Gov't set to disclose suspect IDs in brutal crimes

SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- The Cabinet approved Tuesday legal revisions that
allow authorities to release the personal details of suspects in especially
heinous crimes, an action that follows grisly serial murder and child rape cases.
The government and the ruling Grand National Party have been pushing for the
revisions since the arrest of Kang Ho-sun, who earlier this year confessed to
having murdered eight women over past four years. The court convicted Kang and
sentenced him to death, but he has appealed.
Major media outlets published photos of Kang and his full name prior to his
conviction, triggering a heated debate over whether a suspects' privacy rights
overrides the public's right to know.
The revisions require that the disclosures be limited to cases in which the
suspects have confessed to the alleged crimes or when investigators have ample
evidence to convict them. Fears that a suspect may commit further crimes could
also serve as grounds to release the information.
"The number of murders and rapes has been on the rise for the recent five years,
and serial killers and the number of pedophiles is also increasing," the Justice
Ministry, which initiated the revisions, said in a statement. "We laid the legal
grounds for the disclosure for the sake of the public interest and crime
prevention."
The number of murders in South Korea reached 1,124 in 2007, up 11 percent from
2003, according to the ministry. Reported rapes increased by 31.5 percent during
the same period.
brk@yna.co.kr
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