Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Sign MOU to Strengthen School Safety

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is joining hands with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to establish a school safety network in response to the evolving landscape of juvenile crime.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 29th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to jointly respond to the diversified social environment threatening student safety. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 29th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to jointly respond to the diversified social environment threatening student safety.

This agreement revises the previous MOU signed in February 2013 for the first time in 12 years, aiming to address the changing patterns of juvenile crime. According to youth crime statistics over the past 10 years, from 2015 to last year, physical violence such as assault and bodily injury decreased by 19%, while emotional violence surged by 435%.

Through this agreement, the two organizations will focus on six key areas of cooperation to respond to various risks inside and outside of schools: strengthening safety on school routes, enhancing the quality of safety education, tailored prevention of school violence, management of high-risk youth, prevention of youth gambling, and crisis response including terrorism. They will work together to implement practical joint measures in these areas.

The two organizations plan to ensure that this agreement leads to meaningful change, not just a one-off event, by operating a working-level consultative body and conducting on-site implementation checks.

Park Jeongbo, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, stated, "We must go beyond our previous approaches to school violence and now protect children from the diverse threats surrounding youth. We will do our utmost, in cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, to create a school environment where both students and parents can feel truly safe."