South Korea Holds Prosecutors’ Final International Drug Conference, Vowing Cooperation After New Agency Launches

South Korean prosecutors used what was described as their final international drug conference before the office’s transition to a prosecution agency to call for continued cross-border cooperation.

Park Kyu-hyung, head of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s Planning and Coordination Department, delivered the opening address at the 33rd International Conference on Combating Drugs in Seoul. He said criminal organizations now operate across national borders, while organizing drug production and distribution and using online platforms and virtual assets.

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Recently, drug crime organizations have expanded their operations across national borders, organized the manufacture and distribution of drugs, and become more sophisticated by using online spaces and virtual assets.

Park said tackling transnational drug crime was beyond the capacity of any single country, making international cooperation more important than ever. The meeting brought together efforts focused on cooperation against drug trafficking and related crimes.

South Korea’s prosecution service has pursued regional coordination, including the creation of the Asia-Pacific Information and Coordination Center for Combating Drugs in 2012. The center established a system for sharing drug-crime information with ASEAN countries. Officials said future cooperation would build on that foundation with countries and international organizations.

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Responding to transnational drug crime is a challenge that cannot be solved through the efforts and capabilities of any one country alone, so cooperation from the international community is more important than ever.