해적행위의 처벌에 관한 형사법상 제규정의 검토

A pirate is one who roves the sea in an armed vessel without any commission or passport from any government, solely on his own authority, and for the purpose of seizing by force, and appropriating to himself without discrimination, whatever ships or vessels he may choose to plunder. He is outlawed by all civilized nations, and is viewed as the enemy of all humanity without protection of any state or government. Pirate attacks on shipping have increased dramatically in recent years. The continuing threat of terrorist attacks also exists on the seas. The current international law of piracy, as embodied in the UNCLOS, has failed to evolve to reflect the times and places limitations on those who can best combat the pirate crisis, the pirates’ victims and private entrepreneurs. All parties, including ship crews, ship owners, local states, and foreign states must cooperate to protect commercial shipping and sea-lanes. Pirates only understand the law of might is right and only respect superior force. States and ships must make war against pirates, lest piracy spread like pestilence to all the world's seas, where not even the fleets of the most prosperous states will be safe. Korea, as a big maritime country, is obliged to suppress piracy under international treaties it ratified, including the UN Convention on the Law of Sea and two 1988 Conventions against maritime terrorism. Korean government has been very active in an effort to combat piracy and played a major role to construct a framework for regional common efforts. However, Korean Law is not adequate to crack down on piracy effectively. In order to contribute a help to prevent of piracy, Korean Criminal Law and Punishment of Damaging Ships and Sea Structures Act has to be somewhat revised and the international cooperation in criminal justice has to be more closely fixed.