4 Million Views on 'Juvenile Delinquent Rampage' Video: The Facts Checked [The Fact Is]

A video of a juvenile delinquent casually hurling profanities at police officers inside a police car has taken the internet by storm. Since the video was uploaded on the 8th, its view count has easily surpassed 4 million in just six days.


The footage appears to have been filmed directly by the student using a smartphone inside a police car. The student, who claims to be born in 2012, drops honorifics and freely curses at the police.

Public outrage was immense. Over 12,000 comments were posted. The vast majority were critical, with remarks such as "The juvenile delinquent system should be abolished" and "Some strict discipline is needed."


The SBS Fact Check "The Fact Is" team first looked into the authenticity of the video. Through searches, we identified the TikTok account presumed to be the original source of the video. The footage had already been deleted.

However, based on other videos from the account, we pinpointed the region where the student mainly operated and inquired about the video's authenticity with the police station having jurisdiction over that area. However, the police station responded that it was difficult to verify. We also checked with the National Police Agency to see if anything had been confirmed, but the answer was the same.

We wanted to report the details of the incident and how it was handled afterwards, but the process was not easy.

Actually, that is understandable. If the student in the video was truly a juvenile delinquent under the age of criminal responsibility, even if they cursed at the police as shown in the video, they are not subject to criminal punishment. As you know, juvenile delinquents who are criminal minors aged 10 and older and under 14 do not receive criminal punishment even if they commit acts that violate the law. Naturally, investigations into the offense would not have been carried out, and there is a high possibility that no specific records exist, at least regarding that offense.

Of course, it would have been different if it were an adult. While it is rare for simple swearing at police officers in an enclosed space without public exposure, such as a police car with no third parties present, to be punishable, if someone harbors a grudge against a police officer and makes remarks implying harm even to the officer's family, it could meet the requirements for the crime of intimidation. The student in the video said, "Should I go after your parents too?"

While a detailed legal review is necessary, there are similar precedents. In December 2019, a civil petitioner caused a disturbance at an administrative welfare center, telling the dispatched police officers, "I remember your face" and "I'm going to kill you," and repeated similar remarks inside the police car. The court ruled as follows and handed down a guilty verdict:
 
Next, we examined how the video spread. The SBS Fact Check team was able to identify other problems in the spread process of this video.

This video was actually not new. It was a video that had already circulated back in May. It had already become a controversy through media reports.

The process is as follows. Around last May, the student had already uploaded the video to their TikTok account, and a broadcasting company aired it, causing massive public outrage. Media outlets also quoted the content and wrote quite a few articles.

This process could be easily verified through searches.


The social significance contained in this kind of video spreading and consumption process seems far from small.

Someone uploaded a video whose consumption had already ended three months ago—though their intent is unclear—as if a new juvenile delinquent-related incident had occurred, and it spread rapidly once again. It led right back to 'public outrage.' There were no new 'facts,' but the exact same anger was simply 'reproduced.'

Right now, our society is facing a weighty policy task: lowering the age limit for juvenile delinquents. It is a complex and heavy issue with many points to consider, such as the possibility of rehabilitating juvenile offenders and the effectiveness of punishment. Rational debate is needed now more than ever. However, this kind of 'video recycling' only fuels a cycle of repetitive anger and can hinder healthy discussions. It carries a high risk of flattening social discourse into one-dimensional 'punitive' public sentiment.

Beyond simple expressions of anger, calm discussions are needed to find effective alternatives. Recently, the government also announced plans to conduct a public opinion poll regarding lowering the juvenile age, and mature discussions must serve as the foundation for effective public opinion gathering.

(Writer: Kim Hyo-jin, Intern: Park Geun-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.