The Korean National Police Agency is pushing to establish a new Women and Youth Bureau dedicated to preventing crimes against women and adolescents and to victim protection policies. The move aims to enhance expertise by spinning off related functions, currently housed under the Public Safety and Traffic Bureau, into a separate bureau.
According to the Korean National Police Agency Thursday, a reorganization plan centered on creating the Women and Youth Bureau recently cleared a review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The plan is set to take effect as early as the first half of next year, following National Assembly budget deliberations and other procedures.
The new Women and Youth Bureau will be led by a senior superintendent general and is expected to be organized around the Women's Safety and School Violence Countermeasures Division, the Women's Safety Planning Division, and the Youth Protection Division, all currently under the Public Safety and Traffic Bureau.
The Korean National Police Agency plans to strengthen its policing capabilities by making policy planning and administrative support functions independent, amid rising crimes against women and adolescents such as stalking, sexual violence, domestic violence, and school violence. Critics have pointed out that functions are currently fragmented, with related investigations handled by the Women and Youth Crime Investigation Division of the National Office of Investigation, while policy and administrative support fall under the Public Safety and Traffic Bureau.
Alongside the reorganization, police are also strengthening their response to stalking crimes. Starting Thursday, the Korean National Police Agency will share information in real time with the Ministry of Justice when individuals fitted with electronic monitoring devices for sexual violence, murder, kidnapping, robbery, or stalking crimes commit additional stalking or domestic violence and receive restraining orders. In emergency situations, police and probation officers will operate a system for joint dispatch.
