As a public outcry mounts over sexual molestation and harassment cases at a high school in Seoul, officials are busy announcing measures to curb sexual abuses at schools and other public workplaces.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn presided over a meeting of senior government officials last Friday to discuss the issue. Participants agreed to push for revisions of pertinent laws and regulations to fight sexual abuse.

Under the plans, teachers, soldiers and government employees will be removed from their posts even if they are only implicated in sexual misconduct. This means anyone who is subject to investigation would be relieved of their position immediately and will have to wait for the outcome of the probe and court decisions before they are reinstated.

The plans also banish for good those who are fined for their sexual wrongdoings. Currently, only those who get jail terms are banned from taking up their posts again. In addition, those who try to cover up or conceal cases of sexual misconduct will also be dismissed.

These proposals followed the announcement of similar measures by the Seoul Metropolitan Education Office, which had become a target of public criticism for its poor response to the cases involving five male teachers at the Seoul high school.

Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon said that the municipal education office would audit every case of suspected sexual misconduct, and anyone who is implicated would be relieved of his or her post immediately.

Cho also said those whose misdeeds are verified would be banished from their jobs and their names would be made public. Even first-time offenders would face the same punishment in what Cho called a “one-strike” policy.

All of these measures announced by the prime minister and the superintendent are necessary -- though not sufficient -- to curb the growing sex crimes. What puzzles us is why such rushed measures are taken only when high-profile cases break out, like the one at the Seoul high school.

When she took office 2 1/2 years ago, President Park Geun-hye said that her administration would target four major social ills -- sex crimes, school violence, domestic crimes and substandard food.

As in other areas, Park has done little to put her promise into action in fighting the four ills, not least sex crimes. If she had done a good job, the principal and four other male teachers at the Seoul school would have not been able to molest and harass female teachers and students in such brazen ways.

Nor would as many as 123 of the 231 teachers who had been punished for sexual misdeeds between January 2011 and June of this year have been allowed to retain their jobs and freely interact with students.

The Prime Minister’s Office, briefing reporters about Friday’s meeting, did not forget to mention that Hwang called the meeting in consideration of the importance of the issue, even though he was on vacation. None of the victims or parents whose children suffered from sexual abuse on campuses or in military barracks would ever feel grateful for the prime minister’s decision to forgo one of his holidays.

What Hwang and Cho have to do -- besides announcing the measures -- is offer public apologies and promise to get to the bottom of the cases at the Seoul high school and probe why the Seoul Education Office overlooked reports of teachers’ sexual misconduct. The genuine work to fight sex crimes should start with a “zero-tolerance” policy on the latest cases.