Number of people arrested for school violence last year reached five-year high...Percentage of elementary school students reaches double digits for first time in South Korea

Last year, more than 15,000 people were arrested nationwide for school violence, and the proportion of elementary school students involved exceeded 10% for the first time.
According to statistics released on the 6th by the National Police Agency's youth protection activity platform "YouthPorNet,"
The number of people arrested for school violence in 2020 was 15,438, the highest figure in the past five years. It was also confirmed that the number of people arrested for school violence in 2020 increased by 7.0% compared to 2022, when the number was 14,432.
The number of people arrested for school violence increased from 13,367 in 2018 to 13,584 in 2019, then decreased to 11,331 in 2020. In 2021, it is expected to drop to 11,968.
The number of students arrested for school violence rose again to 1,000 in 2020, and rose to 14,432 in 2022, when online classes ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most common offense was "assault/injury" at 7,549 people. This was followed by "sexual assault" at 25.1% (3,871 people), "other (arrest/confinement, intimidation, kidnapping, etc.)" at 8.2% (1,272 people), and "money" at 10.7% (1,272 people).
The top three most common offenses were "robbery of property" at 8.2% (1,260 people), "insults and defamation" at 6.6% (1,023 people), "coercion" at 1.6% (241 people), and "damage to property" at 1.4% (222 people).
Compared to 2022, the number of people arrested for all crime types except for "extortion" was confirmed to have increased. Of these, "robbery of money and valuables" and "damage to property" increased by 16.3% and 31.4%, respectively.
When dividing all the arrested people by school age, the largest group was junior high school students with 5,005 people (32.4%), followed by "others (outside school)" with 4,915 people (31.8%) and "high school students" with 38.
This was followed by 15 people (24.7%). "Elementary school students" recorded double digits for the first time with 1,703 people (11.0%).
The number of juvenile offenders arrested by the police last year was 66,642, 8.9% higher than in 2022 (61,220).
Of these, 555 (0.8%) were detained, while 54,978 (82.5%) were not detained. In addition, 11,109 (16.7%) were referred to the Juvenile Division and were not considered as "witnesses."
The company was given sanctions such as "suspension."