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Bangkok (Thailand), 30 July 2009 - Dr. Sang-ki Park, the Director of the
Korean Institute of Criminology, based in Seoul, accompanied by senior officials of his team, and Mr. Gary Lewis, UNODC Regional Representative for East-Asia and the Pacific signed an agreement to cooperate in the implementation of the programme
Towards AsiaJust.
With this agreement the Korean Institute of Criminology becomes the first institution in Asia to support the programme, which aims at helping selected countries in the region to develop an operational strategy to combat all forms of transnational organized crime (TOC) in Asia.
Towards AsiaJust is a concept derived from
EuroJust, which will be tailored to fit within the specific Asian settings and will operate with already existing entities, such as the networks of prosecutors, special investigation teams, central authorities in charge of Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) and Extradition procedures, as well as other highly specialized professionals.
The programme has been developed by senior staff members of the Regional Centre, in consultation with authorities in charge of criminal justice in several Asian Countries, in order to foster a common
modus operandi among the various players in charge of combating TOC in the region, based on a clear understanding of the differences among the judicial systems in force in the region.
The Korean Institute of Criminology (KIC)
Since joining the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme network in 2005, the Korean Institute of Criminology (KIC) has collaborated actively with UNODC and other network members. KIC has been promoting cooperation and information exchange in technical assistance and research, in particular on human trafficking, drug trafficking, money-laundering, migrant smuggling and financial and economic crime.
In December 2007, KIC signed a cooperation agreement with UNODC to enhance the fight against cybercrime. As part of that agreement, four expert group meetings have been organized. At the most recent of these meetings, which was hosted by KIC and held in Seoul on 21 and 22 February 2008, the draft website of a virtual forum against cybercrime was presented. The forum aims to serve as a communication centre for cybercrime experts and to provide assistance to law enforcement bodies, criminal justice officers and researchers.