Prosecutor general instructs officials to wipe out drug crimes

박보람 / 2023-05-08 11:36:59

chief prosecutor-drug crimes

▲ Prosecutor General Lee One-seok speaks during a meeting of senior drug crime prosecutors on May 8, 2023. (Yonhap)

chief prosecutor-drug crimes

Prosecutor general instructs officials to wipe out drug crimes

SEOUL, May 8 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutor General Lee One-seok instructed prosecution officials Monday to "wipe out" drug crimes, saying the rapid spread of illegal drugs in recent years caused the country to fall from the exemplary drug-free nation status.

Lee made the remarks during a meeting of 26 senior drug crime prosecutors from across the country held to discuss cooperation in fighting drug crimes.

"I ask all prosecution members to join together to wipe drugs off this land under the leadership of the drug crime investigation headquarters," Lee said. The special interagency investigation team was launched in April to fight increasing drug crimes.

"Our nation had retained its status as a drug-free nation for over 20 years and was globally known as a model country in drug controls, but in the past few years it plunged into the abyss of illegal drugs penetrating deeply into the everyday life," the chief prosecutor noted.

He said the country's drug crime situation would turn "irreversible" if action is not taken now, calling for "stern" response to drug crimes.

In 2022 alone, a total of 18,395 drug offenders were apprehended across the country. Given the prosecution's assumption that the number of undetected drug offenders may reach 29 times that of those apprehended, the country's population of illegal drug users can be as many as 520,000, which translates into one in every 100 South Koreans, according to a study.

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