Illegal weapons seizures in South Korea nearly doubled last year to the highest level in five years, according to police data. The findings have prompted calls to trace how the weapons were obtained, alongside efforts to collect them through voluntary reporting.
Police found 269 cases of illegal weapons during last year's intensive crackdown period, according to data submitted by the Korean National Police Agency to Rep. Kim Ye-ji of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, on the 12th. The figure is up 97.8% from a year earlier and the highest in five years.
Swords and knives accounted for the largest share at 111 cases, followed by firearms at 79, imitation guns at 54, gun sights at nine, spray devices at seven, gunpowder at five, and two cases each of electric shock devices and live ammunition.
Seizures of swords and knives rose about 3.2 times in a single year. Firearms seizures climbed 172.4%, from 29 cases in 2021 to 79 last year.
The police agency is running a second voluntary reporting period for illegal weapons through the end of this month as part of efforts to collect them. Those who report illegal weapons during the period are exempt from criminal liability and administrative penalties.
A total of 188,513 illegal weapons and related items were voluntarily reported last year. That figure includes a single case in which 68,900 rounds of live ammunition were reported at once.
Even accounting for that case, voluntary reports of firearms totaled 524 units last year, the most in five years. Voluntary reports of spray devices, swords and knives also rose to 2,383 items last year from 2,047 in 2024.
Some observers say the government should strengthen its system for tracing how illegal weapons are distributed and acquired, rather than relying only on voluntary reporting to recover weapons that fall outside official oversight. Preventing illegal weapons from being used in crimes requires blocking the supply channels, not simply collecting the weapons, they say.
