South Korean police rewarded for catching scalper and improving mental health care

The Korean National Police Agency has announced a total of 184 million won in special performance rewards for officers involved in significant achievements. Among the recipients, investigators from the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency were awarded 15 million won for apprehending a professional scalper who used macro programs and stolen accounts to resell nearly 9,000 tickets for K-pop performances and sporting events over eight years. The suspect reportedly earned approximately 2.4 billion won, which was used to purchase an apartment and two commercial buildings. Police have taken measures to freeze approximately 1.3 billion won in assets.

Additionally, officers were rewarded 15 million won for their role in establishing ‘temporary protection centers’ for suicide attempts and mental health emergencies. These centers aim to provide a safe space for professional assessment and connection to medical services, addressing a long-standing gap where police were previously forced to release individuals to guardians without professional follow-up. Pilot operations for these centers are scheduled to begin in five locations nationwide in 2027.

Other rewarded achievements include the arrest of a scam organization operating out of Kazakhstan, the implementation of a system to freeze accounts used in romance scams, and the recovery of 2.96 million data files using custom ransomware decryption technology.