President Lee Jae Myung on Monday ordered an investigation into police officials over the murder of a stalking victim, and called for tougher measures to protect stalking and dating violence victims.
The presidential office announced Lee’s instructions after criticism mounted that authorities had failed to properly protect the victim despite multiple warning signs before a fatal stabbing in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday.
Lee Kyu-youn, senior presidential secretary for public relations and communication, disclosed that the victim had reported the suspect to police six times before the crime occurred.
The secretary also revealed that an arrest warrant for the perpetrator had not been executed promptly.
“In response, President Lee Jae Myung sternly reprimanded the relevant authorities, saying their response had been slow and fell far short of the public’s expectations,” Lee Kyu-youn said during a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae.
“The president expressed condolences for the victim and conveyed his deepest sympathies to the bereaved family, and instructed that officials responsible for this incident be investigated and dealt with strictly afterward.”
The secretary underlined that the incident is the epitome of how society’s prevention measures against stalking crimes remain insufficient.
Lee ordered authorities to “take this incident as an opportunity to come up with measures to more proactively separate perpetrators from victims and swiftly identify perpetrators’ location information,” the secretary said during the briefing.
Lee also instructed that “relevant measures should be promptly pursued so that victims of stalking and dating violence can be more carefully protected, including by linking electronic ankle monitors with smart watches,” the secretary added.
The senior secretary added that the president also “instructed officials to closely review possible revisions to laws related to victim protection, including the Crime Victim Protection Act.”
The victim, a woman in her 20s, was killed by a man in his 40s who had been in a de facto marital relationship with her and was wearing an electronic ankle monitor — a device used to track the real-time whereabouts of a repeat violent offender — at the time of the attack.
The killing drew criticism because the suspect had already faced stalking-related restraining measures. However, police did not request a stronger alert-based protection order despite multiple reports from the victim.
Police also failed to prevent the attack, even after the victim used a police-issued smartwatch to call for help. Police said they had planned to seek an arrest warrant for the suspect after another stalking complaint was filed in February. However, the suspect committed the murder before the warrant could be sought.
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
