Cracking Down on Transnational Crimes like Drugs and Phishing... Strengthening International Cooperation Systems

Providing Interpol Database to Government Ministries and Law Enforcement Agencies

As cross-border crimes such as drug offenses and financial fraud increase, the police are strengthening cooperation systems with domestic and international law enforcement agencies.

On the 31st, the National Police Agency announced plans to gradually share the Interpol computer-based infrastructure database with domestic law enforcement agencies and government ministries that wish to access it starting in 2025. Within this year, the database will be prioritized for opening to ministries urgently needing data sharing, as conditions permit.

Currently, the National Police Agency operates as the "Republic of Korea Interpol National Central Bureau" designated by the Interpol General Secretariat, managing and operating 19 types of international crime response databases involving 196 member countries.

At present, the National Police Agency provides the following databases to respective demand ministries: △ stolen and lost passport document database (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice) △ stolen cultural property database (Cultural Heritage Administration) △ stolen vessel database (Korea Coast Guard). Going forward, viewing and inquiry rights will be granted to other ministries requiring access to the Interpol database, expanding its usage scope to strengthen the government's capacity to respond to cross-border crimes.

Additionally, the National Police Agency plans to enhance its capabilities to respond to current crimes by strengthening the linkage between Interpol General Secretariat’s crime-specific cooperation resources and the investigative functions of the National Investigation Headquarters, building on the existing international cooperation framework for drug crimes, financial fraud, and cybercrime.

In the case of drug crimes, production, distribution, and consumption hubs are scattered worldwide, making multilateral cooperation and collaboration with related countries and international organizations essential. Similarly, for financial fraud and cybercrime, since perpetrators and victims are often in different countries, cooperation among related countries is crucial for crime prevention, interception, arrest, and recovery of damages.

The Interpol Fund Projects will also be utilized more actively. These projects involve Interpol member countries pooling funds to respond to current crimes, with the General Secretariat forming dedicated teams for each project to facilitate crime information sharing among law enforcement agencies of various countries and conduct joint enforcement operations, thereby establishing a practical international cooperation system.

Since March 2020, the National Police Agency has been leading Interpol fund contributions totaling approximately 1.5 billion KRW annually, contributing to various cross-border crime areas such as drug, financial crime, sexual exploitation crime response, and fugitive apprehension. For example, in October last year, a joint operation was conducted with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Indonesian police, resulting in the arrest of three individuals, including operators and broadcasters who had illegally transmitted over 108,000 domestic and international broadcast and video contents overseas since 2015, and the shutdown of all related services.

Going forward, the National Police Agency plans to perform a command post role by leading all stages of projects funded by Korea, from operation planning and pre-meetings with domestic and international related agencies to operation execution.

A National Police Agency official stated, “Expanding the use of Interpol infrastructure is expected to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation among domestic law enforcement agencies.” He added, “Furthermore, as a central axis of international cooperation, the National Police Agency will continue to explore ways to strengthen the response capabilities to cross-border crimes.”