Over 400,000 have signed a petition calling for a retrial of a child rapist Cho Doo-soon, who is set to be released from prison in 2020. However, this is unlikely to happen, based on legal grounds.
The petition on Cheong Wa Dae’s website had 429,000 signatories Friday, calling for Cho to be kept in prison for life.
The petition’s support is not only based on public outrage against the crime, but also concerns of him committing further offenses.
In 2008, Cho raped an eight-year-old school girl, which left her with permanent damage to multiple organs. He was sentenced to a 12-year prison term, based on the fact that he was intoxicated at the time of the offense, which stirred public uproar for leniency.
However, a retrial will take not take as these are only held when the trial was biased against the defendant, or if new evidence is found.
Based on this, voices are growing for stricter monitoring of Cho when he is released.