By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

The government and the ruling party are planning a bill that could put convicted sexual offenders targeting children behind bars for up to 50 years, force them to wear electronic monitors round-the-clock for 30 years after being released and, if necessary, undergo chemical castration.

Senior officials from the government and the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) reached a consensus on the bill aimed at toughening the punishment of sexual offenders at the National Assembly, Wednesday.

The bill, which the GNP is seeking to legislate this month, is the latest in a series of efforts aimed at amending the Criminal Law in the wake of a controversial Supreme Court ruling in October that upheld a lighter-than-expected verdict handed down on brutal child rapist, Cho Doo-soon.

The 57-year-old Cho was sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of raping a primary school girl, who sustained permanent physical injuries.

In fact, that sentence might be considered "tough" under the current law, since the maximum jail term for sexual offenders is 15 years. But the ruling immediately triggered an outcry.

The bill also seeks to remove the statute of limitations on rape cases and of punishment reductions for those who commit a crime while intoxicated - a major excuse perpetrators often use to solicit a lighter sentence, arguing that they were unable to make sound judgments at the time of a crime.

It also includes the establishment of a database of DNA samples of felons; surveillance camera installation in crime-prone districts, particularly in the vicinity of schools; and raising funds of nearly 75 billion won - about 5 percent of 1.5 trillion won collected in fines - to support victims of felonious crimes.

"An abolition of the statute of limitations will make people realize that the legal justice is still alive," Rep. Joo Seong-young of the GNP said.

"Although the death penalty still remains, it has been under a de facto moratorium. So it is necessary to increase the maximum jail term."

The Ministry of Justice is consulting with legal experts at home and abroad to revamp punishment guidelines for serious crimes.

The ministry and the prosecution will host a seminar next week with experts from the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany and France as well as Korea.

The seminar is expected to analyze in a nation-to-nation comparison the severity of punishment, and set standards for the revision, the ministry said.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr