How Do You Feel About 'Stricter Punishments' for Brutal Juvenile Crimes?

Repeated Juvenile Crimes Lead to Cheongwadae National Petition
72.2% of Youth Support Juvenile Law Revision
Experts Call for Fundamental Change Direction Beyond Juvenile Law Revision

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Seunggon Han and Yeongeun Kim] "Who is the Juvenile Act for?", "It seems like some teenagers are exploiting the law."

As juvenile crimes such as fatal accidents caused by unlicensed teenage drivers and group assaults by youths continue to occur, public opinion is rising that punishments are too lenient. Although the severity of these crimes is comparable to brutal adult crimes, the punishments are weaker due to classifications such as 'youth,' 'minor,' and 'delinquent juvenile' under the law.

Consequently, there is a growing public call to abolish the Juvenile Act and strengthen punishments. However, experts urge caution, noting that the backgrounds of juvenile offenders who are not yet adults also involve responsibilities of families and society.

On the 9th, a petition titled "Please help ensure a 17-year-old unlicensed driver is punished" was posted on the Blue House's public petition board. The petitioner, who identified themselves as an acquaintance of the deceased victim, stated, "Please make sure the 17-year-old unlicensed driver involved in the traffic accident on November 3 at 2:17 a.m. on Namgumi-daero before entering Namgumi Bridge in Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, is punished." They explained, "The 17-year-old unlicensed driver was driving at 120 km/h, swerving the steering wheel back and forth, causing the wheels to spin and the car to skid."

This is a petition post uploaded on the 9th by the victim's side of the fatal unlicensed driving accident involving a teenager that occurred in Gumi, Gyeongbuk. Photo by Cheongwadae National Petition Post Capture

They added, "The driver (the perpetrator) already has one prior offense, having stolen his mother's car and caused an accident, but despite a death occurring, because he is a minor, the investigation is being conducted without detention." They lamented, "He came to the funeral home without crying or apologizing, eating tangerines and sleeping, and watching this breaks our hearts."

Earlier, in September in Mokpo, Jeollanam-do, a collision between a rental car driven by an unlicensed high school student and a passenger car resulted in three deaths and four serious injuries. The offending high school student was arrested on charges of manslaughter under the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling. Additionally, in April, a second-year middle school student was assaulted by peers in a group attack, but only some of the perpetrators received a 10-day suspension from school.

Teenagers who commit crimes are classified as 'criminal minors' and receive weaker punishments under the current Juvenile Act compared to adults. According to the Juvenile Act enacted in 1953, acts committed by those under 14 years old cannot be criminally punished, and only those aged 14 to under 19 with criminal responsibility can receive protective measures along with criminal punishment.

Such juvenile crimes continue to increase. According to the 2020 Judicial Yearbook, the number of juvenile protection cases received last year was approximately 36,576, a 9.83% increase from the previous year (33,301), and about 24,000 (69.2%) of these cases resulted in protective measures instead of punishment.

Given this situation, voices demanding stronger punishments for minors, arguing that current penalties are too light relative to the severity of the crimes, are growing louder.

From the 2nd for about two weeks, Smart Student Uniform conducted a real-time survey of 637 teenagers. When asked about their opinion on the Juvenile Act, 47.4% responded that "the system should be abolished and minors should be punished the same as adults," and 44.1% said "the age limit should be lowered, such as to under 10 years old." Only 8.5% answered that "the current level is appropriate."

When asked about their opinion on revising the current Juvenile Act, which focuses on correction rather than strict punishment, 72.2% responded "in favor."

Photo by Yonhap News

Accordingly, on the 21st, the National Assembly proposed a partial amendment to the Juvenile Act to lower the upper age limit for application to 18 years old and exclude the Juvenile Act's application for serious crimes such as murder, abduction, enticement, human trafficking, sexual crimes, injury, and robbery.

However, compared to the current upper age limit of under 19, critics argue that the proposed amendments are still minimal and that strong punishments should not be imposed without addressing fundamental problems.

Experts suggest that even if other measures including punishment are considered for heinous crimes, reducing the age range for delinquent juveniles is not a fundamental solution, and a fundamental direction for change must be proposed.

Chief Judge Jongho Cheon of the Busan District Court said in a May interview with KBS, "Lowering the age is a temporary fix," adding, "If the age of criminal minority is lowered to 13, and then a 12-year-old commits a heinous crime, will lowering the age again be the solution?" He also pointed out, "For children who have more days to live than they have lived, there is a possibility of significant damage such as restrictions on public office appointments."

Additionally, Professor Soojeong Lee of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University emphasized, "It is time to consider how to prevent juvenile crimes from spreading into heinous crimes like the 'Nth Room' case."

Professor Lee criticized, "Juvenile offenders still have a lot of time ahead of them, but if they are isolated in adult-like detention without any rehabilitation and then released back into society, they are more likely to commit even more serious crimes than before. The backgrounds of juvenile offenders mostly involve neglect by society, education, and family, so blaming juveniles without addressing these issues will not prevent recidivism."

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