By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The government said it will oblige certain convicted sex offenders to wear an electronic monitoring anklet from Sept. 1. The Ministry of Justice said about 300 sex offenders will be subject to the round-the-clock monitoring program.
Offenders who sexually abused children aged 13 or younger and repeat offenders will have to wear the electronic gadget after a judge endorses the request from prosecutors. They will be under surveillance for up to 10 years after their release from prison. Offenders released on parole and those who receive suspended jail terms will be monitored as well.
Their whereabouts will be traced at the monitoring center of the Korean Probation and Parole Office in Hwigyeong-dong, northeastern Seoul.
The monitoring of sex offenders started in Florida in 1997. Since then, the program has been introduced in about 10 countries, including the U.K., Australia, Spain, the Netherlands and Israel. The National Assembly passed the bill in 2007.