Violent crimes among senior citizens 65 and older jumped nearly 40 percent in the past two years as more of them were exposed to poverty and illness, police data showed Sunday.
The overall number of crimes committed by people 65 and older reached 77,260 in 2013, up from 68,836 recorded in 2011, an increase of about 12 percent, according to the data by the Korean National Police Agency.
The increase in the number of violent crimes committed by the same age group was more pronounced during the two-year period, with a total of 1,062 cases of murder, robbery, rape and arson filed in 2013.
It was a jump of 39.9 percent compared to the 759 violent crimes recorded in 2011, according to the data.
The population of those 65 and over rose by 9.6 percent during the cited two years.
The police data showed that the most frequently cited motive of violent crimes by the elderly was impulse, followed by curiosity and temptation.
Experts presumed an increase in uncared-for senior people to be behind the uptrend of serious crimes.
"The biggest reason why elderly crimes are on the rise is because nobody cares for them," said Lee Soo-jung, a criminal psychology professor at Kyonggi University. "Expanding the welfare programs for the elderly and considering age foremost before picking the recipients of livelihood programs will help prevent crimes by the elderly."
About 48.6 percent of South Koreans 65 and older were categorized as poor as of 2011, the highest rate among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a 2014 survey by the health ministry.
About one-third of South Korean senior citizens complained about depression while one out of every 10 seniors thought of suicide, mostly due to economic difficulties, the survey showed. (Yonhap)