"Should They Be Forgiven for Being Young?" Concerns Over Lenient Punishment for Teenage Perpetrators of the 'n번방' Case

On the 25th of last month, as the vehicle carrying Jo Joo-bin, the operator of the "Doctor's Room" who is accused of producing and distributing sexual exploitation materials involving women including minors on the internet messenger Telegram, left the Jongno Police Station in Seoul and headed to the prosecution detention center, citizens held a picket protest demanding severe punishment for Jo Joo-bin. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Shin-won] Concerns are growing that lenient punishments may be handed down as it was revealed that among the 223 people arrested on digital sex crime charges such as the 'Nth Room' and 'Doctor's Room' cases?where sexual exploitation materials were produced and distributed targeting teenage and women in their 20s on Telegram?65 were underage teenagers.

According to the police, as of the 9th, 223 people (charged with digital sex crimes, etc.) have been arrested. The largest age group among the suspects was those in their 20s with 103 people, followed by teenagers who accounted for about 29%, or 65 individuals. Additionally, 43 were in their 30s, 4 in their 40s, and 6 were aged 50 or older.

Among them were 56 operators, including Jo Joo-bin (25, detained), the operator of the Nth Room, who produced and distributed sexual exploitation materials; 64 people charged with distributing such materials; and 100 people arrested for possessing sexual exploitation materials.

Notably, several teenagers were among the accomplices who actively assisted Jo Joo-bin’s crimes. These include 'Taepyeongyang' (nickname), a 16-year-old who was part of the Doctor's Room management team, and Kang (18), known as 'Butta,' who recruited and managed participants in the Doctor's Room and delivered criminal proceeds to Jo Joo-bin.

Moreover, among the operators of the 'Discord Nth Room' who resold and distributed sexual exploitation materials for money, there was even a 12-year-old child classified as a 'juvenile offender not subject to criminal responsibility' at the time of the crime.

Teenagers Whose Identities Cannot Be Disclosed or Punished

The police have stated that they will decide on identity disclosure considering the severity of the crime. Of course, minors are excluded from consideration. However, some suspects, such as Butta, born in 2001, will turn 19 this year, so it is necessary to determine whether they qualify as youths under the Youth Protection Act, and their identities may be disclosed after review by the Identity Disclosure Review Committee. Nevertheless, for those born after 2001, legal identity disclosure is impossible.

It is expected that the underage suspects involved in the crimes will not only avoid identity disclosure but also receive very lenient punishments. The Juvenile Act, which applies to those under 19, divides sentencing into long-term and short-term, with imprisonment exceeding 2 years limited to a maximum of 10 years for long-term and 5 years for short-term sentences. Considering that actual sentences tend to be lighter than the prosecution's demands, even more lenient punishments are anticipated. Especially, juveniles under 14 classified as 'juveniles not subject to criminal responsibility' do not even have a criminal record according to the regulation that "protective measures for juveniles do not affect their future personal records."

This is why there are criticisms that teenagers are committing crimes as heinous as adults but punishments are not keeping pace. Particularly after the announcement that many teenagers were involved among the Nth Room participants, petitions demanding identity disclosure even for minors have been continuously submitted. One petitioner who posted a petition titled "Please disclose the identities of all Nth Room members regardless of age" stated, "I believe that being young does not mean everything is forgiven," adding, "Although they are young, their actions are hardly those of juveniles, and they should receive the same punishment. For that to happen, identity disclosure is naturally necessary."

On October 15, 2017, members of the 'We Demand the Abolition of the Juvenile Act' cafe held a campaign urging the revision of the Juvenile Act in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Asia Economy DB

Growing Public Opinion for Amendment or Abolition of the Juvenile Act and Juvenile Offenders Act

In fact, the Juvenile Act and Juvenile Offenders Act, which impose relatively light punishments due to 'age,' have been hot topics for several years. This is because the severity of crimes committed by underage teenagers is worsening day by day. Looking only at sex crimes, the number increased from 1,469 to 1,633 over the past four years, and crimes related to child sexual exploitation materials nearly doubled from 791 to 1,424.

Another petitioner demanding the abolition of the Juvenile Offenders Act said, "Many perpetrators of the Nth Room committed crimes since their teenage years, and the public is well aware that teenagers are currently involved in heinous crimes," adding, "Turning a blind eye to teenage crimes and hoping they just grow up well is not in the best interest of our country's future."

They continued, "Because the laws were created in the past, they are handling current crimes inadequately, leading to improper punishments and low sentences," and "The era when being a teenager grants immunity from sex crimes, murder, robbery, etc., must come to an end."

However, there are also opinions that lowering the age of criminal responsibility or abolishing the Juvenile Offenders Act may not be effective alternatives for preventing juvenile crime. The proportion of juvenile offenders classified as juvenile offenders not subject to criminal responsibility is very low, below 1%, and many of these offenders come from socially marginalized backgrounds such as single-parent families or runaway youths.

Internationally, the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child not only urges member states not to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility but also recommends raising it.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea also stated, "It is uncertain whether harsh punishment of juvenile offenders is effective in preventing juvenile crime," and "What should be focused on in juvenile crime is the recidivism rate, especially the increase in short-term recidivism. Juvenile crime prevention policies should be comprehensively improved to reduce environments that expose youths to reoffending."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.