Despite an overall decline in reported crimes nationwide, those committed by repeat offenders reached a record high in 2006, according to a Justice Ministry white paper released Tuesday.
The report reveals that people with a previous record who were turned over to prosecutors for possible indictment accounted for 149,164 crimes, or 38.8 percent of all "cleared" cases in 2006. A case is "cleared" when it is handed to prosecutors.
According to a crime study conducted on 1 million random convicts who had their guilty sentences finalized between 1948 to 2006 for offenses excluding traffic law violations, 58 percent of the cases were committed by repeat offenders, the report says.