By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The National Assembly passed a bill Wednesday, which calls for a retroactive application of the law requiring convicted sex criminals to wear electronic monitoring devices. The revision applies to cases that took place before September 2008.
From now on, law-enforcement authorities can monitor behaviors of registered sex offenders who committed crimes before September 2008 through the anklets.
Legislators of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) came up with the rule to prevent first-time sex criminals from becoming multiple offenders.
Kim Kil-tae, 33, who was arrested on charges of raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl in Busan, had sexually abused a woman in 2001.
He was not required to wear the electronic device because he committed the crime before the scheme was introduced.
The middle school girl's life could have been saved if Kim had worn the device as police would have monitored his whereabouts.
The Assembly was also blamed for its slow response to the issue of sex offenders.
Under mounting public pressure, lawmakers rushed to look to the retroactive application of the new rule.
But the revision plan had encountered opposition as the Constitution bans the adoption of the retroactive application.
But Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam said it is not against the Constitution as requiring sex offenders to wear anklets bracelets is not a punishment but a supplementary measure.
In addition, convicted offenders who raped and murdered children can be required to wear the electronic device for up to 30 years following their release, compared with 10 years now.
Convicted sex offenders can also get a jail term of up to 50 years.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
