[Interview①] 'Juvenile Justice' Director "Season 2? I Hope to Portray Juvenile Offenders' Perspectives"

Director Hong Jong-chan's Megaphone
"High Recidivism Rate Among Juvenile Cases"
"If Season 2 is Produced, We Will Look Into Their Circumstances"

Director Hong Jong-chan / Photo by Netflix

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] "If 'Juvenile Justice' Season 2 is produced, I want to depict why juveniles inevitably end up 'reoffending.'"

Will Judge Sim Eun-seok's cry continue to resonate with the world? Director Hong Jong-chan said to Asia Economy on the 16th, "Juvenile cases have a high recidivism rate, and I want to create a story about juveniles placed in environments where rehabilitation is impossible."

The Netflix series 'Juvenile Justice' (directed by Hong Jong-chan), released on the 25th of last month, deals with juvenile offenders and criminal minors, a serious social issue recently. Criminal minors refer to those aged 10 or older but under 14 who have committed criminal acts. The series received praise for its timely planning as youth violent crimes have occurred repeatedly recently.

Director Hong said, "'Juvenile Justice' Season 1 mainly focused on the juvenile criminal division, judges, and trials, but for Season 2, how about portraying the environment of juvenile offenders, their stories, and the social system that continuously produces juvenile offenders from the perspective of the juveniles themselves?"

The virtue of 'Juvenile Justice' lies in its serious approach to the heavy subject of 'child and adolescent crime.' It is also noteworthy that the depiction of crimes such as prostitution, fraud, theft, and assault focused on the perpetrators' actions rather than the victims'. This is the result of the director's deep contemplation.

Director Hong Jong-chan shared, "I thought that not only the main characters, including Sim Eun-seok, but also the juvenile offenders appearing in the series were entirely the essence of the work," describing the preparation process.

"When setting the tone, I decided to avoid spectacular visuals or overly advanced directing and instead opted for quiet, unobtrusive direction. While it is easier to create mise-en-sc?ne or use various angles, it was challenging to highlight characters without the direction standing out within the drama. I avoided excessive camera work or artificial interventions and considered how to express each juvenile offender slightly differently according to each case."

Director Hong Jong-chan agreed with the sincerity of 'Juvenile Justice' and the writer's conviction. He said, "As a director, it is very important to understand what the writer wants to convey," adding, "I intervened in the scenario at times and frequently exchanged opinions with writer Kim Min-seok."

He continued, "The dialogues and speech patterns of the characters and juvenile offenders are all imagined and written by the writer before seeing the actual characters. During casting, as the characters became more concrete, the tone and speech changed, reflecting opinions. I gave feedback on the script, dialogues, and episodes, and the writer accepted it well."

Sim Eun-seok (played by Kim Hye-soo) is portrayed as an autonomous woman who is impressively not bound by the corset (external standards imposed on women by society). Also memorable is that she is a mother who lost a child but does not impose motherhood, ultimately depicted as a victim's family member and a human being.

Director Hong said, "When I first thought of Sim Eun-seok, images of bare, cold, thin winter branches came to mind."

"Sim Eun-seok's past is revealed, and she burns her son's keepsakes in a lush forest. From a directorial perspective, the character started from winter, bareness, dryness, and coldness, and when she is finally healed from the past and ready to send her son off, the season warms slightly, depicting a blossoming spring."

He added, "Although some aspects of Eun-seok's character emerge when she initially faces the victims' parents, I did not want to directly reveal that she had experienced such pain. Since the story structure unfolds Sim Eun-seok's past intertwined with the final case, her character was expressed more effectively."

Director Hong Jong-chan / Photo by Netflix

The dynamic performances of four judges with different convictions?Sim Eun-seok (Kim Hye-soo), Cha Tae-joo (Kim Mu-yeol), Kang Won-joong (Lee Sung-min), and Na Geun-hee (Lee Jung-eun)?also unfold energetically. The juvenile offenders featured in each episode were cast with fresh faces. This was a deliberate choice by the director.

Director Hong Jong-chan said, "The judges had nearly monochromatic images, but I wanted to express the juvenile offenders with vibrant and diverse colors," adding, "During auditions, there were experienced actors, but watching the performances of newcomers gave a sense of freedom, so I mostly worked with new actors."

"Before starting the project, I had the opportunity to observe juvenile court. During the trials, I imagined how the juvenile offenders had lived and their relationships with guardians. Watching the trials, I couldn't gauge the offenders' ages; their postures, gestures, speech, and clothing were all different. Therefore, in 'Juvenile Justice,' we gradually increased the age range in casting, and the actors' ages were arranged diversely."

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