[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Lee Byung-hoon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced on the 5th that he has proposed amendments to the 'Library Act' and the 'Act on the Protection of Children and Adolescents from Sexual Abuse' to strengthen the management of works by child and adolescent sex offenders in libraries.
The amendment allows the 'Library Use Deliberation Committee' to impose usage restrictions on works by child sex offenders. Additionally, to manage works by child sex offender authors as part of routine operations, the amendment includes the Director of the National Library of Korea among those who receive crime information notifications about child sex offenders.
Once the amendment is passed, the Director of the National Library of Korea will be able to receive shared information about child sex offenders and continuously identify works by such offenders held in libraries. In October of last year, Rep. Lee pointed out during the National Assembly inspection that works by child sex offenders were being exposed to children and adolescents without protection, and proposed this bill as a follow-up measure.
Rep. Lee emphasized the importance of the amendment and the necessity of its passage, stating, "Providing information on whether the book one wishes to read is a work by a child sex offender is the minimum basic measure to protect children and adolescents."
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