Gov't may revive drafted police to combat heinous crimes

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo announced that the conscripted police system may be reintroduced as a part of measures to better prevent heinous crimes that target random people.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, center, speaks at the government complex in central Seoul on Wednesday on plans to tackle heinous crimes that target random people alongside National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun, right, and other related ministers. [YONHAP]

The government might revive its system of conscripted police to combat heinous crimes, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday.

"We will make public order the top police priority and reorganize the police to reinforce its capabilities," Han said in a press conference at the government complex in central Seoul to announce plans to prevent what the government is dubbing "abnormal motive crimes."

Han said the government will consider reviving an auxiliary police system allowing conscripts to serve in the police force instead of the military to assist with efforts to prevent crimes against random people and preserve public safety.

The government began phasing out the conscripted police system, introduced in December 1982, in 2017. The system was completely abolished in April of this year. All able-bodied Korean men aged 18 to 35 are required to complete nearly two years of military service.

Such measures come after a series of recent violent crimes against random people, including separate stabbing attacks near Sillim Station in Seoul and Seohyeon Station in Bundang, Gyeonggi, resulting in two deaths and 16 injured, all strangers to the suspects.

Last week, a 30-year-old man physically and sexually assaulted a woman of no prior acquaintance on a hiking trail in Sillim-dong in southern Seoul. She died from her injuries on Saturday.

Han said crimes targeting innocent citizens "are, in effect, acts of terrorism."

He said the government will also increase police patrols and install more CCTVs, security lights and emergency alarm bells in cooperation with local governments.

The move to revive the conscripted police system as early as the first half of next year may help alleviate personnel shortages suffered by police.

Standing alongside the prime minister, justice minister and interior minister, National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun said in Wednesday's press briefing that just around 30,000 out of a total of 140,000 police officers are available to patrol the streets.

Yoon said the agency will consult with the Ministry of Defense to recruit between 7,500 and 8,000 conscripted personnel, noting that it would take around seven to eight months before the system is adopted.

He said around 3,500 personnel will be dispatched to rapid response teams and 4,000 officers will be sent to major metropolitan areas.

Yoon said that just four to five years ago, there were up to 25,000 conscripted police.

Even if the conscripted police forces do not reach previous numbers, he said, "I believe that resources for 24-hour permanent stationing are needed to quickly respond to recent crimes, terrorism and disasters."

However, his agency estimates that it will take considerable money and time to build up infrastructure to support conscripted police, such as dormitories.

However, as the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Auxiliary Police remains intact, reinstating the conscripted police will likely face few procedural problems.

The recent back-to-back stabbings and a series of copycat murder threats being shared online and on social media have been stoking public fear. In turn, police have intensified street patrols and efforts to trace the posters of such threats in recent weeks.

Through the prime minister's statement on preventing heinous crimes announced Wednesday, Han stressed that the government "will seek punishment and various judicial measures to control violent crimes."

Han said the government will push legislation requiring life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for individuals convicted of heinous crimes and enable stronger punishment for public intimidation and possession of weapons in public places.

Likewise, he said that murder threats online and the spread of fake news will also be dealt with "sternly, without tolerance."

He added that efforts will also be made to improve the management of people's mental health.

This includes a review and reform of the country's overall mental health policy, such as systematizing the process of prevention, early detection, treatment and recovery of normal lives for those suffering from mental illnesses.

Han also said the government plans to establish a "one-stop solution center" to provide comprehensive support for victims of random crimes and their families including legal, financial, psychological and welfare assistance.

Regarding the causes of such crimes, Han pointed to various factors such as the apparent growing discontent from the socially underprivileged, the advent of social media usage and the proliferation of a sense of relative deprivation.

"None of this can rationalize heinous crimes," Han said. "But in order to prevent another abnormally motivated crime in our society, we need to consider these social phenomena and think about our policy direction."

Discussions to abolish the conscripted police system date back to national defense reform measures pursued during the Roh Moo-hyun administration in the early 2000s and became intensified in 2013 during the Park Geun-hye administration, when riot police were eliminated. The Moon Jae-in administration sought to abolish conscripted police and reduced the number of recruits by 20 percent annually from 2018.

The People Power Party and the government recently concluded that the common term for violent acts targeting random people, "don't ask why" crimes, has a negative societal impact by insinuating that the causes of such crimes are difficult to identify.

Instead, they are proposing alternative terminology such as "abnormal motive" crimes.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]