When it comes to domestic violence, the priority task for the main opposition Democratic United Party is to reinforce the protective measures for victims, as the offenders are highly prone to turning recidivist.

“Domestic abuse, due to the special tie between the victim and the aggressor, involves a higher second offense rate than any other violent crimes,” said Rep. Park Nam-choon.

“Yet, a large number of home violence crimes would go unpunished due to the lenient stance of the prosecution and the judiciaries.”

The first-termer, together with 12 other lawmakers, submitted on Monday a revision bill of the domestic violence law, banning prosecutors from suspending indictment and from sending the corresponding cases to the domestic court.

“It has become a prosecutorial custom to refrain from indicting home aggressors, on condition that they would get psychiatric counseling,” he said.

“This leads to a vicious circle as these offenders would soon be returned back home, where the violence is likely to recur.”

Judges, too, should consider more thoroughly whether the indicted person has the potential to commit a second offense, before handing down the sentence, Park said.

“Home violence should not be regarded as a mere internal discord, but a special type of brutal crime,” he said.

According to Justice Ministry data, among the 2,941 domestic violence offenders last year, 274 or 9.3 percent committed a second offense.

“There was, however, no record on how many actual offenders went unpunished, which displays the authorities’ tolerance of domestic violence,” Park said.

Curbing domestic violence is actually one of the few issues on which the ruling and opposition parties share a common view, he added.

“All demand that the state should actively interfere to eradicate domestic violence, though their detailed means may differ,” Park said.

“The issue, unfortunately, has largely been neglected, especially with the general and presidential election schedules.”

Rep. Jeon Jeong-hee, another DUP first-termer, also motioned a bill earlier this year to obligate the police to take intervention measures in domestic violence.

“The current law fails to properly protect the victims as it only allows authorities to step in upon an official report made during the actual process of the violent act,” she said.

“This is irrelevant as the victims in domestic violence remain within the surveillance range of the offender and find it difficult to access the police, especially while the violence is under way.”

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)