A Justice Ministry committee this week ordered a man repeatedly convicted of sexually assaulting children to undergo chemical castration in the country’s first use of the punishment.

The law authorizing forced medication of sex offenders aged 19 or above who victimized minors under 16 took effect last July.

Though Korea became the first Asian country to legalize chemical castration of pedophiles, its judicial authorities still remain far detached from the public sense of due justice for sex offenders.

The first application of chemical castration should serve as an occasion for judges and law enforcement officials to reflect on the way they have handled sex offenses.

A man murdered a woman last month after a judge at a Seoul court rejected a police request for warrant to arrest him on charges of raping her.

Police officials said they had submitted his text messages threatening to kill her to prove the need to place him in detention.

If the police did not lie, the judge was to blame for either being negligent on reviewing records or failing to make a correct judgment.

The case reflects the lenient and loose way the court has handled sex offense cases in recent years.

According to court figures, six out of 10 sex offenders were just fined or recieved suspended sentences in 2010.

Such judicial handling is far removed from public sentiment. In a 2011 survey by the Supreme Court, more than 58 percent of respondents agreed on the need to give prison sentences to sex offenders even if they settled with victims.

It might be considered to introduce a system to issue arrest warrants for suspected sex offenders without exception to preempt a repetition of crimes, as practiced in some U.S. states.

The court and the prosecution are also urged to tighten in-house discipline for their staff involved in sex offense and harassment cases.

A senior judge, who was accused of sexually harassing a woman on a subway in Seoul last year, went unpunished after quitting the bench.

Three male prosecutors were disciplined last year for sexually harassing junior female prosecutors. One of them was later assigned to a department dealing with sex crimes.

Five other investigators at the prosecution underwent an inquiry on rape charges between 2002-10 and two of them received no disciplinary measures, according to the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office.

These cases show that the traits of male-dominated tradition, which are inclined to make light of sex offenses, still remain strong in Korea’s law enforcement agencies.

The court and the prosecution may have to consider introducing special programs to raise awareness of judges and prosecutors toward the trauma that victims of sex crimes suffer.