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| Son Jong-woo, operator of one of the world's largest child porn sites, leaves a detention center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, Monday, after the court's rejection of a request to extradite him to the U.S. Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
Public anger is on the rise over the Korean court's rejection, Monday, of a U.S. extradition request against an operator of one of the world's largest child porn sites.
Rejecting the request from the United States, the Seoul High Court said, "Sending a criminal to a place where he can receive a harsher punishment isn't the purpose of the extradition scheme… Given the fact that he is a citizen of Korea, the court views that Korea can keep the right to impose punishment on the criminal."
On Cheong Wa Dae's website, a petitioner's complaint about the decision was quickly filed, drawing more than 280,000 endorsements less than one day after the ruling was given.
"Saying the criminal can receive a fair trial in Korea showed the arrogance of the judge who is probably in a position where he doesn't have to worry about undergoing sexual abuse," wrote the petitioner.
The petitioner also demanded the judge who delivered the ruling be banned from becoming a Supreme Court justice. According to local reports, judge Kang Young-soo is a candidate to replace justice Kwon Soon-il who is retiring.
Female prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun who led the #MeToo movement in Korea in 2017 also responded to the court's decision with anger, Tuesday.
"I felt angry, sad and desperate while reading the ruling. From the first to the last word, nothing felt correct," the prosecutor wrote on social media. "The judge should feel ashamed that the court failed to give a fair trial for the criminal thus making the public want to send him to the U.S. where he would receive just punishment."
Also, a group of female activists gathered outside the Seoul High Court, Tuesday, condemning the judge for his rejection ruling.
Son Jung-woo, 24, was arrested in March 2018 for operating Welcome to Video, one of the world's largest child porn websites. Law enforcement officials from around the world cooperated to find Son, site users and the victims.
In a move viewed as a grave insult to justice and reflective of the archaic Korean judicial system's total lack of empathy for the young victims, a court in Korea sentenced Son to a mere 18 months behind bars.
The U.S. federal grand jury indicted Son last year and requested his extradition.
Thanks to international efforts, more than 20 child victims from the U.S., Spain and the U.K. have been identified.
In May, Son's father took sudden legal action against him in a move to keep him in detention, a move to prevent the Korean court from extraditing him to the U.S.
