Aide Vows Crime Fight

Kim Jung-kil, the minister of justice, told President Kim Dae-jung on Wednesday that the ministry will take steps to establish public discipline, eradicate corruption and improve conditions and education for prisoners.

The report to the president by the Ministry of Justice outlined ways to curb increasingly violent protests by workers, saying the ministry will respond sternly to aggressive acts such as firebomb attacks on police officers.

The number of Molotov cocktails thrown at police has increased dramatically with workers protesting massive layoffs at the bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co.

The ministry's report also included new measures to counter economic crimes, such as manipulation of stock prices. Ten investigators - all experts in stocks, computers and taxation - will be employed by the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office to track suspect investments.

The ministry's report added that it plans to improve conditions in the nation's prisons.

Detention centers, where people awaiting trial and those recently convicted are held until their transfers to prisons, will strengthen education for some 36,000 convicted persons so that they may be better integrated into society after serving their terms.

South Korea's prison environment will also change with the government planning to modernize some 34 prisons throughout the country by 2003.

Juvenile detention facilities will begin teaching English and computer skills extensively, and maximum terms for minors will be reduced from 25 months to 19 months.

The ministry also said it plans to sign extradition treaties with four more countries: Japan, Russia, New Zealand and Vietnam. South Korea currently has extradition pacts with 14 nations, including the United States, Canada and Australia.

by Cheong Yong-hwan