Is the juvenile delinquent going down at the age of 14... Ministry of Justice joins Yoon's pledge

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A juvenile offender who only receives protective measures after committing a crime, but does not assume criminal responsibility, is called a juvenile delinquent.

Yoon Seok-yeol's promise was to lower the age of fourteen-year-old boys by two years, and the Ministry of Justice also announced that he would participate in fulfilling the promise.

This is reporter Han So-hee.

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Yoon Seok-yeol, who was elected as his candidate, made a promise to lower the age of punishment to 12, saying that the crimes of juveniles under the age of 14 are becoming more intelligent and violent.

[Yoon Seok-yeol/President-elect (October last year): Decrease the age of the juvenile by law to 12...

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The Ministry of Justice announced in its report on the transition committee that it would actively participate in the discussion of law amendments to fulfill the promises made by President-elect Yoon.

[Park Beom-gye/Minister of Justice: It is worth reviewing because there is a public opinion that the age of heinous crimes is getting lower and that systematic responses to them are insufficient by the current law enforcement standards.

] It did not specifically report whether it would be lowered.

The amendment to the juvenile law, which is being discussed in the National Assembly, contains the content to lower the age of juveniles to 12 or 13 years of age.

This is an amendment considering that the 13-year-old crime rate exceeds 60% of all violent crimes against juveniles.

If the juvenile standard is lowered to the age of 12, the current 6th graders of elementary school or 1st grade of middle school will be subject to criminal punishment.

The number of juveniles who have committed violent crimes over the past five years has increased from 6,200 in 2017 to 8,400 last year.

Adjustment of the age of juveniles by law was initially attempted by the Moon Jae-in administration, but was faltered due to public opinion demanding a cautious approach.

As both the government and the National Assembly are showing their will, attention is focused on whether the '14-year-old' standard, which has been maintained since the enactment of the 1953 law, can be changed this time.