President Lee Jae-myung stated on the 14th during a Cabinet meeting that “it seems we should lower the age,” effectively acknowledging the possibility of lowering the age threshold for juvenile offenders—defined as those “aged 10 or older but under 14”—in relation to discussions on the matter. This came after he heard a report during the Cabinet meeting’s agenda regarding the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s public consultation on the age criteria for criminal minors.
At the meeting, Minister of Gender Equality Won Min-kyung reported to the President that, based on the results of the government’s public consultation, there was a strong consensus to lower the age threshold for juveniles subject to criminal liability by one year—to “ages 10 to under 13”—only for violent, serious, and repeat offenses.
President Lee noted that there is little disagreement regarding the current proposal to uniformly lower the age threshold—which has become a point of contention—and expressed a negative view on maintaining the current age threshold for juveniles subject to criminal law.
When Prime Minister Han Seong-sook mentioned that a large number of citizens had expressed the need to lower the age threshold, President Lee emphasized that the decision to lower the age threshold itself must first be determined, stating that lowering it uniformly by two or three years would be excessive; If discussions were to begin, he emphasized lowering the threshold by about one year and proposed specific measures for serious crimes. He then addressed the issue of criminals repeatedly committing offenses by exploiting the fact that they are not punished under the Juvenile Offenders Act—a provision rarely reported in the media—and questioned whether lowering the threshold by just one year would be sufficient. He added that a 12-year-old might commit murder or serious crimes with full awareness of their actions, and might also exploit the juvenile offender criteria. Furthermore, regarding the Ministry of Gender Equality’s opinion that the age threshold should not be lowered across the board but applied selectively to specific crimes, the President asked whether there are many countries worldwide that set the threshold at 12 years old.
Therefore, the President noted that the key issue is whether to lower the age limit for all crimes or to lower it by one or two years only for serious, repeat, and violent crimes. He mentioned that if the age limit were to be lowered, it would likely be by a maximum of two years, and he left open the possibility of continuing discussions within this range, gathering public opinion, and conducting opinion polls rather than making an immediate decision.
