The number of serious crimes such as murder and robbery has decreased, but sex crimes against women surged over the past decade, with the arrest rate having declined, a study showed Sunday.

According to the Korean Institute of Criminology, the total number of crimes stood at 1.93 million in 2014, which marks 3,767 offenses per 100,000 in the country with a 50 million population.

The number of criminal offenses has remained at around 1.9 million since 2010 after it reached a peak of 2.16 million crimes in 2009.

But only 69.5 percent of those committed crimes involved arrests in 2014, compared to 78.4 percent in 2005.

The number of murders committed in the country over the period of 2005-2012 remained at around 1,000, before falling slightly to 966 in 2013 and further to 938 in 2014. The number of robberies dropped from 5,266 in 2005 to 1,618 in 2014.
In contrast, sex crimes including rape and sexual harassment soared from 13,631 in 2005 to 29,863 in 2014, with the crime rate per 100,000 people having risen from 28.3 in 2005 to 59.2 in 2014.

“Unlike other types of serious crimes seeing a decline in number in recent years, the number of sex crimes has increased,” said researcher Hwang Ji-tae of the KIC.

“For sex crimes, it is more difficult to learn about the status quo with official data as victims are less likely report such crimes to the police.”

The report also showed a rise in the number of senior offenders.

Those aged between 51 and 60 among criminals arrested for murder and other serious offenses accounted for 7.5 percent of the total in 2005, but it more than doubled to 14.4 percent in 2014. The portion of those aged 61 or over surged from 3.1 percent to 6.7 percent during the same period.

Violent crimes committed by those aged 51 or over accounted for 13.1 percent in 2005, which increased to 28.4 percent in 2014. The proportion of those who committed asset-related crimes including fraud rose from 16.5 percent in 2005 to 30.6 percent in 2014.

The portion of those in their 50s who committed sex crimes also saw an increase from 8.1 percent in 2005 to 13.9 percent in 2014. Those in their 60s committed 3.2 percent of such crimes in 2005 and 6.7 percent in 2014.

“There was a clear rise in the number of criminals in their 50s and 60s who committed serious, violent and asset-related crimes, while there was a decline in the number of 20s and 30s who committed such offenses,” Kim Ji-seon, a researcher at KIC, said in the report. “It is a result of a growth in the number of the baby boom generation who are now in their 50s and 60s.”

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)