A group of 12-year-olds in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, stole a car, took it for a joy ride around the neighborhood before crashing it in May.
After police apprehended them, criminal procedure ensued — but in accordance with a Korean legal quirk.
Despite the stack of evidence against them, none of the suspects faced any charges because all were chokbeop sonyeon, or children old enough to break the law but, in the eyes of the Korean criminal justice system, too young to be punished for it.
The legal gray area has long been an issue, with children threatening to commit crimes or even actually perpetrating them, well aware that they cannot be held legally liable.
The new Netflix series "Teach You a Lesson" touches on this matter. The show, which revolves around a fictional education rights protection bureau, is created to defend teachers and schools from students and parents who cross the line, with inspectors meting out punishment in physical form.
A pilot facility for juvenile offenders in Danwon District, Ansan, Gyeonggi, is shown during a briefing by the Ministry of Justice on June 9. The ministry that day announced a strategy to curb reoffending among young offenders, including those under 14, as such crime rises sharply.NEWS1
What is a chokbeop sonyeon?
Literally translated to "law-breaching minor," the term covers children aged 10 to 13 who commit acts that would be crimes if an adult had done them.
Under Korea's Criminal Act, those below the age of 14 cannot be held criminally responsible, whatever the offense.
Instead, their fate is determined in accordance with the Juvenile Act. Even then, however, victims may feel underwhelmed by the outcome of a case: The law routes those aged 10 to 13 through a separate track, processing their cases as a juvenile protection matter that can result in corrective measures — but still no criminal conviction.
Those under 10 cannot be held criminally responsible, nor can they be subject to corrective orders.
A middle school student younger than 14 looks at the closed-circuit television camera after stealing from an unmanned laundromat.JTBC
So what actually happens to young 'offenders'?
Nothing, at least in the legal sense.
A juvenile court hands down what's called a protective disposition, which is different from a punishment. The entire purpose of the juvenile court is to help correct behavior and educate instead of penalize.
A protective disposition does not appear on a criminal record.
"A protective disposition leaves no mark on a child's future," the official explanation on the Korean court's litigation portal reads. "By not hindering a child's future, we are trying to help them start over in life."
Under a protective disposition, the judge can impose measures on a 10-step scale, with counseling and probation at the lowest end and a maximum of two years in a juvenile reformatory the highest measure.
For the four boys who stole the cars, the judge issued "emergency escort" warrants, which permit authorities to hold children under 14 in a juvenile assessment center while a disposition is being decided. Without the warrant, authorities have no way of keeping children in custody, because children under 14 cannot be arrested or detained as criminal suspects.
"These days, even for a chokbeop juvenile, we tend to apply for an emergency escort warrant right away if the case is serious, if there is a risk of reoffending or if we decide guardians cannot manage the child," a police officer told the JoongAng Ilbo.
Kids abandon a vehicle after crashing it in May.SCREEN CAPTURE
What's wrong with protecting children?
What initially began as the protection of children, the concept of chokbeop sonyeon has rather become an aggravation in society.
Increased media reports of violent crimes caused by chokbeop sonyeon throughout the years, as well as threats to commit crimes by children who know that they are in an unpunishable age bracket, have raised support for lowering the legal age of criminal liability, which has remained unchanged since the promulgation of the clause in the Criminal Act in 1953 and the Juvenile Act in 1958.
In fact, the number of chokbeop juveniles apprehended by authorities rose 2.2-fold in the period from 2020 to 2024, according to data provided by the National Police Agency to the People Power Party Rep. Koh Dong-jin in October 2025.
President Lee Jae Myung also weighed in on the matter, ordering a two-month public deliberation in February on lowering the age limit.
Won Min-kyong, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, speaks at a government panel on lowering the age limit of the Criminal Act on March 6.YONHAP
Will the age limit actually change?
After two months of forums and debates, the government panel recommended in late April to keep the age at 14, instead calling for stronger juvenile justice and victim support systems.
The argument is that charging 13-year-olds would not necessarily lower the juvenile crime rate.
Korea's threshold is no outlier. Japan also sets the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 14 years old, as does Germany.
Countries such as Canada and Scotland set the age limit at 12, while England, Australia and Wales set it at 10 and the United States has no federal minimum age limit.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, however, recommends the minimum age of criminal responsibility to be "no younger than 14 years of age."
For now, the threshold holds in Korea. The boys who stole cars and drove recklessly will remain in protective facilities, waiting for a court to decide on their fates.
One thing they don't have to worry about, however, is time in prison.
