhap News

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During this period, indiscriminate group assaults also occurred, resulting in injuries requiring up to eight weeks of recovery. The violence escalated when, on April 6 this year, a man in his 20s affiliated with Chilsungpa waited for four hours outside the apartment of a mid-level New 20th Century leader and then attacked him with a weapon. This stabbing incident immediately triggered another round of retaliation by New 20th Century.

New 20th Century assembled 17 members, armed them with weapons, divided into several vehicles, and roamed the city searching for Chilsungpa members, whom they then assaulted indiscriminately. As a result, one Chilsungpa member suffered fractures and other injuries requiring six weeks of recovery, while another was stabbed in the face and elsewhere with a broken soju bottle, resulting in nerve damage. All of these assaults took place over the past year in busy downtown areas of Busan, including Marine City in Haeundae District, Seomyeon in Busanjin District, and Jungang-dong in Jung District.

Meanwhile, Chilsungpa and New 20th Century have been vying for dominance since the 1970s, establishing their bases in Busan's entertainment venues and arcades. In 1993, an incident in which a Chilsungpa executive ordered the killing of a New 20th Century member became the inspiration for the film "Friend."

Although both gangs have weakened significantly in recent years, a mass brawl involving 60 members from both groups occurred in 2006, and in May 2021, a large-scale fight broke out at a funeral hall in Busan.

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