Police officers check on an emergency alert system set up at a CCTV crime prevention site in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. (Photo: Yonhap News)
The ruling Democratic Party and the government will push to introduce a disciplinary segregation program for criminals convicted of brutal crimes.
The two sides agreed Thursday to seek up to 10 years of additional post-prison segregation for violent offenders.
This plan comes amid mounting concern over the upcoming release of Cho Doo-soon, one of South Korea's most notorious child rapists, on December 13.
Cho, 69, has been serving a 12-year sentence for kidnapping and raping an 8-year-old girl in a church bathroom in Ansan in 2008.
His case has long been seen as an example of the Korean judicial system's leniency towards vicious crimes, especially those against minors and women.
According to the plan reported by the justice ministry, convicts with high risk of relapse, such as those with records of murder and rape and who will have finished serving more than five years in prison, will be subject to the program.
DP policy chief Rep. Han Jeoung-ae told reporters that the plan did not have elements of constitutional infringement or human rights violations, and cannot be applied retroactively.
She said they are aiming for swift passage of the envisioned law once a bill is introduced by DP members on the parliamentary justice committee.
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