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SEOUL ? South Korea will disclose the identities of pedophiles on the Internet from next year in a bid to curb rising sex crimes against minors, officials said Wednesday.
Under a new law on protecting children, information on convicted offenders, including their names, ages, addresses, photos and a summary of the offenses, will be put on a website.
"Next to the United States, South Korea will become the second country in the world to introduce this system," said Im Eul-Gi, a director at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs.
"The efficacy of this move will be much greater than the United States because of the country's comparatively small area."
The ministry is also pushing for a separate legal revision to mail such information to all households with children in the vicinity of an offender.
Violent sexual assaults on children have recently been increasing, putting the government and the judiciary under pressure to get much tougher.
The number of sex attacks against minors increased from 5,159 to 6,339 last year. More than 70 percent of attackers repeat the crime within three years of being released from prison, news reports said.
