[In-Depth Review] 'Boys' Judgment' The Child Does Not Grow Up Alone

A major incident occurs in a youth recovery center where children under protective custody run away in groups. Since it is a rural area with few residents, there are no witnesses. The administrators quickly request help from the supervisory agency, but the response is that there are "no personnel available for urgent deployment." This is understandable, as one probation officer is responsible for over 100 juveniles. While the adults are flustered, the children who fled to Seoul fall into the temptation of other crimes.

The recently released Netflix original series Youth Judgment is a work centered on juvenile crime and the juvenile court system in South Korea. Inspired by real court cases, this 10-episode drama explores the current state and causes of juvenile crime from multiple angles through various episodes involving murder, group sexual crimes, and entrance exam corruption. The episodes that best reveal the work’s layered perspective and thematic consciousness are episodes 4 and 5, which feature the group runaway incident of juveniles under protection at a youth recovery center.

Sim Eun-seok (Kim Hye-soo), a judge of the Juvenile Criminal Division at Yeonhwa District Court, receives a suspicious tip while conducting a regular inspection of the youth recovery center “Pureum.” The tip alleges that the center is concealing child abuse. “Pureum,” led by star counselor Oh Seon-ja (Yeom Hye-ran), is a prestigious institution trusted by society, so if the tip proves true, it would cause a huge scandal. The children insist the abuse is real, while Oh Seon-ja argues it is merely the children’s rebellion demanding relaxation of the center’s rules.

One of the two is lying in this truth game that draws viewers in, and Youth Judgment carefully examines the root causes of this crisis. Where did the conflict between the center and the children begin? The answer must be found in the poor social conditions surrounding the center. Unlike national isolation facilities, youth recovery centers are ordinary homes that do not receive adequate government funding and are located in rural areas with low housing costs. Residents in these rural areas, where security personnel are relatively fewer than in metropolitan areas, tend to view juveniles under probation with more prejudice. Oh Seon-ja tries to approach the residents through active volunteer work with the children, but this is not an easy task for children who still lack social skills.

At the peak of the conflict, the children who leave the center are exposed to crime again. As the drama states, “Juvenile crime is not committed but absorbed,” the temptation for children with no money or place to go is the adult generation’s culture of prostitution. The children must be found before something worse happens. However, the limits of probation personnel now hold them back. As a line in the drama says, “The problem is not the law but the system,” the reality is that “both personnel and facilities are the lowest and worst ever among developed countries.” Through this episode, Youth Judgment discusses the seriousness of juvenile crime, which is intricately intertwined with problems ranging from family environment to national systems.

Judge Eun-seok’s verdict states, “It is true that family and environment influence juveniles, but among various choices, the juveniles ultimately chose crime,” indicating that juveniles cannot escape responsibility. However, he emphasizes further, “Juveniles never grow up alone.” Unless adults share the weight of the punishment and work to improve the situation, solving juvenile crime will be difficult. Ultimately, the work approaches not only the “Youth Judgment” but also serves as a judgment on the reality of youth in our society.

Kim Sun-young, Popular Culture Critic

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