By Kim Bo-eun
Some 500 criminology researchers and government officials from 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region will gather in Seoul next week to participate in a forum on crime.
The conference, hosted by the Korean Institute of Criminology and the Asian Criminological Society, will be held from Aug. 20 to 22 at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul.
Under the theme “Development and Security: Rethinking Crime and Criminal Policies in Asia,” it will address various issues such as transnational crime and terrorism, cybercrime, corruption and economic crime as well as correctional treatment.
Justice Minister Kwon Jae-jin; Kim Ki-yong, commissioner general of the Korea National Police Agency; Gary Lewis, UNODC regional representative of East Asia; and Jurgen Stock, vice president of the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany, will give congratulatory remarks at the opening ceremony.
The keynote speakers will include Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand; Lee Jae-sang, a professor at Ewha Womans University; and Steven F. Messner, the president of the American Society of Criminology.
“The conference will provide the opportunity for Korea to share its knowhow on preventing crimes with participating nations and for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen their anti-crime network,” said an official from the institute.
After the conference, participants will visit the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the Seoul Southern District Court, the National Forensic Service and the Korea Correctional Service.
The Asian Criminological Society was established in 2008 and is comprised of experts of criminology and criminal justice from over 20 nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
Previous conferences have been hosted in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2011; Chennai, India, in 2010; and Macao in 2009.