Organized crime in contemporary Korea: International implications

Abstract

Today, global villages are experiencing a myriad of social, economic, and cultural changes and have thus far been able to advance in the face of rapid change. Keeping abreast with the great progress of transportation, communication, and informational exchange systems, the resultant border‐freeing trend greatly influences not only the daily life of the general public but also the realm of criminal acts. Taking advantage of the changes and trends, the so‐called newly affiliated ‘'Organized Transnational Crimes''1 are becoming increasingly sophisticated, intelligent and internationalized to display a phenomenon of being shaped into a universal scale. As a strategic point in the 21st century Pacific Rim era, Korea not only has a higher propensity for exposure to organized transnational crime than other countries, but is also susceptible to North Korea's plot of such subversive acts as narcotics trafficking and terrorism in alliance with the organized transnational crimes in a bid to undermine South Korea. Although the records of the organized transnational crime activities in Korea have not been greatly alarming, the pattern of the crimes is increasingly being diversified into narcotics trafficking, firearms smuggling, forged bill circulating and so on, with the frequency of their commission also increasing. This is, of course, reminiscent of the situations in the industrialized countries.