A new real-time tracking app launched in South Korea is allowing stalking survivors to monitor the exact movements of their perpetrators on a digital map. Under the initiative, which began in late June, survivors can track a tagged offender once they enter a two-kilometer radius. If the perpetrator gets within one kilometer, the system automatically alerts the police and probation authorities, who immediately contact the victim. Previously, victims were only sent text messages stating a distance, with no details on the perpetrator's location or direction of travel. Approximately 400 people are currently enrolled in the new program.
Yoon Hyun-bong, who directs the eastern Seoul control centre monitoring the system, emphasized the psychological relief the app provides. Yoon noted that waiting with no idea of what is happening is deeply distressing, adding that while a distance alone does not reveal which direction an offender is coming from, seeing them on a map allows a victim to know where to hide.
The introduction of the tracking app comes as stalking cases rise sharply across South Korea. Reports have tripled in the four years since a dedicated stalking law was enacted in 2021, reaching 44,687 in 2025. Women make up roughly 80 percent of the victims. To combat this, South Korean police can petition the courts to force suspected stalkers to wear GPS-enabled electronic ankle tags.
The push for real-time tracking was accelerated by a series of high-profile stalking murders. In March, prosecutors allege that a man wearing an ankle tag blocked his former partner's car as she left work in Namyangju, northeast of Seoul, shattered her window with a drill, and stabbed her to death. Although a court had already barred the man from approaching her following stalking reports, a critical communication gap meant that while the justice ministry could track his movements, the police officers handling the stalking case were unaware he was being electronically monitored. The suspect is currently on trial for murder, a charge he denies by claiming diminished responsibility.
South Korea's electronic monitoring system is managed by two control centres in Seoul and Daejeon. Together, they handle approximately 19,000 alerts daily, overseeing more than 5,000 individuals monitored for offenses ranging from sexual violence to murder. Staff filter out the vast majority of these alerts, but about 300 daily are serious enough to require the dispatch of a probation officer. In the Seoul centre, officers monitor screens showing danger and caution alerts, subject descriptions, and tag battery levels. Each officer currently manages more than 20 monitored individuals, a ratio the justice ministry hopes to halve. Highlighting the constant pressure, one official noted that while they would have liked to suspend monitoring during visits, they cannot stop for a minute, not even for a second.
Public reception of the new app is mixed. Anna, a survivor who fled a violent former partner and spent two weeks in domestic violence shelters, expressed that she would have welcomed the app. She was eventually given a panic-button watch that alerts police and transmits her location, but noted that it did not provide full peace of mind because she never knew where her ex-partner was. She expressed anxiety over what might happen if she took the watch off to shower and he broke into her home at that exact moment.
However, advocates have raised concerns about the psychological impact of the technology. Sujeong Kim, director of the women's human rights counselling centre at the Korea Women's Hotline, acknowledged that knowing a perpetrator's location is helpful but questioned whether it shifts the burden of safety onto the victims. Kim warned that victims might feel forced to constantly check the app, adding to the psychological weight of living under threat. She argued that if authorities performed their duties properly, victims would not feel the need to monitor the tracking themselves.
Furthermore, the app's effectiveness is limited by the low rate of court-ordered tagging. Out of 29,404 people apprehended on stalking charges in 2024 and 2025, police made only 1,187 applications for ankle tags, of which courts approved just 427. South Korea's police agency stated that they apply for tags when there is a high risk of reoffending and escalate protective measures in stages. Kang Shin-won, head of the justice ministry's electronic monitoring division, called the tags a minimum safety measure, noting that not every suspect can realistically be removed from society.
For Kim, the technological solutions do not address the root of the issue. She stated that the cause of the problem, and the reason it remains unsolved, is gender discrimination. Treating stalking as an unimportant, private matter that the victim must resolve on her own is, she argued, a direct consequence of that systemic discrimination.
