People march in central Seoul on June 6, 2020 in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Hate crimes are on the rise in South Korea following the coronavirus outbreak, a study showed Monday.
A paper recently published in the Korean Journal of Public Safety and Criminal Justice analyzed 31 hate crimes that occurred between 2006 and December 2019 and 39 hate crimes that occurred between January 2020 and September 2021.
Sorted by year, six hate crimes were reported in 2017, nine in 2018, and five in 2019. Following the coronavirus outbreak, the number of hate crimes jumped to 22 in 2020, and 15 in 2021.
At 57.6 percent, more than half of the hate crimes dealt with verbal abuse, followed by physical violence (32.2 percent), and weapon-related violence (10.2 percent).
“It might be attributed to social distancing policies and limits on physical contact, as well as newly emerging sources of hatred that came about during the pandemic,” the research team said.
Among all hate crimes, 25 cases dealt with foreign victims, accounting for 42.4 percent of all hate crimes. The numbers have gone up to 33 cases during the pandemic, accounting for a whopping 55.9 percent of all hate crimes.
Various statistical analyses showed that foreigners and COVID-19 were the two primary variables that influenced the types of hate crimes.
Perpetrators demonstrated a higher level of violence when foreigners were the victims. COVID-19 has suppressed the level of violence, the research team said.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
