Half of schools have sex offenders living nearby

(123rf)

Roughly half of public educational institutes across South Korea have at least one convicted sex offender living within a 1-kilometer radius, data showed Wednesday.

Over half of the day care centers and high schools in the country -- 59 percent and 53 percent, respectively -- have one or more sex offenders living within 1 kilometer, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family data submitted to Rep. Baek Seung-a of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

Some 51 percent of kindergartens have a sex offender living nearby, followed by 48 percent of middle schools and 45 percent of elementary schools.

South Korea is currently pushing to pass legislation that would restrict sex offenders deemed "high risk" by the court from living in designated areas. High-risk sex offenders refer to those who have been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for sex crimes and who also had either committed the crime against a child under 13 or committed at least three sex crimes.

It has been commonly referred to as a Korean version of "Jessica's Law," which in several US states mandates varying forms of lifetime monitoring of repeat sex offenders against minors.

"There is a high ratio of sex offenders living adjacent to a school after one has served a prison term, which has led to growing unease for the victim and the general public. Safety of the students and the people should be the priority, and special care and support by the authorities are needed," Baek said.

The data showed that Seoul led all regions in terms of sex offenders living close to education institutes. Some 83 percent of day care centers, 82 percent of kindergartens and 82 percent of elementary schools had at least one sex offender living near the students, along with 79 percent of middle schools and high schools in the nation's capital

One day care center had 22 sex offenders living within a 1-kilometer radius of it, which was the highest number of sex offenders adjacent to any educational institute.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)