The South Korean government and the ruling Democratic Party(DP) have agreed to revise laws to punish not only those who produce and sell digital pornographic material subjecting minors, but also those who possess, advertise and purchase them.

DP Rep. Back Hye-ryun, the head of the party's committee on eradicating digital sex crimes, said on Thursday that the two sides also agreed to require internet service providers to prevent the distribution of such materials.

Authorities will be able to confiscate profits from digital sex crimes even before a court ruling under a newly adopted forfeiture system.

The government and the ruling party agreed to cooperate to pass a package of three bills on preventing digital sex crimes during the current parliament.

Digital sex crimes have become a major issue since the so-called "Nth Room" case involving the sexual exploitation of minors on the Telegram messaging app.

Meanwhile, the two sides also decided to raise the standard age for statutory rape from 13 to possibly 16, agreeing to further discuss the matter.