Strikeout System serves out punishment
A man violently assaults a person over a small dispute.
By Isaac Kim
A man had received warnings in the form of probation and fines for using violence twice in the past three years.
Last month, he broke two bottles of beer and began shouting and disturbing the peace at a café for no apparent reason.
Had the previous custom still held, he would only have had to pay a fine for his small burst of violence. However, with the implementation of the new “Strikeout System,” he was arrested for his third offense.
Another man, who had seven previous run-ins with committing violence, quarreled and injured a neighbor over parking space.
He had expected to pay a fine, but instead, he faced trial when the prosecution used the Strikeout System against him.
With the enforcement of the Strikeout System last month, offenders now face tougher punishments such as trial and prosecution rather than petty fines.
The Strikeout System indicts and prosecutes culprits who act out in violence three times in the past three years.
Those who have committed two offenses in the past three years or at least four in their lifetime will be subject to a court trial if they commit one more offense.
For the month of June, 1,788 culprits out of 29,600 were sent to trial, reported Supreme Prosecutor’s Office’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Investigation Department Chief Prosecutor Kim Hae-soo, on July 21.
One prosecution official stated, “The Strikeout System has reformed the view society had on violence, and to keep up the effects of the system, we will continue to monitor and enforce the system on violators.”