81 sex offenders found to have been working at child-related facilities last year

• Published date: 02 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family caught 81 sex offenders for having held jobs where they were in contact with children last year, despite court-ordered employment restrictions, the ministry said Thursday.

Under the country's existing law governing the protection of children, ex-convicts who received employment restriction orders after being found guilty of sex crimes are prohibited from working at children-related places for a maximum of 10 years.

The law also calls on employers of these workplaces to do a background check before hiring any employees. Violators face up to 5 million won ($3,800) in fines.

The ministry inspected relevant workplaces across the country from March to December last year, checking the criminal records of about 3.41 million people. Among them, 81 were found to have received employment restriction orders by courts for their sex crimes.

"Of the 81, 43 had already been dismissed," a ministry official said.

The number of sex offenders caught increased by 14 from a year earlier.

By type of workplace, 24 ex-convicts were found to have worked at sports facilities or cram schools for children, while six were working at video game arcades or PC rooms. Four were working at schools.

Other facilities that employed ex-convicts included medical institutions, museums and...