Donald R. Cressey, an American criminal sociologist, argued in his book, `Theft of the Nation,' that the organized crime was a public enemy of the country because it spoiled the fundamental of politics and economics in the long run.
Organized violenc...
Donald R. Cressey, an American criminal sociologist, argued in his book, `Theft of the Nation,' that the organized crime was a public enemy of the country because it spoiled the fundamental of politics and economics in the long run.
Organized violences hold on their lives persistently and thrivingly, if one of their head is got rid of, then the other is replaced in its place, like the Hydra killed by Heracules in the Greek myth. Hydra is a monster with 9 heads which one is cut and then the other springs up immediately.
They use their violence not only in the normal life of ordinary people but also in anywhere and anytime if there exists concession. Thus it seems that violence makes a society much more violent and results in the routinization of violence.
For this reason, in the 1980s, Government launched a large scale crack down on criminals as the measure of social purification drive policy. In the 1990s, Government declared a war against crime and arrested many members of organized violence group. During this period the strength of violence was somewhat demolished.
Organized crimes, however, have become worse recently because many crimals imprisoned in the 1990s were released from the jail and they have become easier to take an action in the unstable society under IMF crisis system.
Furthermore, the new Government prompted democratic environment which encourage the free articulation of various social groups' opinion. In addition, there were lots of international events and sports games like 2002 World Cup, entailing various amusement and entertainment.
Organized criminals consider this situation as the most suitable. As a consequence, the number of violence organizations has increased up to 194 units with 4,052 members throughout the country at the end of June, 2002.
Recently they have grown up as social organizations with enormous fund and personnels, as large as threatening basic social order.
Reflecting such a situation, at a questioning session against the Government in the field of social affairs at the National Assembly, an Assemblyman of the major opposition party, Grand National Party, lamented deeply and worried about the future of the nation, saying that "our country is now under the control of the organization violence" with reference to the social phenomena that "organization violence has recently been the most frequent word to search in the computer internet."
In the course of censuring the Government, there was a request from the National Assemblyman for their personal secure guard because blackmail letters were delivered to those who took part in the investigation of power corruptions.
In connection with this situation, the Times reported recently Korean organizational criminals as an international news.
Under such pressure, inner circle of the ruling party also strongly requested the Government to wipe out the organized violence extensively.
President Kim Dae-jung also emphasized, at the 18th graduation ceremony of the police academy on October 16. 2001 that "another very urgent problem is a criminal of organized violence. The National Police should try best to eradicate their roots in order that people may live in place free from anxieties."
Notwithstanding the fact that criminal investigation authorities, police and prosecutors, have so far done their best to crack down and to sweep them, the problem -of the organized violence has got worse and worse. It seems that the situation has come to the limit of great danger underlying the normal social life as terrible as the -top leadership of the country, the President himself ought to ask strong and, strict measures against them.
So far, they have persistently remodeled themselves into more cruel and globalized even in the form of Yakuja, Mafia and international model. They also advanced into professional, intellectual fields. They tried to assimilate with political power by means of disguising as legal legitimacy with an aim to build an influential social organizations. In this way, they have enlarged their domain of business and boundaries in many fields.
So far, the Government has done its best to eradicate them with a strong will. However they have survived and grown as a challenging forces threatening ordinary social life as well as social security of the country. Why are the thriving and what's the obstacle barrier against sweeping out. Is it impossible to remove these obstacles and to build a peaceful world without any organized violence ?
It's required to review the existing mechanism of rules, criminal policies, working method based on the routine practices, and to readjust all things concerned with.
This dissertation is aimed to search for reasonable countermeasures on the various side with a deep sense between problem and reality.
In order to achieve this goal, in the first place, the status of organized violence and its situation in Korea were analyzed in chapter 2 together with examples of foreign laws in chapter3. It was checked about what's the major obstacle to prevent wiping out in chapter 4 and the comparison of working practices between Korea and foreign countries was made to find countermeasures in chapter 5.
I think that this study may provide useful and critical data with criminal inspectors, law making authorities, and Government authorities.
For the grand task to fight and eradicate organized violences, I hope that this study may contribute at least something. I think it will be a stepping stone to build a safe and healthy society without any organized criminals.