Nearly 6 in 10 reported crimes on the subway here are sexual offenses, according to a report by the Seoul Subway Police on Thursday.

The police report submitted to Rep. Kim Sung-tae of the ruling Saenuri Party showed that there have been 1,597 criminal incidents reported until July this year on Seoul’s subway line numbers 1 to 9.

Of the reported crimes, sexual offenses including sexually harassment, taking photographs secretly and illicit video recordings of passengers accounted for 60 percent of the total incidents, with 897 cases.

This was followed by thefts with 429 cases, and violence, with 271 cases. 

Subway Line No. 2 had the highest number of reported crimes, with 299. Seoul’s most heavily used line connects the city center to Gangnam, Teheran Valley and other metropolitan complexes. 

Subway Line No. 9 had the second highest number of crimes at 217 cases, followed by Line No. 1 with 121, Line No. 4 with 84, Line No. 7 with 68, Line No. 3 with 47, Line No. 5 with 41 and Line No. 6 with 18.

The least number of crimes were reported on Subway Line No. 8 with two cases.

Different lines tended to show different types of most rampant crimes, the report showed. 

Sexual offenses on Subway Line No. 9 accounted for 86 percent of crimes, while those on Line No. 2 made up 61 percent.

Theft was the most common crime on Subway Line No. 6 with 33 cases, double the figure of sexual offenses on the same line.

The number of arrests made on the subway rose to 2,624 in 2015 from 1,447 in 2012.

An official of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway told reporters that it has no judicial power to punish offenders on subways, a seemingly weak spot for the authorities to take action.

Seoul Metro currently employs the subway’s patrol officers, also known as the “Subway Sheriff,” to fight on-train crime. No judicial power is granted to these officers.

By Bak Se-hwan  (sh@heraldcorp.com)