KOR
▲ Minister of Gender Equality and Family Won Min-kyung speaks during the 4th meeting of the Social Dialogue Council on the age of criminal minors (juvenile offenders exempt from criminal punishment) held at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on April 30.
A government-led public deliberation process has concluded that the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles should be lowered from under 14 to under 13, but only for cases involving serious, violent, or repeat offenses. The findings also recommend improvements to protective disposition systems to better prevent crime.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family reported these results and policy recommendations to the Cabinet meeting today (July 14).
Currently, juveniles under the age of 14 who commit crimes are exempt from criminal punishment and instead receive protective dispositions. The proposal suggests lowering this threshold to under 13 specifically for serious, violent, and repeat offenses.
Beyond adjusting the age limit, the recommendations include measures to prevent juvenile delinquency and improve the management of protective dispositions.
The Ministry proposed the establishment of a pan-governmental response system, tentatively named the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Policy Committee, to manage juvenile crime and prevention efforts.
Furthermore, the Ministry requested improvements to the current system where all juvenile offenders under the age of 14 are automatically referred to juvenile court, unlike older juvenile offenders (aged 14 to under 19) who may be released with a warning for minor offenses. It also called for a legal basis to grant police the authority to investigate these juvenile offenders.
The Ministry also urged the introduction of measures to protect the rights of victims, noting that current investigations are handled exclusively by juvenile court judges and conducted in private, which can infringe upon victims' rights to provide statements.
In addition, the Ministry recommended adding family therapy orders to the existing types of protective dispositions—which include custody, attendance orders, community service, probation, facility placement, and reformatory commitment—and called for the expansion of infrastructure and professional staff to strengthen these programs.
This compromise appears to have been influenced by the fact that while maintaining the current age limit was the dominant view among academics and experts, a significant portion of the public deliberation process favored lowering the age.
A survey of 212 citizens who participated in the deliberation process showed that support for a conditional lowering of the age rose from 45.8 percent before the discussion to 46.7 percent afterward, an increase of 0.9 percentage points.
Support for a blanket reduction of the age limit fell from 37.3 percent to 30.2 percent, a decrease of 7.1 percentage points, while support for maintaining the current standard rose from 5.7 percent to 17.0 percent, an increase of 11.3 percentage points.
When asked to what age the limit should be lowered, 55.8 percent of respondents favored lowering it by one year, from the current under 14 to under 13.
However, in separate online public hearings involving 199 adults and 43 adolescents, a blanket reduction was the most popular opinion, supported by 78 percent and 67 percent of participants, respectively.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stated, "We have synthesized the results of the citizens' deliberation and the conclusions of the council," adding, "We plan to establish a follow-up discussion framework involving relevant ministries, such as the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Policy Committee, and begin detailing implementation plans for each task starting in the second half of this year."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
