The rate of arrest in criminal cases fell to just 25.3 percent -- the worst ever -- in the first half of this year, the National Police Agency announced Saturday. The NPA attributes the poor performance to an increasing number of crimes.
NPA officials said the number of detected criminal offenses came to 1,111,752 between January and June this year, 12.1 percent more than the figure for the same period last year.
The officials said there was a particularly noticeable increase in the number of purse-snatching and robbery incidents.
The rate of arrest in criminal cases was between 50 percent and 70 percent from 1946 to 1988, but it fell below the 50 percent level in 1989 and has continued to decline ever since.