Reported cases of dating abuse are on the rise in South Korea, with 233 people murdered by their romantic partners in the last five years, police data shows.

According to criminal statistics released by the National Police Agency, 8,367 people were booked on charges of physical violence against their partners in 2015, up 8.8 percent from the previous year. The total number of physical assault cases here was 305,957 in 2015.

Among the 8,367 attackers, 37.7 percent had no previous criminal record, the data revealed. 

From 2011 to 2015, 233 people were killed by their partners -- 46 deaths per year on average.

“In dating abuse cases, victims are usually treated as the object of their partners’ obsession, and have control taken away over the course of their relationship,” Kwack Dae-Gyung, a professor of police administration at Dongguk University, told The Korea Herald.

“The tendency leads to physical violence when conflicts occur in any decision-making process,” Kwack said.

To curb the crime rate, police have renewed efforts to cope with dating abuse cases, setting up a special investigative team last year.

Police provide services for victims, ranging from consulting and personal escorts to the provision of protective facilities and location-tracking devices in face of threats by partners, police said.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)