Protests in South Korea over release of infamous child rapist

Protesters lie down on the road to oppose the release of Cho Doo-soon in front of a prison in Seoul, South Korea

Credit: Yonhap

Protests erupted as a sex offender was released from prison in South Korea at the end of his sentence for raping and seriously injuring a young girl, a crime which caused revulsion across the country. 

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the prison in Seoul, shouting “castrate him!” and throwing eggs at Cho Doo-soon, 69, who has become South Korea’s most infamous rapist. 

In 2008, he kidnapped an 8-year-old girl as she was on her way to school and raped her in a church bathroom, leaving her with permanent internal injuries. 

His case has hardened calls for harsher punishment for sex offenders who are said to be treated lightly by the country’s courts.  

Cho used the defence that he was drunk when he committed the crime to get a reduced punishment. His 15-year prison sentence was commuted to 12 years’ imprisonment, sparking widespread anger. 

In another case, Son Jong-woo was convicted in 2018 of running one of the world’s largest child pornography networks, but only received a sentence of 18 months in prison. A court in Seoul then failed to agree to extradite him to the United States, where he would have faced additional charges and up to 50 years in an American prison. 

Women’s rights activists say that such lenient treatment of sex offenders has allowed sex abuse to spread unchecked across the country. 

Angry protesters threw eggs and shouted insults as Cho as he was released

Credit: AP/ Kim Jong-taek

Ahead of Cho’s release on Saturday, the country’s legislature passed new rules for child sex offenders released from prison. These include banning them from leaving their homes at night or during the hours when pupils travel to and from school. Lawmakers have also proposed a bill that would mean child rapists would receive mandatory life sentences. 

Anger is still raw over Cho’s crime 12 years ago, which led to a public outpouring of sympathy for the girl he attacked.

Her ordeal and how she and her family coped with her multiple severe and lasting injuries became the subject of a 2013 movie called “Hope”, which was a hit and won several awards in South Korea. 

Police have said Cho will be wearing an electronic tracking anklet for seven years and barred from going near places frequented by children.  

That has not stopped the public’s outrage and fear at his release. Multiple online petitions calling for him to be kept in prison had garnered around a million signatures since 2017. 

On Saturday, protesters rallied for hours outside the Seoul prison from where Cho was released. They held signs that read “Cho Doo-soon to hell” and shouted for his execution. Some protesters lay down on the ground and locked arms to try to block an exit from the prison. They were dispersed by police, but their action appeared to delay Cho’s release by around half an hour.    A probation officer, Ko Jeong-dae, told reporters Saturday that Cho had said he had reflected on his crime and offered an apology to the victim. 

To try to allay public fears, security guards, including former special forces’ soldiers, will patrol the area around Cho’s house in Ansan, a city near the capital, Seoul, 24 hours a day, Ansan’s government has said. They are also adding 20 more security cameras and more street lights. 

Cho’s victim and her family moved a few weeks ago from their home that was just half a mile away, her father told the Reuters news agency.