Police to Crackdown on Serious Sex Crimes

For the next three months, police are stepping up efforts to bring to justice sex offenders who are still at large.

The National Police Agency (NPA) Monday designated a three-month period ending on June 16 for resolving outstanding rape and other sex-related crimes.

To be targeted are rapes of minors, kidnappings and sexual molestations, the NPA said.

Also, police will put forth extra effort to apprehend on-the-run criminals who are suspected of murder, arson, robbery or violence.

The agency plans to give three special promotions to those who excel during the period.

By region, teams of detectives are being assigned to crimes that are particularly heinous in nature.

The latest MOP operation follows severe public criticism facing police for its incompetence shown in handling the rape and murder case of a 13-year-old Busan middle school girl.

Police failed to catch the prime suspect, Kim Kil-tae, during the initial stage of investigations before a team of police stumbled on him.

Kim was on the run for days in his neighborhood, designated for redevelopment, hopping from one abandoned house to another.

When he was caught, he told police that he had lived on instant noodles but had a fairly easy time avoiding police.

Meanwhile, a survey showed that one in five sex offenders have an education level of college or higher.

According to the Justice Ministry, Korea's rate of highly-educated people when it comes to sex offenses more than doubles those in other advanced countries.

In the survey, about 13,400 people were found to have committed sex-related crimes, with 2,700, about 20 percent, having an undergraduate education or higher.

High-school graduates account for the largest portion at 34 percent, while middle school grads occupied 11 percent.

The portion of highly-educated offenders has been steady at over 20 percent since 2001.

The ministry said that this is in contrast to statistics related to other serious crimes, which show that those with higher education accounted for around 10 percent of the offenses.

foolsdie@koreatimes.co.kr

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