"Have a Peaceful Holiday"... Police Implement Special Crime Prevention Measures for Seol Holiday

The police will carry out special security activities to prevent various crimes and accidents from February 1 to 12, during the Lunar New Year holiday, as the country enters the full-fledged endemic era.

On the 29th, the National Police Agency announced that it will implement the "2024 Lunar New Year Special Crime Prevention Measures" to conduct thorough police activities tailored to security demands, as major crimes are expected to increase during this Lunar New Year holiday. According to the National Police Agency, the average daily number of reports during the Lunar New Year holiday steadily decreased from 42,700 in 2019 to 38,112 in 2022, but showed an increasing trend again last year, when COVID-19 was effectively over, reaching 45,088 reports.

First, the police will maintain an emergency contact system across all stations and elevate situation managers to prepare for emergencies. In the event of a major incident, the provincial police agencies will lead the mobilization of personnel in stages?self (Stage 1), cooperation (Stage 2), and emergency (Stage 3)?actively utilizing available personnel.

Visible police activities such as patrols and joint patrols with autonomous crime prevention squads will be conducted in cash-handling establishments like financial institutions, crowded areas including train stations, terminals, and traditional markets. For areas where regular patrols are difficult, cooperation with local governments, video patrols, and requests for CCTV installation will be planned.

Additionally, special inspections will be conducted at 2,402 major terrorism-vulnerable facilities such as multi-use facilities, and facility owners at expected crowded places like train stations and terminals will be urged to strengthen their own preparedness.

Alongside this, thorough initial responses and report management will be carried out through comprehensive monitoring of households with concerns of domestic violence recurrence and ongoing investigations of child abuse cases. Active isolation measures will be taken against stalking offenders, and strict responses to stalking and dating violence will be enforced using the electronic device attachment system implemented since the 12th.

The police also anticipate a surge in phone-based financial fraud targeting the holiday season and will engage in victim relief activities such as initial response, account payment suspension, seizure of illicit funds, and blocking of crime tools like KakaoTalk accounts.

Furthermore, the police expect severe traffic congestion during the holiday period and will implement phased traffic management. From February 1 to 7, joint inspections with road management authorities will be conducted to check accident-prone areas such as icy roads and manage congested locations. From the 8th to the 12th, a situation room will be established and operated at headquarters to focus on managing outbound and return traffic and coordinate communication management for visitors to ancestral graves.