Ministry of Justice Introduces Korean-Style 'Jessica Law'... Strict Crackdown on Drugs, Organized Crime, and Jeonse Fraud

[Asia Economy reporters Seokjin Choi, legal affairs specialist, and Gimin Lee] The Ministry of Justice will introduce a Korean-style 'Jessica Law' that restricts the residence of high-risk sex offenders.

In addition, it will crack down on drug crimes, organized violence, jeonse fraud, and illegal collective actions, establish an immigration and entry control tower to realize unified immigration policies, and also promote amendments to the Civil Code and Commercial Code.

On the 26th, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon reported the plan to promote five core tasks of the Ministry of Justice, centered on these contents, to President Yoon Seok-yeol during the 2023 work report held at the Blue House State Guest House.

The Ministry of Justice selected five key tasks for this year: ▲realizing a country safe from crime ▲newly creating immigration and entry policies ▲strong response to anti-rule-of-law acts ▲building future legal order infrastructure ▲protecting human rights in blind spots.

First, the Ministry of Justice plans to amend the Electronic Monitoring Act to include provisions that restrict the residence of high-risk sex offenders such as repeat sex offenders and sex offenders against children under 13 years old, preventing them from living within a certain distance (up to 500 meters) from schools, daycare centers, and kindergartens after release, and limiting their nighttime outings.

The 'Jessica Law,' created in Florida, USA, after the case where 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford was abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered by a neighbor with a sex crime record, mandates a prison sentence of 25 years or more for first-time child sex offenders and prohibits them from residing within 600 meters of schools and parks after release. It is currently enforced in 42 states in the US.

In Korea, the need to introduce the 'Jessica Law' was raised when the sentence expiration of serial minor sex offender Kim Geun-sik approached last year and when news spread that serial sex offender Park Byung-hwa was living in a one-room apartment near a university in Hwaseong after release. At that time, Minister Han also stated that he would actively consider introducing the US 'Jessica Law' adapted to Korea's environment and reality.

The Ministry of Justice plans to allow courts to set residence restriction distances case by case within 500 meters, tailored to Korea's urban dense environment.

Additionally, the Ministry will establish special investigation teams for drug crimes and dedicated dark web investigation teams in four major regional prosecutors' offices nationwide?Seoul Central, Incheon, Busan, and Gwangju?to restore the status of a drug-free country. It will also build prosecution-police investigation consultative bodies in 18 district prosecutors' offices nationwide and share information and databases (DB) on violent organizations. While intensively cracking down on 'capital-free gap investment' jeonse fraud, it will also promote legal amendments to allow landlords' tax delinquency information to be checked in advance and simplify the registration procedures for leasehold rights to prevent jeonse fraud damage.

The number of foreign residents in Korea has already exceeded 2 million and is expected to surpass 3 million this year. Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice will establish an Immigration and Entry Management Agency to build a foundation for social integration through unified policy formulation and implementation, promote flexible visa and nationality policies, and reduce the current illegal foreign resident population of about 410,000 to the 200,000 range within five years. To increase predictability regarding the scale of foreign workforce introduction, a 'pre-announcement system for the annual total number of work visas' will also be introduced in the second half of this year.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice plans to strictly respond to illegal collective actions that hold the national economy and public inconvenience hostage under the 'non-compromise and zero-tolerance principle.' It will strongly respond to various forms of threatening crimes such as organized and malicious dissemination of false information for political agitation or private gain, 'online witch hunts,' and 'targeting' for group bullying. It will also actively consider victim protection measures such as post deletion request procedures, personal protection, and temporary restraining orders. High-amount fine enforcement teams will be established in seven prosecutors' offices including Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and legal amendments will be promoted to introduce provisions for suspension of statute of limitations for fugitives abroad and search and seizure for sentence execution.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice plans to amend the Civil Code to eliminate Japanese-style notations and reduce the statute of limitations for claims from the current 10 years to 5 years. The real estate possessory lien, which had many disputes due to lack of public notice methods, will be abolished, and new rights such as personality rights and publicity rights will be added. Amendments to the Commercial Code will also be promoted, including the introduction of electronic shareholders' meetings and deregulation to revitalize startup founding and operations.

An International Legal Affairs Bureau will be newly established to oversee international legal affairs such as responding to international disputes and supporting overseas expansion of companies, and a system will be prepared to allow electronic document submission to courts via online applications without visiting public institutions.

Additionally, the Ministry of Justice will increase the budget for public defenders, expand the 'Public Interest Representative Team' in the prosecution that performs public roles such as loss of parental rights and adult guardianship, thereby strengthening protection and support for socially vulnerable groups, and promote various policies to protect human rights in foreigner protection facilities and detention centers.

President Yoon said at the New Year's work report of the Ministry of Justice, the Fair Trade Commission, and the Ministry of Government Legislation held at the Blue House State Guest House under the slogan 'A country where law and principles stand upright, a fair Korea where everyone prospers,' "I think it is very meaningful that we gathered to discuss and contemplate what principles and philosophies we will have this year to operate the national affairs in your respective fields to create a country where law and principles stand upright and everyone prospers."

President Yoon pointed out, "When a company is small, it is fine to just work hard and do whatever it takes to make money. But when the company grows, the number of employees increases, the number of business partners grows, and it becomes linked with overseas sectors, the company cannot operate in that way."

He continued, "Many CEOs always think about the vision and values their company pursues, communicate and spread them to employees, business partners, and related people, and try to follow those principles. That is how the company grows, contributes to society, creates more economic value, and earns more money. The same applies to the country. The vision and values of a country are all written in the Constitution," he emphasized.

President Yoon also said, "The Ministry of Justice, the Fair Trade Commission, and the Ministry of Government Legislation are institutions that truly uphold the values Korea pursues and protect the Constitution. Freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law are called liberal democracy, and the Fair Trade Commission's role is to properly maintain and manage the principles of a free market economy under a fair competitive environment," he said.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.