Attempted rape is now punishable by chemical castration in South Korea.

According to Yonhap News, an amendment to a law punishing sex offenders was passed on Friday by the National Assembly. The amendment expanded the scope of the existing punishment to include people found guilty of attempted rape.

Sexual assault crimes which eventually lead to injury or the death of minors can also be castrated using chemical agents which are administered via injection or tablets. The procedure is intended to strip a person’s sex drive, compulsive sexual fantasies, and capacity for sexual arousal, thus removing the person’s ability to perform sexual acts.

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However, such effects are reversible as soon as the person is no longer administered with the drug. The law stipulates that offenders could be subject to the treatment for as long as 15 years.

South Korea became the first Asian country to adopt such penalty in 2011, initially directed toward pedophiles after several high-profile sex crimes against minors. The law faced massive criticisms over its implementation back then since rapists released after the “treatment” were observed to repeat their crimes anyway.

People who engage in voyeurism, filming parts of people’s bodies using a hidden camera, remain excluded from the amendment. According to Korea Herald, the government had proposed earlier this year that the secret photographing of people must also be punished by chemical castration.

Feature image via Youtube /Channel News Asia