The government will implement tighter controls on the movement of citizens who have been caught buying or selling sex in foreign countries as part of efforts to effectively curb sex trafficking in and out of the country,
officials said Wednesday.
   
Measures include expanding the scope of sex offenders who can be banned from traveling abroad to include those who have seriously damaged Korea's national image through their involvement in sex trafficking abroad, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said during a government meeting.
   
They will be banned from leaving the country for up to three years under the Passport Act.
   
South Korean currently applies the law to those who have been expelled from foreign countries for being involved in sex trafficking.
   
The government had rejected passport requests by 61 people from 2008 till May of this year, as they were expelled from foreign countries for their involvement in overseas sex trafficking.
   
The ministry said it will prepare within this year a proposal of a law that will force bars, lodging businesses and barbershops to close down if they are caught for prostitution for the second time in a period of three years. (Yonhap News)