Justice Ministry Clarifies President Lee Jae-myung's 'Nationwide Criminal Records' Remarks

The Ministry of Justice has stepped in to clarify President Lee Jae-myung's remarks about "criminal records for the entire nation" after some opposition parties and others raised concerns of fake news. The President had previously pointed to the frequent imposition of criminal punishment, stating that "most people have criminal records."

The People Power Party argued, citing data from the National Assembly Research Service, that the President's statement was factually incorrect.

On April 23, the Ministry of Justice stated in a press release that it is difficult to determine the number of people in the total population who have been convicted of a crime even once (the number of individuals with criminal records). The Ministry presented estimated figures for convicted individuals in 2022 from the Supreme Court's '2023 Judicial Yearbook,' noting significant discrepancies with UNODC data analysis. The Ministry added that the number of convicted individuals alone from UNODC data is insufficient to identify the 'number of people with criminal records,' and comparing conviction rates across countries is also difficult due to differing definitions of what constitutes a criminal record. It explained that the concept of a criminal record varies by country, making uniform comparisons based solely on the number of convictions impossible.