South Korea launches app to track stalkers
A new mobile application will allow stalking victims to track their stalkers' whereabouts, the justice ministry said Sunday, as authorities seek to bolster protection for victims following the killing of a young woman last month, Yonhap reported.
The app, set to launch in June after a trial, will allow victims to check the location of a stalker wearing an ankle monitor when the person comes within a certain distance.
The move comes after authorities faced criticism following the killing of a woman in her 20s by her stalker last month.
The stalker, who was wearing an ankle monitor and was subject to multiple restraining orders, killed the victim, even though she was wearing a smartwatch as a subject of police protection.
The ministry is currently working to integrate its location-tracking system with the police reporting system so that police officers can respond swiftly to cases involving stalking victims and their harassers.
The country recorded 13,533 stalking cases in 2024, up 12.3 percent from the previous year, with 54.2 percent of stalking crimes involving current or former intimate partners, according to gender ministry data.
The data showed that 76.2 percent of stalking offenders were men in 2024.
South Korea enacted an anti-stalking law in 2021, criminalizing stalking and punishing perpetrators with up to three years in prison. Offenders carrying weapons face a maximum five-year prison term.
Earlier, it was reported that domestic violence consultations hit record 98,000 in Japan in 2025.
