"Please show gratitude and encouragement to the officers working hard"

President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a senior secretary meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on June 19. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a senior secretary meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on June 19. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung warned Monday that "revenge-for-hire" services must never be used, calling them a serious crime that can result in detention.

Lee made the remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, late Monday, sharing a report from the Korean National Police Agency. "This is a briefing from the commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency," he wrote. "Please show gratitude and encouragement to the officers working hard."

According to the police report Lee shared, revenge-for-hire crimes first emerged in Daegu in August last year and have since spread nationwide, with a total of 87 cases recorded and 128 victims identified.

Regional organized crime units have resolved 80 of those cases, apprehending 65 suspects — 23 of whom have been detained. The Korean National Police Agency said the remaining seven cases are still under active investigation.

Beyond foot soldiers, police said they arrested key figures including a suspect who obtained personal information by posing as an employee at a delivery agency, a handler who concealed and distributed criminal proceeds through virtual assets, and a ringleader who fled to Vietnam immediately after the crimes.

Driven by the crackdown, revenge-for-hire cases have shown a clear downward trend — 62 cases were recorded from January through March, compared with 19 from April through this month.

The Korean National Police Agency said it would "without fail apprehend and severely punish the unidentified organizers and those who commissioned the crimes."


moone@heraldcorp.com