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It was confirmed as a result of SBS coverage that the Ministry of Justice actually decided to lower the standard age for juveniles by one year, which is not subject to criminal punishment even if they commit a crime.

The Ministry of Justice is expected to make the announcement within this week. 



Reporter Sohn Ki-joon reports exclusively.



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Even if you commit a sex crime against your classmate,



[September 27, SBS 8 News: After that, the police sent the assailant to the juvenile department of the district court.

Because the perpetrator was a juvenile, he was not arrested.]



Following 'Don't Ask Assault', he was also harassed on the Internet, but



[October 19, SBS 8 News: In the chat room, Group B said, 'Group A is a body. They started to drive them to be perpetrators of sexual harassment, saying, ‘He likes to be touched.] All of the assailants



are juveniles under the law, so they are not subject to criminal punishment.



It has been confirmed that the Ministry of Justice has effectively confirmed the amendment to lower the standard age for criminal punishment by one year from 'under 14' amid growing controversy over juvenile crimes, which is a blind spot for punishment.



By law, the standard age for juveniles is 'under the age of 13'.



As it was selected as a national task with the inauguration of the current government, the Ministry of Justice has been reviewing the amendment by creating a related task force since last June.



[Han Dong-hoon/Minister of Justice: The issue of adjusting the age of children by law is a matter of great interest to the public.



It is known that children's development studies that 'one can judge the seriousness of a crime by the age of 13' became a basis for lowering the age.



The TF also reviewed ways to set the standard age for criminal punishment according to the type of crime by referring to overseas cases, but this was not included in this amendment.



The Ministry of Justice is expected to finalize and announce the details of the amendment this week.



(Video editing: Lee Seung-jin, CG: Jo Soo-in)