The UN･International Cooperation and Research for Crime Prevention is an international enterprise undertaken over the past 15 years by the International Cooperation Division of the Korean Institute of Criminology (henceforth, KIC). In 2019, the enterprise in its fifteenth year was more actively pursued than ever by making notable progress some of which include signing of the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. National Institute of Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice (NIJ), hosting two anniversary forums in the areas of criminal law and criminology in the first and second half of the year, and establishing a new English language journal titled, “International Journal of Criminal Justice.”
The UN･International Cooperation and Research enterprise was undertaken in close adherence to the three-pronged master plan outlined for the five year from 2018 to 2022. First, in order to achieve the first of the three strategies, which is namely strengthening international network for crime prevention, KIC contributed to realizing the international standards and norms relating to crime prevention and criminal justice by participating in the 28th Session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and hosting in conjunction with the European Institute of Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI) a side event on the topic, “Addressing Hate Crimes against Refugees and Immigrants in Europe and Asia-Pacific). KIC has also drafted a discussion guide and background paper in consultation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and NIJ to host the PNI Workshop (d) entitled,” “Current crime trends, recent developments and emerging solutions, in particular new technologies as means for and tools against crime” to the Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to be held in Kyoto, Japan in April 2020. In the leading up to the Congress next year, KIC will finalize the composition of sessions and panelists.
Second, KIC hosted in conjunction with professional academic associations in the field the series of anniversary forums in the first and second half of the year with an eye towards achieving the second of its three strategies, which is improving global research capacities. The first anniversary forum held under the theme, “Criminal Justice for Human Dignity and Values” led the in-depth discussion of upholding human worths of individuals in the criminal justice system. The second forum on the theme, “Evidence-based Criminal Justice Policy for Public Safety” not only invited such prominent speakers as Professor Robert J. Sampson from Harvard University and Professor John Paul Wright from University of Cincinnati for the keynote session but also experts from diverse disciplines of social sciences to discuss evidence-based policymaking in crime and justice issues. Futhermore, KIC set up the English Academic and Scholarly Team within the International Cooperation Division, which established editorial and publishing policies for its first English language journal named, “International Journal of Criminal Justice (IJCJ) and solicit manus for the journal at the gathering of academics such as the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology.
Third, in order to diversify platforms for disseminating research outputs, KIC published the English language translation of Crime Phenomenon and Criminal Justice Policy in Korea. Similar to previous year, the translated report is comprised of three parts divided into (i) general trends of crimes, (ii) trends and characteristics of index crimes, and (iii) trends and criminal justice policies against selected crimes including juvenile crimes, sexual assaults, economic crimes, drug crimes, and crimes perpetrated by foreign residents. KIC also produced and disseminated four volumes of Research-in-Brief on selected topics of interest to academic and policy circles in Korea and KIC Research Abstracts, a compendium of thirty years of research published by the institute. In addition, KIC redoubled its efforts to improve the quality and service of online platforms ranging from Korean and English language websites as well as social media pages dedicated to research dissemination and public engagement.
The International Cooperation Division will continue to expand its international network with and engage in strategic dialogue and consultations with national, regional, and international research institutes and agencies such as UNODC and institutes affiliated with the United Nations Programme Network of Institutes (PNIs) for practical and mutually benefitting collaboration. To that ends, KIC will forge an academic council for the Asia-Pacific region to explore and develop joint research opportunities. In addition, it will establish its global footprint through periodically publishing its first English language journal, International Journal of Criminal Justice.
It is patent that the transnational nature of today’s crimes necessitates international communication and cooperation among affected parties for crime reduction and prevention. To improve the capacities of KIC to meet the global need for cooperation relating to crime reduction and prevention and of the Government of the Republic of Korea to further contribute to international crime prevention efforts, the International Cooperation Division will continue to advance its work through a systematic and continuous development of its strategies and plans.