Police arrested a record number of drug-related offenders this year, a ruling party lawmaker said Friday, illustrating growing concerns in South Korea about drug problems.
A total of 12,700 people -- nearly half of them unemployed -- were convicted of drug crimes as of August, exceeding last year's tally of 12,387, the highest figure over the past 10 years, Rep. Jang Dong-hyuk of the ruling People Power Party said, citing data that the National Police Agency showed.
The number of drug offenders has been on the rise after hitting around 5,000 in 2013, Jang said.
Jang, a judge-turned-politician, said a surge among teenagers and seniors has been prominent.
He said 659 teenagers were arrested for drug offenses in the first eight months of this year, a sharp hike from 294 in the whole of 2022.
In the same period, 3,046 drug offenders over the age of 60 were taken into custody, compared with 1,829 in the whole of 2022.
When categorized by age group, people in their 20s topped the list of arrests related to drug offenses this year with 3,731 people, followed by people in their 60s with 3,046 arrests while offenders in their 30s reached 2,351.
Source: Yonhap News Agency