Seoul, Oct 25 (IANS): More than 80,000 cases of dating violence were reported in the past five years in South Korea, with more than 200 of them resulting in murder, police data revealed on Monday.

According to the data of the National Police Agency, 81,056 cases of dating abuse were reported to police between 2016 and last year, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The annual total rose steadily from 9,364 in 2016 to 18,945 last year, the data showed.

Of the total, 61,133 cases involved serious types of violence, such as sexual violence, bodily harm, confinement and threatening.

In particular, 227 cases of dating-related murder were reported during the five-year period, according to the data.

Sexual violence represented 644 of the total cases, it also said.

"Statistics indicate if such crimes get repeated or are extreme, they can possibly lead to violent crimes, such as murder," said Rep. Yang Ki-dae of the ruling Democratic Party.

He called for tougher punishments on dating violence perpetrators, as well as measures to prevent such crimes.