South Korean authorities are developing a mobile app for stalking victims to track in real-time the location of their stalkers, if they’re nearby.<\/p>\n
The app, announced by South Korea’s justice ministry on Wednesday, is part of an approved amendment to the country’s electronic monitoring law.<\/p>\n
Stalkers have become a subject of public concern in South Korea, especially as high-profile crimes involving stalking have made headlines in recent years.<\/p>\n
Under the current law, stalking victims can receive text message alerts when their stalkers are nearby – though these do not reveal stalkers’ exact locations.<\/p>\n
This makes it difficult for victims to determine the direction of the perpetrator, the justice ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Under the revised law, victims will be allowed to see their stalker’s location on a map with their smartphones, allowing them to evacuate to safety.<\/p>\n
Authorities track stalkers’ whereabouts using wearable electronic devices.<\/p>\n
The justice ministry said it was also working on integrating the tracking system into the national emergency hotline, so police could be deployed to protect victims as needed.<\/p>\n
This integration is expected to be completed next year, local media reported.<\/p>\n
Critics have voiced concern over the pervasiveness of stalking in South Korea, which they see as part of a wider problem of violence against women – many of whom have been secretly filmed by spy cameras<\/a> and faced hostile threats for being feminists<\/a>.<\/p>\n