[Children in Crisis]④ Children Involved in Violent Crimes
2,267 Violent Crime Arrests in 2018... Group Sexual Assaults and Retaliatory Assaults
At a Crossroads: Abolishing Juvenile Offenders and Strengthening Punishments or Expanding Rehabilitation Opportunities
[Asia Economy Reporters Byungdon Yoo, Seungyoon Song] One of the biggest issues surrounding juvenile crime is that despite social concern and public criticism, its brutality is worsening day by day.
According to the National Police Agency on the 29th, the number of minors arrested for violent crimes in 2018 was recorded at 2,267. This figure has not significantly decreased compared to 2,392 in 2015 and 2,418 in 2017. The National Police Agency classifies murder, robbery, sexual assault (rape), and arson as violent crimes.
Reflecting these statistics, violent crimes committed by juvenile offenders are occurring almost daily in our society. Recently in Incheon, two middle school students who gang-raped a female classmate from the same school were brought to trial. They were arrested and prosecuted on charges of calling a 14-year-old female middle school student from the same school to a gym in an apartment in Incheon in the early morning of December 23 last year, giving her alcohol, then dragging her to the 28th-floor stairwell where they repeatedly raped or attempted to rape her, causing injury.
The number of people arrested for various violent incidents has also steadily increased: 20,144 in 2015, 20,468 in 2016, 21,996 in 2017, and 20,617 in 2018. On December 8 last year, at around 3:10 a.m., seven teenagers were arrested and prosecuted for severely beating a man in his twenties who asked for directions in an entertainment district alley in Seo-gu, Daejeon, causing injuries requiring four weeks of medical treatment. It was found that they assaulted the innocent citizen out of frustration because they were denied entry to a pub due to the presence of minors in their group.
Moreover, the number of arrests compiled by the police only includes suspects aged 14 to 18 who are subject to criminal punishment. If crimes committed by "chokbeopsonyeon" (juveniles aged 10 to 13 who are exempt from criminal punishment) are included, the crime figures are expected to increase significantly.
Meanwhile, public opinion strongly demands tougher punishments. Whenever juvenile violent crimes become a hot topic, petitions demanding strict punishment for juvenile crime and the abolition of the Juvenile Act flood the Blue House's national petition board. A petition to increase sentences for minors convicted of sexual assault received 238,442 signatures, a petition to revise the Juvenile Act received 200,802 signatures, and a petition demanding severe punishment for the teenage perpetrators of the Yeonggwang high school girl sexual assault case received 217,786 signatures.
On the other hand, there are opinions that punishment alone is not the answer. Japan, a country advanced in criminal justice policy, has implemented a "strict punishment policy" for juvenile crime over the past 20 years but has not achieved meaningful reductions in crime rates or other results.
Professor Soonjong Choi of the Department of Youth Studies at Kyonggi University explained, "We need to think about juvenile crime from the perspective of how to provide rehabilitation opportunities to minors and less mature youths. There are no accurate statistics showing that the Juvenile Act lowers or raises crime rates."
Additionally, Professor Dowoo Kim of the Department of Police Administration at Gyeongnam National University emphasized, "Compared to the past, the criminal tendencies of juvenile offenders have worsened to the extent comparable to adults. Even if strict punishment is deemed appropriate, the standards must be clearly and specifically presented."
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