The nation's top court on Thursday upheld the life sentence for a 25-year-old man for kidnapping and raping an eight-year-old girl in the southern city of Naju.

The defendant, only identified by his surname Koh, was convicted of abducting the sleeping elementary school first-grader from her home and brutally raping her before trying to kill her in August 2012 in Naju, 350 kilometers south of Seoul.

The Supreme Court also upheld lower courts' order that Koh undergo chemical castration over a five-year period, which entails receiving hormonal treatments designed to suppress sexual impulses.

Koh was also ordered to wear an electronic monitoring anklet for 30 years and have his personal information be made available to the public for 10 years in the event he is released from prison on parole.

The high-profile case sent shock waves across the country, prompting then-President Lee Myung-bak to offer a public apology, and raise alarm bells over other women and children who were victims of sexual assaults.

As part of efforts to root out repeated sexual assaults against women and children, the government in 2013 expanded the use of chemical castration for sex offenders who are at risk of repeating their crimes. (Yonhap)