Actor Jang Yo-hun, who played a juvenile under criminal age in the Netflix drama series "Chamgyoyuk." [Generated with ChatGPT]
Actor Jang Yo-hun, who played a juvenile under criminal age in the Netflix drama series "Chamgyoyuk." [Generated with ChatGPT]

The government has confirmed broad social consensus that the age threshold for juveniles under criminal age should be lowered. However, President Lee Jae-myung has called for additional public consultation on the scope and criteria of any reduction, meaning the specifics are set to be debated further.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced Tuesday the recommendations of a social dialogue committee and the deliberation results of a citizen participation panel on the juvenile criminal age issue. Combining those findings, the ministry reported to a Cabinet meeting that the government should consider lowering the threshold by one year — to under 13 — but only for serious, grave or repeat offenses, while also pursuing broader reforms to the juvenile justice system.

On this, President Lee said there was consensus on the need for a reduction itself, but that further discussion was needed on the specific criteria. "There seems to be little disagreement that it should be lowered," he said. "It doesn't seem like anyone is saying we should keep things as they are."

Lee then questioned whether the proposed one-year reduction limited to serious, grave and repeat offenses was "too modest," and called on the government not to make a final decision Tuesday but to gather more public opinion and hold further debate. He went on to say the government should discuss additional options — including whether to apply any reduction across all offenses, and whether to lower the age by one or two years for serious, grave and repeat crimes only.

The ministry also indicated that a wider range of options could be put on the table during the additional consultation process. A ministry official said at a press briefing after the Cabinet meeting that "the survey was designed to be easy for the public to understand, which limited its ability to capture more nuanced views," adding that "further consultation, depending on how questions are framed and discussions are structured, will likely surface a broader range of combinations of opinion."

Consensus on lowering age confirmed, conditional application favored

President Lee Jae-myung speaks at a Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae-myung speaks at a Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

The public deliberation process confirmed support for lowering the age threshold, though views diverged on how it should be applied. In a post-deliberation survey of 212 citizen panel members, 46.7 percent favored lowering the age only for serious, grave and repeat offenses — the highest share of any option. Another 30.2 percent supported a blanket reduction across all offenses, while 17.0 percent backed maintaining the current threshold. Among those who said a reduction was needed, 55.8 percent chose under 13 — one year below the current threshold — as their preferred age, followed by under 12 at 23.9 percent and under 11 at 7.9 percent.

The expert-led social dialogue committee, however, recommended caution, saying statistical evidence supporting the effectiveness of an age reduction was insufficient and that any decision on whether and how far to lower the threshold should carefully weigh adolescent developmental characteristics and international standards.

The government said it reflected the citizen panel's deliberation results in its comprehensive review. A ministry official said "most previous public deliberation cases — such as those on the university admissions system and the Shin Kori nuclear power plant — were adopted in a way that cited the citizen deliberation outcomes," adding that "we took into account the fundamental principle of public deliberation, which is to respect the citizen panel."

A ministry official said the Cabinet meeting confirmed consensus on the need to lower the age threshold, and that further discussion would follow given the decision to gather additional public input. The official added that "the process of collecting public opinion and deliberating, as the president directed, will need to go forward."

Separately from the ongoing debate over the age threshold, the government plans to pursue juvenile justice reforms proposed by the committee — improving police initial response systems, expanding protective disposition infrastructure, strengthening victims' rights, and building a pan-government juvenile delinquency prevention framework.


newday@heraldcorp.com