Most sex crimes reported at Gangnam Station

Fifty seven sex offenses were reported at Gangnam Station in the upscale southern Seoul district during the first six months of this year.

It is highest among 265 subway stops in Seoul, police data showed, Thursday.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said that a total of 465 cases of sex crimes were reported in Seoul’s subway stations between January and June.

Sindorim Station ranked second with 44 cases, followed by Seoul Station with 43, Sadang Station with 34 and Express Bus Terminal Station with 22.

They have been included in the top of the list since 2009.

Gangnam Station has the highest number of commuters who reported sex crimes rising to 65 in 2011 from 20 in 2009.

The Center for Freedom of Information, a civic group that asked police to release the data, said that subway stations remain vulnerable receiving less attention from police than they are due.

“According to our findings, only 18 of Seoul subway stops have a full-time police force to prevent crimes inside a station, and we are asking them to come up with better measures,” the center’s spokeswoman said.

She said that the police agency reduced the number of officers dispatched to subway stations to 103 this year from 176 in 2010 and 227 in 2006.

The total number of sex offenses at all the subway stops stood at 1,291 in 2011, up from 674 in 2009 and 1,192 in 2010.

Seoul Station topped the list last year with 164 cases, followed by Sindorim with 150 and Sadang with 144. The three stations have remained on the top five since 2009, when Sadang, located between Line No. 2 and No. 4, was on top with 83.

“We really have been working hard to root out sex crimes,” a police officer said. <The Korea Times/Yi Whan-woo>

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