Livelihood-Related Crimes Increasing Year by Year Due to Economic Recession
Experts: "Livelihood-Related Crimes Need Clear Definition"
It has been revealed that livelihood-related crimes are rapidly increasing due to the prolonged economic recession and rising prices.
The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 16th that all 30 cases reviewed by the Minor Crime Review Committee as of last month were given reduced sentences. Accordingly, the 30 individuals who were criminally charged had their cases changed to summary trials.
The representative type of livelihood-related crime is theft. In November last year, a woman in her 50s was arrested in Jinhae-gu, Changwon City, for attempting to take beef worth about 50,000 won from a mart by putting it in her bag. This woman, who has a child battling cancer, committed the crime due to financial hardship without a proper job. The police took into account that she had no prior record of similar crimes and had compensated for the damage, and reduced her sentence to a summary trial.
In January, a woman in her 70s was criminally charged for carrying three bags containing clothes in a stroller in the hallway of an apartment in Jinhae-gu, Changwon City. It was confirmed that she committed the crime to make living expenses by selling what she thought were discarded items to a scrap dealer.
This woman also received a reduced sentence considering that she had no prior record of similar crimes and showed remorse for her actions.
An elderly person collecting waste paper at an unspecified location in Seoul. The photo is not directly related to the article content. Photo by Yonhap News.
According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Assemblyman Lee Seong-man (Independent) of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee last year, the number of petty theft cases involving amounts under 100,000 won nearly tripled from about 30,000 cases in 2018 to about 80,000 cases in 2022.
By year, the numbers were 39,070 cases in 2018, 48,581 cases in 2019, 54,972 cases in 2020, 54,972 cases in 2021, showing an increasing trend, and in 2022 alone, 80,666 cases occurred.
Even excluding crimes under 10,000 won, the upward trend was steep. The number of theft cases involving amounts between 10,000 won and 100,000 won were 31,114 in 2018, 37,806 in 2019, 38,102 in 2020, 40,473 in 2021, and sharply increased to 56,879 in 2022.
The police believe that livelihood-related theft crimes are more numerous than the actual reported cases. This is because many victims do not report after hearing the circumstances of the offenders. To prevent the proliferation of criminal records among offenders of minor crimes such as livelihood-related crimes, the police have established and operate the Minor Crime Review Committee. Since 2018, this has been expanded nationwide with the purpose of helping offenders reintegrate into society through summary trials or warnings instead of creating criminal records for a momentary mistake.
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