Crime · South Korea
Jopok
In plain English
The standard police and press term for an organised crime group in South Korea, routinely contracted to 조폭. It is not itself a statutory term — no act defines it. Prosecutions proceed under the criminal-organisation article of the Criminal Act and the aggravated organised-violence provisions of the Punishment of Violences Act.
Register
Agency category. An agency analytical category. Not itself a statute — no offence is defined by it.
The instrument
형법 제114조 · 폭력행위 등 처벌에 관한 법률 제4조
Criminal Act, Article 114 (organising a criminal group) · Punishment of Violences Act, Article 4
Criminal Act Art. 114 (전문개정 2013. 4. 5.); Punishment of Violences Act Art. 4 (조직폭력 aggravated penalties by rank)
Official Korean short form of the second act is 폭력행위처벌법. 조직폭력배 and 조폭 appear in neither statute — they are police and media usage.
Literally
Organised violence group.
What English gets wrong
Calling them the "Korean yakuza" or "Korean mafia", which imports a structure and history that does not apply. Treating 깡패 (kkangpae) as a synonym — it is an older, purely pejorative word for an individual thug, with no organisational sense. And presenting 조직폭력배 as a legal category: it is the working term, but the statutes speak of 범죄단체, not 조폭.
What to write instead
organised crime group, or jopok with a gloss, noting it is police and press usage rather than a statutory category. Keep 깡패 separate.
Related
- Telecommunications financial fraud — 전기통신금융사기 / 보이스피싱
Sources
- Act on the Punishment of Violences (South Korea)
- Korean National Police Agency crime statistics