Officials are considering lowering the upper age from 14 to 13
Government data show a sharp rise in the number of juveniles who commit serious offenses but are exempt from criminal prosecution and are instead placed in juvenile facilities. The increase helps explain growing calls for faster legal reform and tougher penalties.
On the 28th, the office of Rep. Park Jeong-hyun of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee released data provided by the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Justice. The records show cases of juveniles aged 10 to under 14 referred to the juvenile division numbered 11,677 in 2021, 16,345 in 2022, 19,653 in 2023, 20,814 in 2024, and 21,095 in 2025 — rising each year.
Transfers to juvenile training schools for the most serious offenses (categories 8–10) were 28 in 2021, 50 in 2022, 152 in 2023, 250 in 2024, and 182 in 2025. The 2024 figure is roughly nine times the 2021 total.
Under current juvenile law, children who are 10 or older but under 14 who commit acts that violate criminal statutes are classified as juveniles exempt from criminal prosecution; they are referred to juvenile courts for protective measures instead of facing criminal trials. Transfers categorized as 8–10 are the harshest juvenile measures and involve isolating youths in training schools.
For example, last month at a middle school in Incheon, a student stabbed a female classmate in the face with a pencil, causing injuries that required four weeks of treatment. Police applied aggravated assault charges, but because the suspect fell into the juvenile-exempt category, authorities sent the case to family court rather than pursue criminal prosecution.
Earlier this year in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, a middle school student used another person’s identity to post a terroristic threat claiming, “I put poison in the school water cooler.” Police investigated, and the case was handled as a juvenile protection matter for the same reason.
As serious juvenile offenses have increased, the government is weighing a proposal to lower the upper age for this juvenile-exempt category from 14 to 13. President Lee Jae-myung has ordered Cabinet-level discussions and urged a swift overhaul of the system.
Internationally, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is often lower than in Korea: the U.K. sets it at 10, while the Netherlands, Ireland, Canada, and Belgium set it at 12.
