Im Gwang-hyeon announces 'National Safety Plus Project'

Pledges crackdown on crimes targeting vulnerable groups

Presidential Chief of Staff Im Gwang-hyeon announces the "Government That Protects My Life: National Safety Plus Project" at Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday. [Yonhap]
Presidential Chief of Staff Im Gwang-hyeon announces the "Government That Protects My Life: National Safety Plus Project" at Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday. [Yonhap]

Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday it would push forward a new public safety initiative called the "Government That Protects My Life: National Safety Plus Project," and that discussions on introducing life imprisonment without the possibility of parole were underway.

Presidential Chief of Staff Im Gwang-hyeon said at a briefing that day that the government would review the response and results of all ministries on public safety from Sunday through the end of the year, address any shortcomings and ensure the effort produces tangible changes that citizens can feel.

On the direction of crime-response efforts, Im said the government would "respond forcefully to crimes targeting vulnerable members of society, including relationship-based crimes and crimes with abnormal motives," and added that it would "concentrate its efforts on thoroughly examining risk factors from the earliest stages and preventing harm."

Im went on to say the government would "eradicate acts that violate people's daily lives and threaten social order — including scams, drugs, illegal private lending, digital sex crimes and disinformation" — and that crimes causing financial harm by exploiting people in desperate situations would be pursued overseas to cut off their roots and block criminal proceeds.

Im said the government would also "eradicate unfair practices such as real estate crimes and corruption tied to local networks," and pledged to "sternly punish illegal acts that exploit loopholes and privileges for unjust gain at the public's expense, in order to build a fair society."

Im added that the government would "pursue all manner of illegal acts that negatively affect people's daily lives — including ticket scalping — to the very end with a zero-tolerance approach and hold those responsible accountable."

Im said the government would "mobilize the full pan-government capacity to respond forcefully to crimes that threaten public safety, and will intensively review response efforts and outcomes across each sector to ensure results that citizens can feel."

On specific measures being developed under the project, Im said discussions were underway on steps including the establishment of a new community safety patrol unit and the introduction of life imprisonment without parole.

However, Im said the government was not considering setting up separate task force organizations such as the presidential ultra-safe society pan-government response council or the transnational crime and illegal private lending TF that had previously operated.

On the background behind the initiative, Im said President Lee Jae Myung had directed at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that protecting people's lives and making their daily lives more comfortable and safe was "the starting point and ultimate goal of all state affairs," and had ordered the full concentration of pan-government capacity toward that end.


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