Frontline police appear to be actively applying for electronic monitoring bracelets to be attached to reported stalking victims. It appears that the "Namyangju stalking murder case," in which a woman in her 20s was killed by her stalker last month, served as the trigger.
According to the Women's Safety Division of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on the 18th, the number of applications this year for provisional measure No. 3-2 (electronic monitoring bracelet) among stalking-related measures for reported victims was only 16 through February, but 52 were added in March alone, bringing the total to 68.
It is analyzed that this trend was significantly influenced by last month's incident in Namyangju, in which Kim Hun, a man in his 40s, fatally stabbed a woman in her 20s whom he had been stalking. Public criticism mounted at the time as claims emerged that the police response had been inadequate.
The Stalking Punishment Act provides for emergency orders to protect stalking victims, that is, provisional measures for reported victims.
Depending on the risk level, the measures are classified as No. 1 (written warning), No. 2 (ban on approaching within 100 meters), No. 3 (ban on contact via telecommunications), and No. 4 (detention in a holding cell or detention center). With amendments to the related law, No. 3-2 (electronic monitoring bracelet) was added starting in 2024.
In the first year of the amended law's implementation, applications by Gyeonggi Nambu police for provisional measure No. 3-2 totaled 50 in 2024 (23 court approvals), then more than doubled to 101 last year (23 approvals), and this year have already reached 68 (33 approvals) in just three months.
A police official said, "The police, prosecutors, and courts should analyze and share cases of approval and dismissal for provisional measure No. 3-2 so we can work together to raise the approval rate."