By Kang Shin-who
Staff reporter
Police Commissioner General Kang Hee-rak declared war on sex offenders targeting children Monday, announcing a set of pre-emptive measures highlighted by the establishment of a special investigation squad.
At a meeting of senior police officers at the National Police Agency (NPA), Kang pledged to augment manpower to root out sex offenders victimizing children.
The NPA will expand its existing investigation teams at local police agencies to special squads that will exclusively crackdown on sex crimes against children.
The NPA has decided to nearly double the number of investigators at the special squads to about 160 across the nation from the current 80.
So far, child sex abusers have been handled at a department for women and children, but the NPA will upgrade the division to an investigation department.
It will also put priority on sex crimes for investigation over other cases, and senior officers will lead the operations.
At the same time, police will cooperate with schools and residents to strengthen the monitoring of crime-prone areas.
Personal information and data of sex criminals, including their age and the type and frequency of offences, will be available to the public at police stations in districts where criminals under surveillance reside.
The move comes amid growing concerns due to a series of brutal child rape cases.
Whenever sex crimes take place, the police vow to stem such offences but so far they have failed to deliver on their promises.
The judiciary will also hand out tougher punishments of those who rape and injure children younger than 13. Under the revised law, which will come into effect in October, the maximum jail term for child rapists is to be extended to 30 years from the present 15.
Earlier, police increased the number of former sex offenders under special monitoring more than five-fold to 9,000. Among those who were added to the watch list are child rapists and sex assaulters, along with 2,538 pedophiles.