The Constitutional Court of Korea ruled that it is constitutional to impose punishment for pornography in which adults take on the role of children. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 26 (Korea Bizwire) – The Constitutional Court of Korea ruled that it is constitutional to impose punishment for pornography in which adults take on the role of children, according to the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse.
The Korean law protecting youth from sexual abuse defines “child or juvenile pornography” as depiction of children or juveniles, or persons or representations that can be perceived as children or juveniles. Anybody who distributes child or juvenile pornography for commercial purposes can be punished with imprisonment of not more than seven years.
The provision caused controversy over its ambiguity, as adult actors or actresses acting as minors could be punished if they film any sex scenes like in the famous Korean film Eungyo. Main characters in animated films could even be the target of the punishment.
However, the Constitutional Court decided that the expression, “persons or representations that can be perceived as children or juveniles,” is not ambiguous, as it means that it could make people misperceive them as real children or youth, and it could arouse sexual crimes targeting children or youth.
Among the nine constitutional judges, five of them voted in favor, while the other four judges argued that it was unconstitutional.
The court admitted that the law could excessively limit freedom of expression, but it explained that considering the public interest in protecting the sexuality of children and youth, it is not the case of a Less Restrictive Alternative or against the balance of the law.
The minority opinion of the other four judges, however, said that the expression could cause arbitrary interpretation of the law with its ambiguity.
By M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
