Seongbuk District Library Removes Children's Book Author Accused of Child Sexual Abuse

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) has prohibited students and citizens from accessing books by children's author Han Ye-chan, who was sentenced to prison in the first trial on charges of child sexual assault, at 15 district public libraries starting from the 17th.

The targeted books include 81 volumes held by the public libraries, and all books related to Han have been moved from the reading rooms to storage.

Some books currently on loan will have access restricted as soon as they are returned.

Additionally, to create a safe reading environment for children, Saemaeul Libraries and small libraries in the area have been informed of Han's first trial prison sentence for child sexual assault and have reviewed internal regulations to restrict access accordingly.

Han has been on trial since 2018 for sexually assaulting elementary school students he personally taught, and in December last year, he was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison and taken into custody. It is known that he has appealed the first trial verdict.

Han's major works include the "Seoyeon Series," a fantasy historical series for elementary students, and the "Tintin Romance Series," which tells love stories between adults who have reverted to childhood and minors.

Lee Seung-ro, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, said, "As a public library, this is a solidarity act to empathize with and support socially vulnerable groups. The author's history, detached from the books, will remain as an indelible scar on the books. We will continue to respond promptly to incidents and changes occurring in our society and strive to learn and grow."

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