Seoul:The number of teenagers arrested for drug-related offenses from January to July this year has reached nearly 80 percent of the total number recorded for the entire previous year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, data from the Korean National Police Agency released by Rep. Kim Jun-hyuk of the ruling Democratic Party shows that 370 teenagers were apprehended for drug offenses in the first seven months of this year. This figure represents 78.7 percent of the 470 teenagers who were apprehended throughout last year.
Over the past years, teenage drug offenses have shown fluctuating trends. The number of offenders was 309 in 2021 and 294 in 2022, but it surged to 1,066 in 2023. It then decreased to 442 in 2024 before rising again to 470 last year.
The total number of drug offenders across all age groups also showed fluctuations. It increased from 10,626 in 2021 to 12,387 in 2022 and 17,817 in 2023. However, the number fell to 13,512 in 2024 and 13,353 last year, with 8,426 offenders apprehended in the first seven months of this year.
Students made up a significant portion of those apprehended. By July this year, 295 students had been caught for drug offenses, which is 63 percent of the 468 students apprehended last year.