Korean Institute for Criminology (KIC)
Founded in 1989, the Korean Institute of Criminology (KIC) is the only national institute in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, directly funded by the Government of Republic of Korea. For its twenty-nine years of history, KIC has fulfilled its mandate of providing comprehensive and systematic research on causes and trends of crime to support national criminal policies and crime prevention activities. Today KIC is committed to its vision of becoming “People’s Think Tank for Criminal Justice Reform” by fulfilling four strategic goals. The goals are:
- Strengthening research on criminal justice reform for the people
- Fostering data-based, multi-disciplinary research for effective policy prescriptions
- Increasing the availability of research findings and strengthening international cooperation
- Promoting trust and dialogue in a workplace.
KIC is led by a presidentially appointed President (Dr.) In Sup Han and organized into five Research Divisions composed of 100 research fellows and staff. The Divisions include:
- Criminal Law & Justice Research Division
develops, conducts, and supervises research on enactment and amendment of criminal law and legislation, and evaluation activities on effectiveness of criminal justice system. - Crime Survey & Statistics Research Division
manages, conducts, and supervises national criminal information databases, national crime victimization surveys, quarterly reports on crime trends, and research on the status and trends of crimes. - Corruption & Economic Crime Research Division
develops, conducts, and supervises research on tackling public and private corruption, a variety of economic crimes that include tax crimes, unfair business competition, and unfair trading. - Crime Prevention & Treatment Research Division
develops, conducts, and supervises research on innovative crime prevention solutions that includes CPTED, and policies for effective rehabilitation and treatment of criminal offenders. - Judicial Reform Research Division
develops, conducts, and supervises research on the structure and system of judicial institutions, refugee and immigration issues, and policies for strengthening national human rights advocacy.
The Divisions have produced more than 1,000 research reports in their strong research areas that include a) prevention of violence and serious crimes, b) countering economic, property, and juvenile crimes, c) courts and adjudication, d) corrections policy and practice, and e) law enforcement activities including investigation.
In furthering its commitment to research that fulfills the needs of the field and activities that support national and international criminal policies, KIC has closely engaged with its 49 MoU partners and 17 fellow institutes of the United Nations Programme Network of Institute (PNI) across the globe. For instance, KIC as a member of the PNI since 2004 has participated in and organized jointly PNI workshops at the annual United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) and quinquennial United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Crime Congress).
In addition, KIC has conducted many multi-year joint projects with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), including Towards AsiaJust Programme, Virtual Forum against Cybercrime (VFAC), Strengthening Cross-Border Criminal Justice Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and so forth. Furthermore, KIC increased the international availability of its research findings through publication of KIC Research Reports, Research in Brief, KIC Newsletter, and VFAC Newsletter.
We invite you to explore our English website for more information and access to all previous KIC publications and newsletters.
