By July, 370 teen drug offenders had been arrested—already 79% of last year’s total

[Financial News] By July this year, the number of teenage drug offenders arrested by police had reached 79% of last year’s total, according to figures.
On the 7th, data obtained from the National Police Agency by Kim Jun-hyeok, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Education Committee, showed that police had arrested 370 teenage drug offenders through July this year.
That is 78.7% of the 470 people arrested in total last year. If the trend continues, the number is expected to increase by 20–30% or more compared with last year.
The number of teenage drug offenders was 309 in 2021 and 294 in 2022, before surging more than threefold to 1,066 in 2023. It then fell to 442 in 2024 but rose again to 470 last year.
The total number of drug offenders rose from 10,626 in 2021 to 17,817 in 2023. It then declined to 13,512 in 2024 and 13,353 last year. This year, 8,426 people had been arrested through July.
Among teenage drug offenders, 295 of those arrested were students, already amounting to 63% of the annual total arrested last year. The number of student drug offenders rose from 346 in 2021 to 380 in 2022 and 988 in 2023. It fell to 368 in 2024 but increased to 468 last year.
Rep. Kim said, “Drug crimes among adolescents are a serious issue that threatens not only individuals’ lives but also the safety of society as a whole,” adding, “Relevant agencies, including the police, the Ministry of Education and local education offices, should work together to strengthen crackdowns on and penalties for student drug crimes while expanding tailored prevention education and treatment and rehabilitation support across the board.”

[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter