KOREAN NET

This is Government Complex-Gwacheon in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Ministry of Justice)

By Kim Hyelin

Carrying weapons in a public place and posing a public threat are newly classified crimes designed to prevent offenses targeting an unspecified number of people.

The Ministry of Justice on Jan. 14 said this in reporting its 2025 business plan to Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who is deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance, at Government Complex-Seoul.

The designation of posing a public threat as a crime seeks to block online postings of murder threatening to commit violent crimes with weapons in public places. Also illegal is entering a public place while carrying a weapon.

In addition, a system under development will use artificial intelligence to predict signs of recidivism by sex offenders subject to electronic surveillance. The ministry will also push to amend the Act on Electronic Monitoring to expand crimes subject to mandatory monitoring via electronic ankle bracelets to sexual assault, kidnapping of minors, murder, robbery and stalking.

To crack down on digital sex crimes such as deepfakes, measures will seek to preserve digital evidence and push forward the country's membership in the Budapest Convention (Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime) to form a related cooperation system worldwide.

The protection period for foreign nationals subject to deportation was also capped at 18 months thanks to partial revision of the Immigration Act last year. The period for violators of the National Security Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act was raised another 18 months.

In addition, new visas will seek to attract outstanding foreign personnel to the country. The Top-Tier Visa will target high-level graduates of top universities in cutting-edge fields, and the Youth's Dream in Korea Visa will offer domestic job opportunities to young people from countries that took part in the Korean War and major economic allies.

The ministry's visa and residence policy proposal system will also reflect the human resource needs of business and local governments.

kimhyelin211@korea.kr