The number of people petitioning on the Blue House website for more severe punishment for child rapists and pornographers surpassed the 200,000 mark Thursday, which may force the presidential office to respond to the matter, reports said.

Cheong Wa Dae has pledged to give a response to petitions that have gained more than 200,000 signatures in a month. The above petition was posted on April 15 and had garnered 202,467 supporters as of 3:10 p.m. Thursday.

Titled “Help save our children who fall victim to sexual abuse and harassment by adults,” the petition shed light onto sex crimes against children in Korea. 

The problematic post that the petitioner saw on an illegal pornography site on April 1 described a father who claimed to have sex with his 7-year-old child on multiple occasions whenever the child’s mother was out of the house.

Along with the post, the unidentified father reportedly posted pictures he took during the assault. The petitioner claimed to have seen more than 30 inappropriate comments on the post that idolized the father’s behavior.

The cyber crimes division reportedly showed a lukewarm response to the petitioner, citing the “difficulty to track down child rapists and pornographers.”

The petition also called for punishment for the online commenters who applauded the father’s sexual assault against his young child.

By Catherine Chung (cec82@heraldcorp.com)