South Korea’s Justice Ministry is rolling out a new mobile application enabling stalking victims to track their offenders’ real-time locations, a significant upgrade from previous text-only alerts.
The app displays the precise whereabouts of offenders who are monitored via electronic bracelets. This initiative aims to bolster safety for victims amid a surge in stalking incidents across the country.
The Ministry of Justice announced the application on Wednesday as part of recently approved amendments to the nation’s electronic tracking laws.
Under the previous legal framework, victims received only text notifications when an offender was nearby. These alerts, however, did not provide a map-based location.
This lack of specific location data was a critical flaw, making it difficult for victims to determine direction and evade danger. The updated system is designed to address this by allowing victims to see the offender’s position on their smartphones, facilitating timely evacuation to safer areas.
Stalking has become a pressing concern in South Korea, fueled by several high-profile crimes that have drawn national attention.
Public outrage erupted in 2022 following the murder of a woman by a former colleague she had reported for stalking for years. Despite police reports, the perpetrator was neither detained nor issued a restraining order, as authorities initially assessed the risk as “low.”
South Korea first enacted an anti-stalking law in 2021, which stipulated penalties of up to three years in prison and fines of up to 30 million Korean Won (approximately $22,000).
The National Assembly further amended this law in 2023 to streamline prosecutions and reduce barriers for victims seeking legal recourse.
Following the 2023 amendment, reported stalking cases have dramatically increased. They jumped from 7,600 in 2022 to over 13,000 last year, according to data from the Ministry of Justice.
The Justice Ministry is also working to integrate this new tracking system with the national emergency hotline. This integration, expected to be completed next year, will enable police to dispatch protection resources more efficiently.
Critics often link the prevalence of stalking to broader issues of violence against women in South Korea, including cases of hidden camera crimes and anti-feminist harassment.