The relatively rapid rising trends of crime rates in marine situations leads to social concerns in Korea. This study reviews some theoretical backgrounds of the economics of crime and apply econometric models to Korean marine crimes. We find that there is a positive relationship between marine crime rates and unemployment rates in Korea and the degree of the relationship is higher in the 1990s' in comparison with the results of 1970s' and 1980s'. This findings are compatible with the previous theoretical researches in advanced countries. These findings show that recently the structure of our economy and the economic behaviors of economic agents in Korea have been similar to those of the advanced economies. Therefore this study shows that there exists the additional social costs of economic depression by causing the social crimes and the necessity of public policies to reduce unemployment rates would be higher.

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