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SEOUL - A South Korean law allowing the use of "chemical castration" on sex offenders will take effect Sunday, making it the first Asian country to use such punishment, news reports said.
Passed by parliament a year earlier, the law will allow court judges to sentence sex offenders, who victimise minors under 16 and have been diagnosed as sexual deviants, to chemical castration for up to 15 years.
Offenders would receive behavioral and psychological therapies in addition to drugs which suppress their libido.
The number of offenders to be sentenced to chemical castration is expected to be about 100 every year, an unidentified justice ministry official was quoted as saying by the Chosun Ilbo daily.
The law bill was first introduced in 2008 after a spate of sexual attacks on minors sparked widespread public anger.
- AFP /ls
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