Generational Shift in Gangsters... Number of Teenage Gang Members Arrested Doubles Compared to Last Year

New Influx and Generational Shift Stand Out
Police Launch Special Crackdown on Organized Crime for Four Months Starting the 13th

Last year, the number of teenagers among organized crime members caught by the police for violent acts and other offenses more than doubled compared to the previous year. This appears to indicate new inflows and generational changes within the world of organized crime.

On the 12th, the National Police Agency announced, "The number of arrests related to organized crime last year was 3,231, a 6.7% increase from the previous year (3,027)."

By age group, those in their 20s accounted for 1,030 arrests (31.9%), and those in their 30s accounted for 877 arrests (27.1%). It is interpreted that nearly 60% of the activity was centered on people in their 20s and 30s. Following them were those in their 40s with 788 arrests (24.4%) and those aged 50 and above with 326 arrests (10.1%).

In particular, the number of teenage organized crime members arrested was 210 (6.5%), which is a 114.3% increase compared to 98 in the previous year. Additionally, the number of newly joined and active organized crime members caught during the same period increased by 20.1%, from 203 to 244. A police official explained, "It is presumed that generational replacement is occurring even within the organized crime world."

By crime type, violent acts accounted for 1,276 cases (39.5%), and gambling-related operations accounted for 75 cases (23.2%). Following these were extortion of businesses with 24 cases (0.7%), illegal private loans with 20 cases (0.6%), and prostitution-related offenses with 2 cases (0.1%). By number of prior offenses, those with nine or more offenses accounted for 1,826 people (56.6%), 1 to 4 offenses for 613 people (18.9%), 5 to 8 offenses for 538 people (16.6%), and first-time offenders for 254 people (7.9%).

A scene from the movie "Kang Cheol-jung: Public Enemy 1-1," which is about teenage gangsters [Image source=Naver Movies]

The amount of money preemptively seized and confiscated from organized crime suspects before prosecution during the investigation stage was 6.46 billion KRW, which is 2.6 times higher than the 2.48 billion KRW from the previous year. This measure aims to prevent illegal businesses run by organized crime groups and to block the inflow of crime-generated profits into organizational funds.

Measures to prepare for unexpected situations such as conflicts between organized crime groups increased more than tenfold last year to 215 cases, compared to 20 cases the previous year. The police explained, "Considering that minor disputes can escalate into group assaults between organizations, we operated joint response teams from the early stages of intelligence gathering to prepare."

The National Police Agency also decided to implement a special crackdown on organized crime for four months starting from the 13th. The focus will be on ▲ corporate and sophisticated illegal activities such as gambling sites, telephone financial fraud, and proxy goods ▲ illegal acts targeting ordinary citizens such as group assaults, extortion of protection fees, and creating a sense of insecurity ▲ illegal activities involving organized crime in construction sites such as obstruction of business, coercion, and retaliatory crimes.

The police plan to concentrate all investigative resources around the dedicated organized crime investigation team while strengthening intelligence gathering on extortion and forced recruitment targeting construction companies. A National Police Agency official stated, "We will suppress the expansion of existing violent organizations and investigate new organizations more strictly."