Why one man’s move is shaking South Korea: Child rapist’s relocation sparks controversy, fear
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SEOUL - Cho Doo-soon, notorious for one of the most shocking crimes in South Korean history, has once again sparked public outrage and concern after his recent move to a new residence.
Cho, who was released from prison in December 2020
His move to a new residence, just 2km away from his previous home, has stoked fears and controversy among nearby residents once again.
Since Cho’s release four years ago, his presence in Ansan has been a source of anxiety, leading to angry demonstrations and anonymous death threats.
Residents have expressed their fears of his recidivism, given Cho’s brutal criminal history. Despite measures in place to monitor him, many said they felt uneasy about having a convicted child rapist living nearby, especially with families and children in the vicinity.
Police installed a monitoring system at his home and added 35 surveillance cameras, brighter street lights and police booths in Cho’s neighbourhood to both monitor his movements and deter people who have threatened his safety.
As Cho has reportedly moved into a house just a five-minute walk from an elementary school and daycare centre, outrage is mounting. There are about 10 elementary, middle and high schools within the 1.5km range.
More than half of the nation’s day care centres, kindergartens, and elementary, middle and high schools have sex offenders living within a 1km radius, showed a report released on Oct 30.
According to the report submitted by Representative Paik Seung-ah, 59 per cent of daycare centres, 51 per cent of kindergartens, 45 per cent of elementary schools, 48 per cent of middle schools, and 53 per cent of high schools were exposed to the possibility of running into sex offenders in the neighbourhood.
By location, Seoul showed the highest rate, with 83 per cent of daycare centres in the area being located within a kilometre of a sex offender’s home.
The South Korean government has implemented a range of measures to keep track of released sex offenders and alert communities. These include providing information about offenders’ residences and criminal records and allowing concerned parties to check how many sex offenders live in their neighbourhoods.
In Cho’s case, this knowledge alone has done little to ease his neighbour’s concerns.
The police have ramped up their response to Cho’s relocation. Patrols in the vicinity of his new residence have been strengthened, with a full-time patrol car deployed near his home and additional officers assigned to the area.
However, a special security centre that was previously stationed near his old residence has yet to be relocated to his new neighbourhood, raising questions about efficiency in building security, as the Justice Ministry, police and local government must cooperate in advance to determine the proper location.
Cho was released from prison in December 2020 for sexually assaulting the girl in 2008. The convict, then 57, violently raped the child in a church restroom in Ansan after kidnapping her while she was on her way to school.
The victim was left with injuries so severe that they resulted in permanent internal damage. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
