Police Conduct Special Crackdown on Organized Crime in the First Half of the Year

The National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters announced on the 3rd that it will conduct a special crackdown for 119 days in the first half of the year on organized crime that threatens the daily lives of the public.

The Special Investigation Unit of the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters requested the appearance of Kim Shin, Chief of Family Affairs at the Presidential Security Service, on the 14th on charges of obstructing official duties, but he did not appear that day. Kim is accused of preventing the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency and the police from executing an arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 3rd. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

According to the National Police Agency, 3,161 people were arrested for organized crime last year, of which 546 were detained. The main targets of the special crackdown are ▲ organized crime involvement in crimes affecting people's livelihoods (such as drugs, fraud, gambling) ▲ corporate and intelligent illegal activities such as illegal lending and forged goods involving organized crime ▲ violent acts against ordinary citizens such as group assaults and violence against small business owners.

The police plan to strengthen intelligence gathering on new organizations operating covertly in the region, as cases of recruiting members in their 20s and 30s to form and operate new violent organizations have been confirmed. Additionally, a response team will be operated from the early stages through cooperation between the Criminal Mobile Unit and dedicated police station teams. Furthermore, proactive preventive activities such as preemptive contingency measures will be actively promoted.

A National Police Agency official stated, “We will continue to focus on cracking down on increasingly sophisticated and diversified organized crime, and will make every effort to eradicate organized crime by strictly investigating active 20- to 30-year-old gang members who flaunt their power using social networking services (SNS).”