Accidental crimes on the rise in South Korea?

Updated: Korea Herald, April 24, 2013

The key numbers here (from yesterday's Korea Herald) in an article about rape in Korea.

* In 2011: 22,034 rapes were reported, according to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Korea.
* Of those, 18,591 cases resulted in arrests with a total of 18,880 offenders being convicted.
*Only 12 percent of those found guilty, or 2,289, were sentenced to jail time.
* Based on a 2010 survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, it is believed that the sexual crime reporting rate in Korea is about 10 percent.
The article provides some information about what to do after getting raped, phone numbers to call. I don't mean to dismiss those things, but obviously the reporter ran out of space addressing: "How to protect yourself" or "How to reduce the chance you'll be raped."

Sun-Flower Women and Children’s Centerl. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)

This site (in an article written by James Fenske) advises:

* Be armed
* Be alert when out as well as when home
* Be careful about drinking too much
* Take physical defense classes

I know the Mayor of Seoul has dubbed himself the "Welfare Mayor," is focused on tourism and shutting down profitable businesses, but one practical thing he could do is to distribute pepper spray and other self-defense items to women in the city.

* * *

from August 27, 2010

The Korea Times has a breakdown on the increase in violent crimes in South Korea.

A few things caught my attention:

The NPA’s white paper also reported that police apprehended 2.33 million criminals across the nation in 2009. (bold added by me)

I'm no bleeding heart liberal when it comes to criminals, but being arrested doesn't make you a criminal. Giving the reporter or translator the benefit of the doubt, I will guess it means that these people have already been prosecuted, so it is safe to call them criminals?

Of the 2.33 million [people arrested in Korea last year], 448,420 committed crimes “by accident,” accounting for 19.2 percent of the total.

So that means that the other 80.8% committed the crimes "on purpose"?

The reporter doesn't mention whether or not crimes committed on accident are also on the rise.

The reporter then adds an editorial comment, in bold here:

The recidivism rates for robbery, arson, violence, theft and rape stood at 64.7 percent, 65.7 percent, 54 percent, 50 percent and 47.9 percent, respectively, indicating a more effective rehabilitation program should be introduced for violent criminals while they are in jail to stop them from repeating offenses.

Why is that the conclusion? Perhaps it is "indicating" that the death penalty needs to be used more often or that criminals need to spend more time in jail before being returned to society.
A couple of random statistics I'll bookmark here for future reference.
* However, five types of violent crime — murder, robbery, rape, theft and violence — jumped 8.4 percent to 590,087 last year from 544,527 in 2008.
* The number of murders soared 24 percent to 1,374 nationwide over the one-year period, while robberies surged 32 percent to 6,351.
* The number of burglaries reached 256,423, up 15 percent from 2008, with rape and other sex crimes rising 6.4 percent to 18,351.
* Murders occurred most frequently from July through September when the weather was hot and humid. Robberies took place most often in May.
The article also mentions various measures police have taken to stop crime.
I'm sure there was a previous article hailing those measures.

CJL

Michael Breen discussion at 10 Magazine

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Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, `` I’m from the government, and I’m here to help .” For many well-intentioned activists, politicians, and intellectuals, that should be updated as: ``We are here to help you. You’re under arrest.” For example, ``sex workers” around the world oppose anti-prostitution laws. Prostitutes may not know the theoretical arguments but they do know in reality that prohibiting prostitution means they lack protection in dealing with abusive pimps and madams, violent patrons and crooked cops. Locally, a Korean woman busted for prostitution recently appealed to the courts pleading , ``I cannot survive without this job. I don’t want to be treated as a criminal for making a living the only way I can.” How should someone who genuinely wants to help her respond? If you say ``arrest her” then you are qualified to be a “harmful humanitarian.” In your desire to help, you have elimin...

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