Teen drug offenders caught in Jan.-July near 80% of 2025 total
The number of teenagers apprehended by police for drug-related offenses in the first seven months of this year reached nearly 80 percent of last year's annual total, a lawmaker said Wednesday, citing data from the Korean National Police Agency. According to the police data released by Rep. Kim Jun-hyuk of the ruling Democratic Party, 370 teenagers were apprehended for drug offenses between…
In the first seven months of 2025, police in South Korea apprehended nearly 80 percent of the annual total of teenagers involved in drug-related offenses, according to data released by the Korean National Police Agency. Rep. Kim Jun-hyuk of the ruling Democratic Party reported that 370 teenagers were arrested for drug offenses between January and July, which accounted for 78.7 percent of the 470 teenagers apprehended throughout all of 2024.
Teenagers have increasingly been involved in drug-related crimes over the years. In 2021, there were 309 teenage drug offenders, followed by 294 in 2022. However, the number surged to 1,066 in 2023 before declining to 442 in 2024. It rose again to 470 in 2024 and reached 470 in the first seven months of 2025.
The overall trend shows a rise in the number of drug offenders. The total number of drug offenders increased from 10,626 in 2021 to 12,387 in 2022 and 17,817 in 2023. It then fell to 13,512 in 2024 and 13,353 in 2024, while 8,426 offenders were apprehended in the first seven months of 2025.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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