South Korea to Chemically Castrate Repeat Child Rapist

South Korea has announced plans to chemically castrate a sex offender who repeatedly committed crimes against children, the first time the country will use the punishment.

South Korea's Justice Ministry's Forensic Psychiatry Deliberation Committee unanimously announced the decision to castrate the 45-year-old, known as Park, after it was determined he was likely to target children again.

The man will receive an injection which lowers testosterone-producing hormones and aims to inhibit sexual impulses. He has been convicted four times between 1984 and 2002 of raping or sexually molesting girls under the age of 13.

South Korea passed a law in 2010 allowing judges or a Justice Ministry panel allowing the ordering of chemical castration after a series of violent sexual assaults on children sparked public outrage in the country.

He is currently serving a 10-year-sentence for attempting to rape a 10-year-old girl, reported Global Post. He will be released from prison in July under the condition that he receives injections every three months for three years, according to the ministry.

Park will return to prison for up to seven years if he refuses the injections upon release.

Convicted paedophiles can already be voluntarily castrated in Britain, Denmark and Sweden

South Korea passed a law in 2010 allowing judges or a Justice Ministry panel the option of ordering chemical castration after a series of violent sexual assaults on children sparked public outrage.

In a survey conducted by Realmeter, an opinion survey firm based in Seoul, more than 75 percent of the 700 respondents agreed with a strong punishment, be it physical castration (38.3perent) or chemical castration (37.3 percent) to be against a child molester, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Other countries also have been moving ahead with laws allowing chemical castration for sex offenders. Evidence from Scandinavia suggests it can cut rates of reoffending from 40 percent to 5 percent.

Russian lawmakers in October gave first-round approval to a bill that would impose chemical castration on repeat sex offenders. Poland legalised the procedure in 2009 for offenders who rape minors or close relatives.

Chemical castration is also in use in Germany and several US states.