The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) will build a collaboration system with the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) and pursue vocational rehabilitation support to help drug addicts reintegrate into society.
The Office for Government Policy Coordination said it held the third working-level Narcotics Countermeasures Council on Tuesday, chaired by Lee Jin-won, head of the Office of Social Coordination, to review follow-up measures from the ministerial meeting on drug response and plans to establish scientific equipment for drug enforcement.
At the meeting, the MFDS reported that it had built a cooperation system with the MOEL to support drug addicts' return to society. The MFDS and MOEL, along with Together Step Centers and Employment and Welfare Plus Centers nationwide, have established a "dual collaboration system" and plan to identify job seekers and connect them with vocational rehabilitation programs going forward.
The government is also advancing the upgrade of its drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation system. It is conducting research to build a linkage model connecting local communities, correctional facilities, and treatment and rehabilitation institutions, and is reviewing measures to train treatment specialists.
The prevention education system is also being overhauled. The MFDS is preparing core drug prevention messages that can be used across the government, and related ministries such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plan to use them to produce educational materials and promotional content.
Strengthening narcotics management at animal hospitals is being pursued as a follow-up task. The MFDS, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, is pushing for institutional improvements centered on enhancing the management of animal owner information when prescriptions are issued within animal hospitals, and is conducting on-site inspections of animal hospitals with high average propofol prescription volumes.
Meanwhile, the meeting also discussed strengthening investigative capabilities to respond to drug crimes. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office is consulting with related ministries on improving the reward system for reporting narcotics crimes, introducing a sentence reduction system for judicial cooperators, and aggravated punishment for crimes involving the use of narcotics against another person's will.
The Korean National Police Agency has formed a dedicated task force for the early establishment of the undercover investigation system scheduled to take effect in 2027, and is working on overhauling related laws, training investigators, and securing budget.
Drug detection technology development is also gaining speed. The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to cooperate with the Korea Customs Service and others to install compact cargo composite X-ray screening equipment at mail distribution centers that can detect even low-density substances such as drugs. It is also pushing to develop an "electronic nose" system based on olfactory intelligence technology that can detect more than eight types of narcotics through a contactless method.
The government will run a Drug Eradication Week from the 22nd to the 26th. The MFDS plans to conduct campaigns to prevent the misuse of ADHD treatment drugs and collect narcotic medications from homes, and will carry out experiential prevention education together with related agencies such as the Korean National Police Agency and the Ministry of Justice.
"Eradicating narcotics cannot be completed through the efforts of a single ministry," Lee said. "We will continuously share the status of the government-wide response and conduct thorough inspections." He added, "I ask that related ministries hurry their verification efforts so that research and development achievements in scientific equipment such as the electronic nose can be quickly applied in the field."
