South Korean police on Wednesday said it has apprehended 1,183 members of organized crime rings across the country, detaining 189 of them on arrest warrants, the majority of whom are younger than 30 and focus more on non-traditional gang activities.
The arrests were made after a special crackdown by the National Police Agency during the second half of this year, conducted between Aug. 7 and Dec. 16. The government had apprehended 1,589 gang members after a four-month investigation took place during the first half of this year, between March and July.
Authorities found a rapid increase in the number of what they called, "MZ gangsters," in the latest crackdown, with 888 individuals being 30 or younger. The number of younger gangsters marked a 57.8 percent increase compared to the crackdown conducted in the first half of this year.
Charges pressed on the young gang members ranged from "intricate/business-type illegal activities" -- referring to illegal activities such as running gambling websites and voice phishing -- at 38.8 percent, joining and participating in an organized crime ring at 27.7 percent, illegal activities against citizens through means including extortion and violence at 21.3 percent.
The police report showed that 44 percent of all gang members caught during the crackdown faced charges of intricate/business-type illegal actions, 26.1 percent were accused of illegal activities against citizens, and 21.5 percent were accused of joining and participating in gang activities.
"(Compared to older gang members), more MZ gangsters were caught for joining gangs, rather than for traditional gang crimes like illegal activities against citizens. We (the police) plan to keep a close watch on them," the NPA said.
South Korea's authorities have voiced cautions against the next generation of young gang members, whose focus has shifted from violence and extortion to financial crimes such as online gambling, scams and fraud using fake deposits.
In July, the prosecution said they have acquired evidence to believe that the young generation of gangsters hold regular meetings across traditional factions based on common interests. They said these MZ gangsters share information and interact with each other regardless of their faction, releasing a photo of them having a cross-faction party that they posted on Instagram.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held a workshop for 60 some prosecutors and investigators across the country to discuss how to deal with the next generation of criminals.
"The so-called 'MZ gangsters' focus mostly on financial crimes and join forces based on profit, rather than based on factions like before... There was a need (for authorities) to reestablish the meaning of organized crime rings, and find ways to correspond to such crimes," the office said on why the meeting was held.
In the latest crackdown, the authorities found that 45 MZ gangsters formed a new gang, after falling out with members from their existing factions.
The special crackdown for the second half of this year caught 44.6 percent more gangsters compared to the same period in 2022, with the number of those arrested increasing by 19.6 percent. Police confiscated 5.46 billion won ($4.2 million) in illegal profit, over three times larger than the amount they confiscated during the second half of 2022.
