Prosecutors said Sunday that they had asked a court to order chemical castration against a 25-year-old man for repeated sexual abuse of children.

The man surnamed Chang was arrested earlier on charges of sexual abuse of four elementary school boys.

He sexually abused the boys in June and July this year near their school in Dongdaemun in Seoul, according to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office.

Chemical castration refers to the process of using drugs to reduce sexual urges. In response to the growing public calls for more severe punishment of sex criminals, the government and ruling Saenuri Party agreed this summer to expand the enforced usage of hormonal treatment against sex offenders.

Under the revised law, a person convicted of raping a teenager under 16 may be sentenced to receive a hormone-based drug for up to 15 years if the court considers them likely to reoffend.

This is third time that prosecutors have requested chemical castration of child sex offenders.

The punishment is reserved for pedophiles, but the Saenuri Party wants to increase its use to include all sex offenders.

South Korea is the first Asian country to introduce this type of treatment, although Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and the U.S. state of California have used it.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)