Crisis Youth Policies Amid the Success of 'Juvenile Justice'... "Protection and Recidivism Prevention Measures Needed"

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Cho, Gyumin Oh] "This is why I hate you all. You can't be rehabilitated."

The Netflix original drama "Juvenile Justice," which is popular both domestically and internationally, begins with a line from Judge Sim Eun-seok of the Juvenile Division of the District Court. The popularity of Juvenile Justice has increased public interest in at-risk youth in our society. At-risk youth refer to adolescents exposed to harmful environments due to various reasons such as dropping out of school, domestic violence, and economic circumstances. As of 2020, the number of youths who have aged out of child welfare facilities, group homes, and foster care is 2,358. Including youth heads of households, a significant number of so-called "nahollo dolbom youth" (youth caring for themselves without family support) are known to exist. On the other hand, awareness of out-of-school youth support centers is only 31.2%, and the experience rate of out-of-school youth support centers (218 nationwide) after dropping out of school is merely 7.3%.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol diagnosed in his campaign pledge book that "at-risk youth not only have a high rate of delinquency experience but are also targets of various violent crimes." To overcome this reality, he promised ▲ establishing a rapid and integrated support system where the state proactively reaches out to out-of-school youth ▲ strengthening government responsibility for the independent living of youths aging out of care ▲ alleviating the burdens of "nahollo dolbom youth." Regarding the integrated support system, Yoon stated, "We will increase personnel to identify all out-of-school youth and manage them intensively in cooperation with the National Police Agency," and "We will also expand youth shelters." For youths aging out of care, he said, "We will establish a customized housing safety net where they can stay immediately after leaving facilities." Additionally, for nahollo dolbom youth, he mentioned, "We will provide one-on-one care support through care coordinators."

Experts call for additional protection policies for at-risk youth exposed to crime, which are currently almost nonexistent in the campaign pledges. They point out that while the focus is on crime prevention, there are no measures to prevent recidivism among at-risk youth who have already committed crimes. Seung Jae-hyun, a commissioner at the Korea Institute of Criminal Justice Policy, said, "At-risk and vulnerable youth require consistent management through social solidarity," and added, "To prevent their recidivism, an integrated approach is needed to block access to subcultures that may have adverse effects." A representative from the Korea Youth Policy Institute stated, "At-risk youth include students attending school who experience domestic violence, so out-of-school youth and at-risk youth are not the same group," emphasizing, "It is necessary to distinguish between 'out-of-school youth' and 'at-risk youth.'"