It's Time to Take Bolder Action to Protect Children

South Korea will soon become the second country in the world after the United States to make public personal profiles of all convicted sex offenders against children. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said Wednesday that a revised law is to take effect Jan. 1 to disclose online the name, age, address and photo of the offenders as part of efforts to better protect children from sexual violence.

The ministry will operate a Web site to post personal information about those convicted of rape and other sex offenses against minors under 13. All adults aged 20 and older will be able to log on to the site to get details about the criminals, including a summary of their offenses. Such information is to be left posted for five to 10 years, depending on the length of prison terms for the offenders. The ministry also plans to mail the personal information of those convicted to all families with children living in the offenders' neighborhood.

The disclosure plan came after a recent report about a rape on an eight-year-old girl by a habitual sex offender which took place in Ansan, south of Seoul, last December. The case shocked the nation as the brazen-faced offender was sentenced to only 12 years in prison for his horrifying sexual attack on the innocent first grader who sustained irreparable damage to her body and left untold pain and trauma on her and her parents. Many people have called for a re-trial and life imprisonment for the 57-year-old offender identified as Cho. Even President Lee Myung-bak expressed dissatisfaction over the lenient court ruling.

The case has forced the government and law enforcement authorities to overhaul the current loose system of preventing and fighting sexual violence against minors. In addition to the disclosure of the offenders' personal information, the administration plans to allow the police and the prosecution to store DNA information of those convicted of rape, sexual violence, kidnapping, homicide, arson and other grave crimes in their database permanently. It is also considering forcing sex offenders to wear an electronic monitoring device for a longer period than the current maximum of 10 years.

These plans are badly needed measures to set up a tighter anti-crime infrastructure. We urge the authorities to make the utmost effort to faithfully implement the plans. The steps are necessary but not sufficient conditions for the prevention and crackdown on the soaring number of heinous crimes targeting minors. Whenever kidnapping, murder or brutal sexual violence involving children takes place, policymakers usually promise to take all possible means to get tougher with criminals. Past experiences show that they have been long on words but short on action.

The public are still doubtful over the latest government measures to wage a war on crimes against children. It is quite disappointing that the Lee administration is seeking more than a 5-percent cut in next year's budget to finance its efforts to prevent sexual violence on minors and provide rehabilitation programs for victims. How dare the government slash the budget despite its pledges against the crimes? It should go all-out to match its strong words with actions to better protect children who are the future of the nation.