Supreme Prosecutors' Office orders strict response from local offices
By Choi Eui-jong, The Herald Business
Prosecutors have recognized the growing severity of crimes in which individuals hire others to carry out personal vendettas. They have set detention as the default approach for suspects, referring all such cases to formal trial while thoroughly pursuing the forfeiture of criminal proceeds.
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office said Friday it had indicted a total of 27 people since the beginning of this year, including defendants who committed a single paid-revenge offense. Of those, 19 were detained from the investigation stage. Six defendants have received first-instance rulings so far, with five sentenced to prison — three to immediate imprisonment and two to suspended sentences.
The office views paid-revenge crimes as particularly harmful because they are financially motivated, inflict serious harm on victims who have no prior relationship with the perpetrators, and foster a recurring criminal supply chain by spreading the false notion that anyone with money can commission an attack. Prosecutors said the nature of such offenses is egregious, as they generate harm on a wide scale.
In response, the office on Wednesday directed local prosecutors' offices to take a strict approach across four areas: detaining all involved parties from the earliest stage of an investigation and actively pursuing accomplices and those higher up the chain; referring cases to formal trial without exception, even for first-time offenders; vigorously maintaining prosecutorial arguments and filing appeals; and thoroughly confiscating and forfeiting all proceeds derived from the crimes.
"We will continue to respond firmly to paid-revenge crimes that amplify public anxiety, and will also work actively to protect and support victims, including through psychological treatment," a Supreme Prosecutors' Office official said.
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