By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
From July, convicted kidnappers will be obligated to wear an electronic anklet monitoring their whereabouts around the clock for up to a decade, the Ministry of Justice said Sunday.
A bill forcing convicted kidnappers to wear the gadget was passed at the National Assembly Friday and the law will take effect in three months.
``It's expected to deter repeat offences by convicted kidnappers,'' it said.
The monitoring program was first introduced last September for surveillance of convicted sex offenders, chronic repeat offenders.
A report, which shows that the recidivism rate among convicted kidnappers was higher than other criminals, motivated the ministry to include them in the program.
According to a survey of former convicts between 2002 and 2007, 9.2 percent of convicted kidnappers committed similar crimes again, higher than the averaged recidivism of 8.1 percent among those found guilty of the four major felonies ㅡ homicide, arson, rape, and burglary, showing an increase in the number of kidnappings in recent years ㅡ 140 cases in 2006, 125 in 2007 and 153 as of October in 2008.
The time period will depend on the severity of the crime, how likely the individual is to re-offend and other relevant information, it said, adding those purposely taking it off or damaging the tracking system can face up to seven years in prison and a 20 million won in fine.
``We are considering additionally including those convicted of the four felonious crimes because its introduction proved successful,'' said So Byeong-chul, a justice ministry director.
The recidivism rate among those wearing the 24-hour-monitored gadget for the first six months stood at only 0.46 percent, down from an average of 5.2 percent before its introduction.