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Child sex offenders face death penalty in Korea
The government will introduce a special law to crack down on child sex offenders this year in the wake of a series of assault, kidnapping and murder cases involving elementary school girls.
The new law will stipulate harsher punishments for criminals. It will have clauses that make sure sex criminals who assault and murder children under the age of 13 are sentenced to the death penalty or life imprisonment.
The law will also prohibit the court from suspending jail terms for child sex offenders.
The Justice Ministry will subimit the bill in September when the regular parliamentary session begins. It will be named after Lee Hye-jin and Woo Ye-seul, who were found killed last month in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province after they were kidnapped in December last year.
It will be the nation's first law to take its name from crime victims.
Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han reported its plan for the legislation and other measures yesterday at a Cabinet meeting hosted by prime minister Han Seung-soo yesterday.
The ministry will also set up a special investigative team of prosecutors and police, which will operate around the clock to more effectively fight sex crimes.
In a bid to prevent the repeat of sex crimes, the ministry plans to attach an electronic device such as a tracking bracelet on people who commit sexual crimes against children for a maximum of five years, beginning in October.
Starting in September, the ministry also plans to carry out a special program to treat sex criminals behind bars with mental disorders such as pedophilia and to start establishing a database of criminals' DNA information for prompt and effective investigation.
On Monday, police apprehended the suspect who attempted last Wednesday to kidnap a 10-year-old school girl after beating her in an elevator in an apartment complex in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province.
According to the Gyeoggi Provincial Police Agency, the 40-year-old suspect is reversing his initial statement that he intended to sexually assault her.
The suspect spent 10 years in jail after being convicted of sexually attacking three elementary school girls, the police said.
The police nabbed him at a public spa in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul after tracking his CCTV images taken at the elevator and a subway station for a train headed for Suseo, southern Seoul.
The capture of the suspect came after President Lee Myung-bak visited the Ilsan Police Station in person to criticize the negligence and late response to the abduction attempt.
Citizens praised the president's strong action on the website of Cheong Wa Dae, while some dismissed it as part of "exhibitive" administration.
"I was overwhelmed and near tears by your action. Your initiative as a president of Korea to directly visit the police gives the people hope," said a citizen, named hippo118, who posted a message on the website.
"The president should have focused on a more important task rather than going all the way down there. The politics of just showing something to the people is the limitation of President Lee," countered an anonymous poster."
By Song Sang-ho
(sshluck@heraldm.com)
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