hankyoreh

where the country’s first chemical castration verdict was handed down on Jan. 3. (Yonhap News)

By Jo Ae-jin, staff reporter 　

For the first time, a South Korean court has sentenced a sex offender to chemical castration, meant to suppress sexual urges for a three-year period.

The 11th criminal consensus division of Seoul Southern District Court, under chief judge Kim Gi-yeong, sentenced a 31-year-old man by the surname Pyo to 15 years in prison for violating the Act on Special Cases concerning the Punishment, etc., of Sexual Violence Crimes after sexually assaulting and blackmailing several teenagers. Pyo was also ordered to make his personal information public for a 10-year period, wear a tracking electronic ankle bracelet for 20 years, and undergo three years of chemical treatment to suppress his sexual urges, as well as 200 hours of therapy.　

First ruling of its kind　

The court explained its sentence by noting that Pyo had committed crimes against multiple victims over a long period during the recidivism period for sexual offenses, which is three years after the completion of a sentence.

It also said the crimes were particularly heinous, saying that Pyo had “targeted minors and recorded videos of them for his own amusement.”

In explaining its sentence of chemical castration, the court said Pyo “is incapable of controlling himself because of his extreme sexual urges and perverted sexual perceptions. We have concluded that chemical treatment will help in restraining Mr. Pyo’s excessive sexual impulses.”

Pyo was arrested for sexual assault after having sexual relations with five teenagers he had met through a smartphone chat service over a seven-month period beginning in November 2011. Pyo recorded the acts and threatened to post the videos on the internet.

The prosecutors’ request for a chemical castration sentence was based on Pyo’s own testimony from August 2012 stating that he was “incapable of controlling [his] extreme sexual urges.”

The ruling marks the first time the prosecutors’ request for a chemical castration sentence has been granted since the Act on Medication Treatment of the Sexual Impulses of Sex Offenders - the so-called “Chemical Castration Act” - went into effect in July 2011. Rulings are currently pending for six other cases where prosecutors also requested medication treatment.

How does chemical castration work?　

Medication treatment to suppress sexual impulses is used with convicted perpetrators of sexual crimes over 19 years of age who have victimized a minor aged 16 or younger and are believed to pose a risk of reoffending. Prosecutors with a diagnosis and analysis from a mental health professional may request a sentence of treatment for up to 15 years. An amended version of the act that goes into effect in March would remove the age limit on the victim, allowing requests for all sexual offenses.

The law can also affect people whose sentence did not include a treatment order. Prisoners convicted of sexual assault may be sentenced to chemical castration by a court if they are deemed a repeat offense risk and the parties involved agree to it. Parolees undergoing rehabilitation or in protective custody may receive a treatment order from the Ministry of Justice’s rehabilitation custody review committee during their three-year probation period. Indeed, the ministry handed down the country’s first-ever order for medication to suppress sexual impulses last May for a 45-year-old inveterate child molester identified by the surname Park.

Once the decision is made to put someone on treatment, medication is given to suppress the secretion of sex hormones, a procedure that begins less than two months before his parole or the completion of his sentence. Upon release, the person is required to receive one dosage every three months during the court-ordered treatment period. The medication, a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist, blocks the production of testosterone, thus reducing sexual impulses and fantasies and temporarily preventing the patient from sustaining an erection. The ministry maintains that the medication has long been used in hospitals to treat prostate cancer, and its side effects are well documented.

But there are questions as to how effective the treatment actually is, as well as major human rights concerns.

Yu Yeong-cheol, a professor of law at Hannam University, said studies from the European countries where similar laws were first implemented showed that the dosage was only effective when taken voluntarily by the offender.

“When it’s administered forcibly, without the patient’s consent, there is no effect from the treatment, leaving only the concerns about human rights infringements,” Yu said.

Some critics said chemical castration in South Korea is used more as a form of suppression than as treatment, noting that it is ordered without the consent of the offender - contrary to the practice in countries such as Germany and Sweden.

“We certainly do need strict punishments, but we also need to look at the root causes of sex crimes, including a distorted South Korean culture that views women solely as sex objects,” said Hankuk University of Foreign Studies law professor Lee Jang-hee.

“To force someone to undergo medication as ‘treatment’ is a punishment that goes against the preservation of human dignity, which our constitution holds as its paramount value,” Lee argued.

Other concerns about the treatment include the fact that it only reduces sexual impulses for the treatment period, meaning it is not a permanent cure, and the law does not assign responsibility for any side effects from long-term medication. These factors suggest the possibility of future legal disputes.

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