Entrance to the main government complex in Sejong, about 130 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Anyone who has been fined for distributing pornography online will be prevented from becoming a government employee for three years, just like other individuals who are convicted of crimes of sexual violence, the government said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Personnel Management announced that a newly revised act on government employees will soon take effect.
According to the revised rule, anyone who has distributed, sold or exhibited pornography online will be prevented from becoming a government employee.
Anyone who has been fined more than 1 million won (US$747) for acts that qualify as sexual violence as defined under article 2 of the special act on sexual violence will be prevented from becoming a government employee for three years.
Any person charged with sexual violence involving juveniles will be banned from working for the government for life.
The Ministry of Personnel Management said that anyone who has been fined more than 1 million won for distributing, selling or exhibiting pornography online as stipulated in the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection will also be prevented from becoming a government employee for three years.
“Until now, online distribution of pornography had been treated as an ‘ordinary crime’ since it was dealt with by the information network act, instead of the special act on sexual violence,” a government official said, explaining the intent of the recent revision.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
