A US Air Force voluntary gets shot with a Taser gun. [Taser International YouTube channel]
South Korea will develop home-made stun guns to replace expensive Tasers which are getting popular due to tight restrictions on the use of fatal weapons to control criminals.
The trade ministry said it would launch a state-financed joint project with police and Infos Technology, a South Korean company, to develop stun guns because they are ideal for law enforcement. The ministry hopes to complete the project by July next year.
Taser, a single firing shock device that shoots electrodes to deliver electric current to a target, is widely used in South Korea Korea because it can effectively neutralize the target without causing serious harm to it.
All Tasers in South Korea are imported with a modest version priced at about 1.2 million won (1,050 US dollars). Some 7,000 Taser guns are used by South Korean police.
While the Taser gun should be reloaded every time it's fired, the home-made gun will carry three to four ammunitions to improve its confrontation ability, and it will be smaller in size with its striking strength cut down to reduce stress on the target.
Stun guns attracted public attention after airline companies allowed stewardesses to use them actively in controlling unruly passengers following an in-flight commotion in December last year that became a butt of international ridicule.
The drunken rampage by a 34-year-old man during a flight from Vietnam to South Korea gained international attention after American rock star Richard Marx and his wife uploaded critical posts and pictures on their Facebook and Instagram. Marx criticized how Korean Air's flight attendants were ill-prepared for such an incident.
Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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