By You Soo-sun
Sexual assault and other crimes reached a record high on Korea’s railroads last year, according to Statistics Korea, Friday.
There were 1,661 reported offenses, up 11.4 percent from the previous year.
Sexual assaults accounted for 34.1 percent of all crimes, or 566 cases, for an average of 1.6 every day.
Crimes on trains and in stations were first tallied in 1987 when 521 cases were reported. The number rose to 848 in 2009 and to more than 1,000 in 2011.
Offenses include violations of the Railroad Safety Act and criminal laws, for which railway police are the first responders.
Other offenses include theft and aggravated assaults, which accounted for 19.1 percent and 12.9 percent respectively. There was one case of murder, one robbery and three reported cases of arson.
In addition, 4,565 people were caught smoking cigarettes ― 102 of which were fined.
There were 3,524 cases of illegal sales or distribution of goods, for which 2,758 offenders were fined.
There were also 26,768 minor offenses ― dumping trash accounted for 36.2 percent, and causing a disturbance, 32.7 percent.
There were also more than 10,000 cases of passengers urinating inside railway facilities.