South Korea’s Justice Ministry is set to increase the number of personnel in charge of monitoring stalkers.
As the revision of the Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes takes effect next month, individuals convicted of stalking will be required to wear electronic ankle monitors. To manage and supervise this system, the Justice Ministry and probation offices will add 21 people to their staff.
According to the revision, if a stalker approaches the victim within a specified distance, the victim will receive a text message notifying them of the criminal’s location. In August 2022, the ministry announced legislation mandating the use of electronic ankle monitors for up to 10 years for individuals convicted of stalking offenses.
The ministry said that the system was implemented in response to a request from a woman who was brutally attacked by the so-called "roundhouse kick” assailant last year in Busan. The perpetrator, sentenced to 20 years in prison, had vowed to seek revenge upon release.
Separately, a man in his 60s was sentenced to eight months in prison for calling his neighbor hundreds of times using a public phone booth, a Busan court heard last week. Between Oct. 21, 2021 and Oct 10, 2022, the man called the victim 481 times. When the woman answered the phone, the criminal hung up.
