The Secondary-Harm Crime Investigation Division under the Korean National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation investigated 272 online secondary-harm cases targeting disaster victims and bereaved families during its first year of operation, arresting 112 people. Police assessed that their response has shown effects, including a decline in the proportion of secondary-harm comments related to disasters since the dedicated unit began operating.
The National Office of Investigation said on the 27th that the Secondary-Harm Crime Investigation Division, launched on July 28 last year, investigated 272 secondary-harm cases over the past year related to disasters including the Sewol ferry, Itaewon, and the Jeju Air passenger plane crash at Muan Airport, arresting 112 people and detaining three.
By case, those related to the Itaewon disaster were the most numerous at 179, followed by 34 for the Sewol ferry disaster, 28 for the Jeju Air passenger plane crash, and 31 other cases. During this period, police requested the deletion or blocking of 6,091 online posts, while also conducting meetings with bereaved families and prevention and promotional activities.
The Secondary-Harm Crime Investigation Division is a dedicated unit newly established within the National Office of Investigation to systematically respond to secondary-harm crimes such as criticism and ridicule directed at disaster victims and bereaved families.
Police also determined through their own analysis that the online environment has improved since the dedicated unit's launch. An analysis of comments related to the Sewol ferry, Itaewon, and Jeju Air passenger plane crash disasters posted on portals and other sites from May last year to June this year showed that the proportion of secondary-harm comments, which averaged 28% (maximum 30%) from May to July last year before the unit's launch, fell to an average of 19.8% (minimum 15%) from August last year to June this year after the launch, a decline of 8.2 percentage points.
In particular, after the first detention case was disclosed in January this year, the proportion of secondary-harm comments dropped from 25% to 24% and then 23%, and following additional detention investigations in April and May, it maintained its downward trend, falling from 19% to 17%, police explained.
Public perception was also positive. According to a survey conducted by police through the citizen participation platform "Gungmin Saenggak Ham" from June 24 to the 7th of this month, with 883 participants, 80.2% of respondents said they were aware of the police's secondary-harm response activities. In addition, 61.9% assessed that police activities had contributed to raising awareness that secondary-harm acts are subject to criminal punishment, and half, at 50%, responded that they felt secondary-harm acts had decreased since the police activities. Stronger punishment and expanded education and promotion were most frequently cited as future tasks.
Bereaved families expressed gratitude for the police response while also conveying the opinion that active responses to secondary harm and the overhaul of laws and systems to increase the effectiveness of punishment are needed, police said.
Park Woo-hyun, cyber investigation review officer at the Korean National Police Agency, said, "As positive changes in the online environment and public perception have been confirmed through this past year of response, we will do our best going forward to create a safe society free of secondary-harm crimes through active responses."
