South Korea arrests record 12,700 people for drug offences in just one year

A politician from the ruling party in South Korea claimed on Friday that police had apprehended a record number of drug-related criminals this year, underscoring the growing drug-related worries in South Korea. As of August, 12,700 individuals, nearly half of whom were unemployed, had been found guilty of drug-related offenses, exceeding the previous year’s total of 12,387, which was the greatest number in the previous 10 years, according to Rep. Jang Dong-hyuk of the ruling People Power Party, who cited statistics from the National Police Agency. The number of drug offenders has increased since peaking at about 5,000 in 2013, according to Jang. A judge-turned-politician named Jang claimed that a rise in the number of elders and teens had been noticeable. According to him, 294 teen arrests for drug offenses were made throughout the entire year of 2022, whereas 659 were made in the first eight months of this year. 3,046 drug offenders above the age of 60 were detained during that time, compared to 1,829 throughout the entirety of 2022. In terms of arrests for drug charges this year, those in their 20s came out on top with 3,731 individuals, followed by those in their 60s with 3,046 and those in their 30s with 2,351.