Sexual crimes at train stations on sharp rise

/ Korea Times file

By Ko Dong-hwan

Sexual crimes on trains have risen steeply, increasing 84 percent between 2012 and 2014, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday.

A total of 749 such cases were reported, accounting for 21 percent of 3,568 total crimes that occurred on subways and other trains during the period.

Half of them occurred on subways; 22 percent on other types of trains; and the remainder took place in stations.

One in three cases involved smartphones with male suspects taking "up-skirt" photos of women passengers. Groping or other types of undesired contact accounted for 54 percent, while exhibitionists accounted for 13 percent.

Morning rush hours between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. were the period where sexual predators proved to be most active.

The report said suspects not only used smartphones but also hidden cameras in the shape of buttons, pens, key chains, watches and ones attachable to hats.

Theft accounted for most of the crimes that occurred on trains and in train stations, with 1,002 counts or 28 percent of the total.

"We are beefing up security around trains and train stations," an official was quoted by an online media outlet. "We plan to install more security cameras to counter sex crimes on trains and in stations."

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