The recently published white paper on illegal drugs should ring alarm bells for Korean society, which has been relatively safe from the globally widespread problem.

The white paper, compiled by the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, shows that a total of 5,130 people were caught in illegal drug cases in the first six months of this year. This is an 11.8 percent increase from 4,590 in the same period last year.

The number of drug offenders -- traffickers and users -- exceeded 10,000 for the first time in 1999 and maintained at that level until 2002, when the government conducted a massive crackdown on narcotics, busting 10 drug rings and arresting 162 people. The number went down to about 7,000 in 2003, but has been increasing steadily since 2007, reaching 9,742 last year.

Officials said if the latest trend continued, the number of offenders may go over 10,000 again this year, threatening Korea’s status as a drug-free nation. The U.N. gives the status to countries with 20 or less offenders out of every 100,000 people.

One big problem is that illegal drug cases are increasing at a faster pace among the youth. The number of drug offenders aged 19 or younger caught by the authorities has been increasing at a rapid pace in recent years – from 38 in 2012, to 58 in 2013 and 102 in 2014. This year, 79 have already been caught in the first half.

This calls on the authorities to strengthen, among other things, education programs for the youth. In fact, 34.4 percent of the youth offenders caught last year said they came in contact with narcotics out of curiosity.

The flourishing Internet, SNS and international parcel services also facilitate drug crimes. The amount of narcotics transported by international courier services surged to 28.64 kilograms in 2014, a 116.5 percent rise from 13.23 kilograms in 2013.

Another key factor in fighting the drug problem is tackling the growing threats from China. Officials said drugs in Korea sold for about 10 times the price they fetched in China. Last year, authorities seized 42.1 kilograms of methamphetamine smuggled into the country, and 20.8 kilograms of it came from China.

Similar to financial scams like phishing, Korean-Chinese play key roles in the trafficking of drugs, and the Korean-Chinese community in Korea is also a major target for dealers. The fact that 109 Korean-Chinese were caught for drug offenses in the first seven months of this year shows that authorities -- both in Korea and China -- should redouble their efforts to deal with the problem.