President Lee Jae-myung was briefed during a closed-door cabinet meeting he presided over at the Blue House today (October 27) on the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the Ministry of Justice regarding lowering the age limit for criminal minors (chokbeop sonyeon), Senior Blue House Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing.

After receiving the briefing, President Lee instructed officials to "reach a final conclusion after a thorough review."

Earlier in July, after a first round of public discussions, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family reported a recommendation to the cabinet to lower the age threshold for juvenile offenders from the current "under 14" to "under 13" in cases of violent, serious, or repeated crimes.

However, after opinions were subsequently raised calling for an across-the-board adjustment of the standard rather than limiting it to specific crimes, as well as opinions advocating strengthening the standard to "under 12," the government decided to conduct an additional review, with the Ministry of Justice leading the second round of public discussions.

Regarding this, a government official explained, "We understand that public opinion itself favors an across-the-board adjustment to age 12, lowering it by two years from the current level, the most," adding, "However, within the government, there are also opinions that the standard should be set at age 13, lowering it by just one year rather than abruptly lowering it by two years, so no conclusion has been reached yet."

Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice is expected to proceed with an across-the-board reduction in the age threshold while conducting further reviews considering two options: age 13 and age 12.

(Photo: Yonhap News)