In contemporary society, the development of information and communication technologies has led to information exchange between countries. As a result, transnational crime has increased, thereby forming new, difficult problems in the judicial system. ‘Building the UN and regional cooperation network’ is important to cope with transnational crimes in the age of globalization and strengthening the international cooperative network is essential to fight against the spread of transnational crimes which are evolving through new methods.

The Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice (KICJ) has been pushing ahead with cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) since it joined the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network Institutes (UNPNI) in 2004. The KICJ is trying to build and expand its cooperative network with leading institutions in the field of crime and criminal justice in Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific region.

This report explained the KICJ’s global activities to strengthen the UN and regional cooperative network: participation in the 14th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the 30th UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), the UN expert group meetings, and the PNI cooperation project in 2021. For example, the KICJ participated in the 14th UN Congress on Crime and Criminal Justice held from March 7-12, 2021, under the theme of ‘Advancing crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: towards the achievement of the 2030 agenda’. The 14th Congress was initially scheduled to be held in April 2020, but it was postponed due to COVID-19. It was instead held in a hybrid format in Kyoto, Japan. In the Congress, the KICJ organized the workshop (d) “Current crime trends, recent developments, and emerging solutions, in particular, new technologies as means for and tools against crime” out of four workshops held at the 14th UN Crime Congress. The workshop was co-hosted with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the UNODC. In addition, the KICJ participated in the ancillary meetings during the 14th Congress. The KICJ participated in the meeting themed ‘research for the real world’, which served as momentum to strengthen the international partnership between government-affiliated research institutes with the NIJ, the Research and Training Institute of Ministry of Justice, Japan, and the Australia Institute of Criminology (AIC).

The KICJ participated as a PNI observer in the 30th CCPCJ which was held in a hybrid format from May 17, 2021, in Vienna, Austria. The KICJ reported activities for crime prevention, integration, and cooperation in the field of criminal justice and discussed the recent trends of crime and countermeasures in agendas 6, 7, and 8 as a partner organization with the UN.

The KICJ participated in the 7th session of the open-ended intergovernmental expert group to conduct a comprehensive study of the problem of cybercrime, the UNGASS 2021 preparatory process, the 12th Implementation Review Group, the 12th session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on the prevention of corruption, the resumed 12th session of the Implementation Review Group meeting, the 15th session of the Working Group on Asset Recovery, and the 10th open-ended intergovernmental expert meeting to enhance international cooperation. Additionally, the KICJ held an expert group meeting in cooperation with the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) to strengthen UNPNI cooperation and participated in the PNI spring coordination meeting.

The KICJ attended the 26th German Prevention Congress from May 10-12, 2021, to strengthen regional cooperation and the international cooperative network. The main theme of the meeting was ‘Prevention provides orientation! ... planning ... training ... exchange ...’. The meeting, held online, focused on the central role of prevention in crisis and the importance of education and lifelong study. The KICJ presented its research results at the 15th Stockholm Criminology Symposium held from June 15-16, 2021, themed ‘Gun violence: sound knowledge and countermeasures’ and ‘contemporary criminology’.

On December 9, 2021, the KICJ held its 8th international forum. The forum is the largest annual international conference of the KICJ and contributes to strengthening international cooperation in criminal justice and developing effective criminal policies by inviting renowned experts in the field of criminology and criminal justice. International experts discuss and analyze the causes of crimes and the criminal trends to establish comprehensive and systematic criminal policy. The KICJ builds a network among the international experts who participate in the forum to enhance the KICJ’s status and reputation as the only national research institute in the field of judicial affairs and criminal justice. The 8th KICJ international forum was held in a hybrid format with the theme ‘Strategies for Tackling the Climate Crisis through Criminal Law’.