Commissioner General of the National Police Agency Yoon Hee Keun recently emphasized a strict response to a series of severe incidents related to dating violence.
According to the National Police Agency on the 11th, Yoon stated during the weekly business meeting, “Recently, a series of severe incidents related to dating violence have occurred, causing many citizens to feel anxious. Dating violence is becoming a social issue.”
He added, “Dating violence can lead to serious crimes, so even if there are no separate laws related to dating violence, we are responding strictly by applying the Stalking Punishment Act, etc. However, there are indeed difficulties in taking action on the scene if the victim does not want punishment and the report is simply violent.”
Yoon expressed regret that the amendment and enactment of laws related to dating violence, which could alleviate many of these on-site difficulties, was discarded in the 21st National Assembly.
Yoon urged, “Several amendments and enactments of laws related to dating violence were proposed in the 21st National Assembly, but it was regrettable that they were discarded at the end of the session. As the related ministries are currently discussing measures to respond to dating violence, the National Police Agency should actively participate in the government-wide discussion and express our opinions.”
Recently, severe incidents related to dating violence targeting women have been unceasing. This includes the Gangnam Station Medical Student Girlfriend Murder Case where the boyfriend stabbed his girlfriend to death on the rooftop of a building near Gangnam Station in Seoul last month after she asked for a breakup. Social issues such as the Gangnam Office Mother and Daughter Murder Case and the Hanam Dating Murder Case are emerging due to dating violence.
Most dating violence is assault and threat crimes that are non-punishable against the will, and there are many cases where the victims do not want punishment because they are in a relationship. There are also cases where the victims do not think it is a crime or are afraid of retaliatory crimes and hesitate to disclose it to the public.
In the 21st National Assembly, several laws were proposed to solve these problems and enable emergency temporary measures and provisional measures for the perpetrators of dating violence incidents. However, they were discarded without crossing the threshold of the National Assembly.
Therefore, there are no provisions on dating violence in the Stalking Crime Punishment Act and related laws, and dating violence is virtually left in a blind spot.
Yoon has maintained his stance that social attention and will are needed to improve laws and systems for the seriousness of dating violence, including this week’s business meeting.
At a regular press conference on the 13th of last month, in response to a question about how he sees the seriousness of dating violence as the chief of public security, he said, “It is true that the standards and limits of dating violence are ambiguous.” He emphasized that there should be much more advanced discussions from a legal and systemic perspective than now.
Most Commented