[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] As the COVID-19 situation continues, overall crime is expected to decrease next year, but health-related crimes are anticipated to persist. Crimes infringing on people's livelihoods, such as fraud related to the economic crisis, phishing, smishing, and messenger-based scams, are also expected to increase.
The Police University Institute of Public Security Policy published the 'Public Security Network 2022' report on the 30th, containing these findings. The institute forecasted that the overall crime decline trend will continue, with all five major crimes (murder, robbery, rape, theft, and assault) decreasing, indicating that the paradox of COVID-19 will persist into next year. In fact, from January to September, total crimes dropped by 12.0%, from 1,179,848 cases last year to 1,038,412 cases this year, and the five major crimes also decreased by 13.7% during the same period.
However, as quarantine measures have been prolonged, health-related crimes, mainly violations of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, are expected to continue occurring. During the same period, health-related crimes increased by more than 30%, from 8,814 to 11,527 cases.
Cyber financial crimes such as messenger-based scams, smishing, and body-cam phishing also rose by 30.3% compared to the same period last year, with 19,026 cases reported by September this year, indicating that the risk of victimization will remain high next year. In particular, phishing crimes are feared to become more sophisticated through various methods using messengers.
Although fraud and drug-related crimes, which were expected to increase, showed a decline this year, experts say it is too early to relax vigilance. Intelligent crimes decreased by 17.9%, and drug crimes by 5.4% during the same period. However, the institute predicted that fraud could increase due to the ongoing economic crisis, and drug crimes might rise, especially involving marijuana offenders.
Meanwhile, the number of 112 emergency calls next year is projected to slightly increase to 19 million calls compared to the previous year. This is attributed to increased crowd density following the easing of quarantine measures and the release of pent-up social and personal tensions. There is also an expectation that physical and emotional abuse among child abuse crimes will significantly increase amid heightened social interest and strict response policies.
Furthermore, despite restrictions on assemblies due to strengthened COVID-19 prevention measures, the institute forecasted an increase in protests and demonstrations due to election issues such as the presidential and local elections. The institute stated, "While the spread of COVID-19 continues, the likelihood of health, intelligent, and drug-related crimes remains high. The police need to closely monitor the trends of these crimes and meticulously establish response strategies for prevention and crackdown."
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