Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Police officers to receive better stun guns
Taser 7 / Courtesy of Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency
By Jung Min-ho
The police stun gun model used over the last 20 years will be gradually replaced with a more effective one as police move to reinforce their abilities to respond to violent criminals.
Taser 7, the new stun gun, offers a double-shot feature that will enable officers to shoot twice without having to manually reload should the first shot miss its target. This is expected to improve the safety of the officers as they use the stun gun against imminent threats such as a person charging with a knife.
Unlike the older model, the Taser 7 also offers dual lasers to help the user strike the target more accurately as well as possessing a longer range (up to 7.4m from 6.4m), according to police. Moreover, the Taser 7 is easier to carry as it is smaller and lighter.
The National Police Agency decided to purchase 1,220 new stun guns and 4,880 replaceable cartridges last year. The officers in Seoul, Busan and southern Gyeonggi Province will be the first ones to receive them.
Police will collect more opinions from the officers about the new stun gun’s performance as they seek to replace old ones over the next four years.
This comes a month after the police announcement about their next-generation safety gear.