The police announced on the 23rd that they will intensively crack down on crimes committed by foreign residents in the country until June 30.
The number of foreign residents in the country declined due to the impact of COVID-19 until 2021, but has been increasing since 2022. In 2021, there were 1.957 million, a decrease of 3.8% from the previous year (2.036 million), with 2.246 million in 2022, 2.508 million in 2023, and 2.651 million last year, increasing for the third consecutive year.
This trend is similarly reflected in the status of foreign crime suspects. The number of foreign crime suspects decreased from 35,390 in 2020 to 29,450 in 2021. However, it rose to 30,954 in 2022, 32,737 in 2023, and 35,283 last year, increasing for the third consecutive year.
The police plan to focus on cracking down on foreign crimes, including ▲ organized crime ▲ economic crimes that harm the livelihood ▲ drug crimes.
The police plan to establish joint investigation teams with the Korean National Police Agency and local police stations to respond actively from the early stages of incidents when foreign group crimes occur.
Additionally, the police plan to actively promote the "notification obligation exemption system." The notification obligation exemption system protects foreigners by exempting the police from their obligation to notify the Ministry of Justice if an illegal resident is a victim of a crime.
A representative of the Korean National Police Agency said, "We provide a reward for reporting international crimes and guarantee the identity of the informant, so we ask for active cooperation."