Arrests for Stalking and Domestic Violence Up 41% This Year
Police arrested 41.6% more suspects for stalking (the crime of repeatedly following or contacting someone to cause distress) and domestic violence this year than last year. According to the National Police Agency on the 1st, 43,788 suspects were arrested between January and August this year, and the number of offenders deemed likely to reoffend who were detained before trial also rose 15.1%, reflecting a trend of stronger police protection for victims.
Police are taking aggressive preemptive measures against stalking and domestic violence suspects, as they pose a high risk of reoffending and their crimes often escalate into serious violence. Detention decisions rose 47.1% this year to 893, up from 607 last year, and decisions to attach electronic monitoring devices to stalking suspects surged 388.4% to 757, compared to 155 last year. On the 22nd of last month, a suspect who dragged a victim returning home from the residence of a former partner who had refused to see him into an apartment stairwell, assaulted her, and attempted to rape her was urgently arrested by police on stalking charges, among others.
According to police, from the 24th to 27th of last month, applications for arrest warrants in stalking and domestic violence cases averaged 9.8 per day, up 88.5% from the same period around Chuseok last year. During the same period, detention applications and electronic device attachments also increased by 23.5% and 45.8%, respectively.
Song Min-ho (33), a member of idol group WINNER indicted for habitually leaving his workplace without permission while serving as a social service agent, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, in the first trial. Song is accused of leaving his workplace without permission for 102 days while working as a social service agent at a facility in Mapo District, Seoul, from March 2023 to December 2024. The 102 unauthorized absences account for roughly a quarter of his total 430 days of service.
A Mr. Lee, the facility manager at the Mapo District Facilities Management Corporation, who is accused of ignoring Song's absences despite knowing about them or signing documents as if he had shown up for work, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years. Prosecutors had previously sought a sentence of one year and six months for Song and one year for Lee.
Entering the court ahead of the sentencing, Song said, "I have truly reflected deeply. I have regretted it every single day and have become a much smaller person. I only feel sorry to those who loved and supported me so much." However, when asked whether he had colluded in advance with the manager, he replied, "I deny it," and declined to answer when asked about plans to resume his service.
