I asked Dr. Oh Eun-young about Han Dong-hoon's 'Lowering the Age of Criminal Responsibility for Juveniles'

"Retribution and Reforming Children Must Be Harmonized"
Ministry of Justice Forms Task Force (TF) to Realize Age Criteria for Juvenile Offenders

Dr. Oh Eun-young. Photo by Oh Eun-young's Bucket List on YouTube

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Wooseok] Dr. Oh Eun-young, a child-rearing expert and psychiatrist, recently described the Ministry of Justice's plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility for juvenile offenders as "a very important issue that must be handled with great caution."

On the 20th, Dr. Oh appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" and responded to the host's question about the Ministry of Justice's plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles by saying, "This is a very significant issue."

She explained, "No one would oppose the idea that adults should guide and protect children because they are young. However, the notion that these young children think, 'We won't be punished because we are juvenile offenders,' has become highly prominent, making everyone uncomfortable and very outraged."

Dr. Oh continued, "What we must consider is that the juvenile offender system was created with two main ideas in mind: first, taking into account that they are children, and second, because children are still young, their antisocial tendencies are not fixed and can be changed through education and rehabilitation. Also, even lowering the age by one year does not necessarily reduce the crime rate."

She added, "In fact, the question is whether we should choose a retributive judicial punishment system based on cause and effect or a judicial system that restores and reconciles children. I believe these two concepts are not separate but should be harmonized."

She noted, "Statistics show that the probability of children committing crimes throughout their lives and reoffending is only 6.8%. The remaining 90% of cases arise from various difficulties in family and society. The stance of rehabilitating children focuses on protecting this 90% and resocializing them to become proper members of society."

Furthermore, she said, "The juvenile offender law places great importance on adults properly educating and guiding children, so the role of the juvenile offender's parents is very important. All parents and adults must clearly and firmly teach children when they do wrong. Being a juvenile offender does not mean the crime is without fault. It means the punishment is deferred because they are young. Therefore, adults must have a clear attitude and parents must have a definite awareness to teach children that such behavior is unacceptable."

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon

Earlier, on the 8th, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon requested related departments to review measures to adjust the 'juvenile offender age criteria' during the Ministry of Justice's weekly executive meeting.

Under current law, criminal minors aged 10 or older but under 14 are classified as juvenile offenders and receive protective measures under the Juvenile Act instead of criminal punishment even if they commit crimes. However, as dissatisfaction with the severity of juvenile crime has increased recently, demands for revising the juvenile offender law have emerged.

Meanwhile, on the 14th, the Ministry of Justice formed a task force (TF) to update the juvenile offender age criteria.

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