By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Police are now booking people who purchase outdoor or climbing knives with a more than six-centimeter blade length, summoning knife owners for the first time in about a decade.
The authorities are enforcing stricter regulations on outdoor knives, defining them as ``illegal weapons.''
Seoul Namdaemun Police Station recently searched an importing company in the Dongjak District, confiscated its sales records for the last three years, and is now summoning those who purchased the knives.
Police claim that knives of such a size can be used to kill and fall under the category of ``swords'' that should be reported to them in advance. They will book the owners for illegal weapon possession and confiscate the knives.
Under the current Gun, Sword and Explosives Control Law, knives with a blade longer than 15 centimeters must be reported to the authorities in advance. However, police are cracking down on knives with a length of between 6-14 centimeters, arguing that they also can be used as weapons.
They say while this has not been regulated properly so far, they have decided to strictly regulate the ownership of the knives.
However, the sudden crackdown is inviting criticism from importers.
``Blades shorter than 15 centimeters have been cleared by customs so far. They haven't done anything over the last 10 years. Why should they be defined as an illegal sword now?'' said a manager of a knife-selling company.
The average price of the seized weapons is 150,000-250,000 won, with some luxury models reaching up to 2 million won.
Some claim that protestors wielding swords and knives are the cause of crackdown on outdoor knives.
Police refuted this, saying they started an investigation because small blades can be used in crimes.
``Customs cannot uncover all imported knives that can be used as a weapon. We need to regulate them while pushing for a revision of obscure laws,'' an officer said.