By Lee Hyo-sik
The name, photo, address, age and other personal information of sex offenders will be provided to nearby residents via the Internet or mail for a maximum of 10 years, beginning Saturday.
The provision of such data came as part of government efforts to better alert people living close to offenders and reduce the number of sex crimes, the Ministry of Justice said Thursday.
It said a revised anti-sex crime law will go into effect on April 16, mandating the disclosure of extensive private information on sex criminals.
Under the revision, the government will notify nearby households with children under 19 via mail of the personal information of those who have been convicted for committing sex crimes against minors.
Additionally, more extensive private information of sex criminals, who committed crimes against both minors and adults, will be available at an “online sex offender alter system” (www.sexoffender.go.kr), operated by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
The website provides a photo, height, weight and brief explanation of the offender’s criminal record and consequent court verdicts. The disclosure period of personal information varies in accordance with the sentencing.
Sex offenders sentenced to over three years in prison will see their information be made public for 10 years, with personal data on those who got less than three-year sentence will be available for public viewing for five years.
Information of those slapped with a fine will be made public for two years.
“The wider disclosure of information on convicted sex offenders will help residents protect themselves, as well as minors and other vulnerable groups from potential sex crimes. We think it will help reduce the number of sexual assaults,” a ministry official said.
The justice ministry has also been forcing thousands of sex felons to wear traceable electronic anklets.
In light of a series of sexual assaults against minors and women over the past years, civic groups and families of sex crime victims have been asking lawmakers and government officials to toughen punishment against felons convicted of rape and other sex crimes.
Among others, Kim Soo-chul, a convicted rapist, kidnapped a girl in June who was strolling across the playground of her school in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul, to attend an after-school class and raped her at his home. In February, a teenage girl in Busan was raped and killed by Kim Gil-tae, who has spent a total of 11 years behind bars for committing several rapes.