President Lee Myung-bak called Tuesday for strict punishment for those flouting law enforcement, saying ensuring public safety and security is a precondition for South Korea to join the ranks of advanced nations.
"There is a culture where (our society is) tolerant of drunk people. We have to correct this culture," Lee said during a lunch meeting with police officers and education and other officials working to stamp out violence at schools and other parts of the society.
"Our country must be the only nation where the police are beaten up by drunk people," Lee said, according to spokesman Park Jeong-ha. "We have to be strict for challenges to law enforcement, and cracking down on it is possible when the people can understand it."
Lee also called for concerted efforts to end school violence and loan sharks-linked violence.
"Ensuring public safety and security is a condition for becoming a first-class nation," he said. (Yonhap)