By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff reporter
A growing number of children here are going missing and falling victim to sexual assault and other crimes, the state-run Korean Institute of Criminology said Tuesday.
There were 9,470 reported cases of missing children across the country in 2008, up 2.3 times from 4,066 cases in 2004. In 2005, the number dropped to 2,695 from the previous year but rose sharply to 7,064 in 2006 and 8,602 in 2007.
But more than 99 percent of children reported unaccounted for returned home during the 2004 to 2008 period, the institute said. But a total of 7,760 missing children aged 9-14 were not found in 2008, up sharply from 4,774 in 2006, indicating crimes against them have been on the rise.
Nearly 28 percent of all missing children resided in Seoul, followed by Gyeonggi Province at 23 percent and Busan at 8 percent. Boys accounted for 51 percent of the total missing in June 2009, down from 63 percent in December 2006, with the portion of girls increasing to 49 percent from 37 percent.
The institute said the number of missing kids has been increasing over the years, with more mothers working outside the home and paying less attention to their children, stressing that parents and schools need to take preemptive measures to stop young children from running away.