Public deliberation body moves to recommend lowering age of criminal responsibility to 13
Published: 30 Apr. 2026, 16:23
![A security camera footage shows four middle school students beating a 14-year-old in front of a factory in Sasang District, Busan, in September 2017. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/30/1d2de407-63c7-4ca4-b8f0-b20ba12522cf.jpg)
A security camera footage shows four middle school students beating a 14-year-old in front of a factory in Sasang District, Busan, in September 2017. [YONHAP]
Korea is moving closer to deciding whether it will lower the age of criminal responsibility, ending years of debate fueled by public outrage over violent crimes committed by minors.
A public deliberation body on juveniles exempt from criminal punishments convened its final meeting on Thursday, wrapping up roughly two months of debate, and is moving to recommend lowering the age threshold by one year to 13.
Under the current law, enacted in 1953, juveniles aged 10 to 14 cannot be subjected to criminal punishment; instead, they can only receive protective measures such as court-ordered supervision or other nonpunitive interventions.
A gang assault case in Busan from September 2017 propelled the push to lower the age of criminal responsibility.
![Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyung attends a forum on the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles held at Sejong University in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on April 19. [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/30/ce826c9b-af5b-4752-bc5f-9e397b38e347.jpg)
Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyung attends a forum on the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles held at Sejong University in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on April 19. [NEWS1]
Four middle school students forcibly took a 14-year-old girl to a remote spot in front of a factory in Sasang District on Sept. 1 and used steel construction materials found on the ground to beat her for more than an hour, claiming she had been “disrespectful.” The victim was also forced to kneel for photographs while covered in blood. The attackers then left her at the scene.
A passerby who spotted the victim called police at around 10:30 p.m., and the girl was taken to a nearby hospital by paramedics. Two of the attackers turned themselves in at a nearby police post at around 11:50 p.m. that same night.
Police initially kept the case out of the media and treated it as an instance of school violence. However, two days later, the case became public after one of the attackers' text messages surfaced online.
On the day of the assault, the ringleader messaged an older student, asking, “Is it bad?” and “Do you think I'll go to jail?” The attacker also sent photos of the victim. The older student, after scolding the attacker, uploaded screenshots of the exchange and the photos to social media.
The posts quickly became viral and drew widespread public anger, especially because one of the four attackers was under 14 and therefore exempt from criminal punishment.
“If you listen to the audio recording of the assault, one of the attackers says, 'It's attempted murder anyway, so let's hit her more,'” the victim's mother said at the time. “I hope the juvenile law is abolished so that a perpetrator's punishment fits their crime.”
Three of the four attackers ultimately received the most severe protective measure available in juvenile court — commitment to a juvenile reformatory, which carries a maximum term of two years. Given that reformatories across the country were at full capacity, however, they likely did not serve the maximum term.
“The identities of those who received protective dispositions are kept strictly confidential, even from the victims in some cases,” said Jung Eui-rom, a professor of police administration at Busan University of Foreign Studies. “The reality is that most leave [juvenile reformatories] after about a year because they are overcrowded.”
Following the Busan assault case, public petitions calling for the abolition of the juvenile law attracted more than 260,000 signatures, prompting then-president Moon Jae-in to order relevant ministries to prepare a response.
Six bills to lower the age threshold were introduced in the National Assembly. In 2022, the government submitted amendments to the Juvenile Act and the Criminal Act to parliament, but they lapsed when discussions stalled after the legislative term ended.
Some critics have argued that lowering the age would result in children being stigmatized from a young age, with fewer opportunities for rehabilitation.
However, Jung argued that “the moment juveniles under 14 believe that they cannot be punished, the deterrent effect disappears.”
“The age threshold should be lowered to keep open the possibility of punishment, and the system should be supplemented with a focus on rehabilitation,” the professor added.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE EUN-JI [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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