Yoon Hee-geun Orders 'Eradication of Malicious Fraud' and 'Gangnam Drug Alert' as National Experience Tasks

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Yoon Hee-geun, the new Commissioner of the National Police Agency, on the 11th selected the eradication of malicious fraud and drug alerts in the Gangnam area as 'nationally felt strategic tasks' and promised a strong response.

On the same day, Commissioner Yoon ordered a special crackdown on malicious fraud such as jeonse fraud and voice phishing as the first nationally felt strategic task. A task force (TF) led by Nam Gu-jun, head of the National Investigation Headquarters, with participation from bureau-level officials, will be formed to eradicate chronic and malicious fraud crimes. The crackdown on malicious fraud crimes covers three major areas and seven tasks: ▲fraud using finance and telecommunications ▲organized and habitual fraud ▲large-scale fraud.

The police plan to make every effort to crack down on various malicious fraud crimes, especially jeonse fraud. Based on public opinion collection and cooperation with related agencies, special crackdowns will be conducted by theme, and dedicated investigation teams will be designated centered on direct investigation departments of metropolitan police agencies and intelligence teams of police stations. Among these, jeonse fraud will be linked through a dedicated investigation headquarters operated by the National Investigation Headquarters and task forces (TF) formed by investigation chiefs and deputy chiefs of each metropolitan police agency. The dedicated investigation teams consist of 296 teams and 1,691 personnel, including the anti-corruption economic crime investigation units of metropolitan police agencies and intelligence teams of police stations nationwide.

They will identify necessary improvements in laws and systems for responding to and preventing various fraud crimes and promote the legislation of related bills through cooperation with related agencies. Specifically, they will pursue the enactment of a basic law on punishment, prevention, response, recidivism prevention, and victims of fraud crimes, as well as amendments to the ▲Special Act on Prevention of Multi-victim Fraud ▲Telecommunication Fraud Damage Refund Act. Commissioner Yoon said, "Killing a person with a weapon is not the only form of murder; organized and malicious fraud is 'economic murder' that destroys a family's life," adding, "The police will protect the people so that innocent citizens no longer suffer unjust damage."

As the second nationally felt strategic task, Commissioner Yoon ordered a special crackdown on entertainment establishments in the Gangnam area. A TF led by the head of the investigation division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will be formed, involving all functions such as criminal investigation, drug investigation, public order, the 112 comprehensive situation room, intelligence, foreign affairs and security investigation support, cyber, and public relations, responsible for everything from intelligence gathering to dark web tracking, report response, inspection, and crackdown. Dedicated teams will also be formed and operated in police stations in club-dense areas such as Gangnam, Yongsan, Mapo, Seocho, Suseo, and Songpa. Furthermore, reports related to drug crimes will be elevated to 'Code 1' or higher, and if drug crimes are in progress or damage has occurred, the response level will be raised to 'Code 0' for dispatch.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will hold TF meetings once a month chaired by the head of the investigation division, and Commissioner Yoon will receive an interim report after one month of crackdown. Commissioner Yoon pointed out, "Our country is no longer a society free from drugs," emphasizing, "Drug addiction among young people is particularly serious." He added, "Starting from entertainment establishments in the Gangnam area, we will conduct detailed investigations and crackdowns in entertainment districts nationwide."