Identities and photos of sex offenders against minors were made public Monday through a government Web site to better protect children from sexual predators, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said.
Under the new law on child protection from sex crimes, adults aged 20 or older can log on to a state-run Web site (www.sexoffender.go.kr) that
provides personal information on convicted sex offenders, including their name, age, address, photo and summary of their offenses, the ministry said.
Ten convicts released on parole were put on the site as of Monday, the first such disclosures since the law took effect on Jan. 1 of this year.
Information on the offenders currently behind bars will also be posted online once they serve out their prison terms, the ministry said.
The information will stay on the Internet for up to 10 years, it said.
In a related move, personal information on more than 400 sex offenders who committed crimes between June 2006 and December of last year will be added on the Web site under a separate law to take effect in September.Information on these convicts is currently available on a limited basis
through police stations.
To avoid recriminations or attacks against the disclosed offenders, the law prohibits the spread of the convicts' personal information through media or the Internet.