6th Grader A Caught Illegally Filming Classmate in Bathroom Receives '3 Hours School Service' Punishment
Delinquent Minor A to Be Referred to Family Court...Criticism of Related Law Itself
Increase and Lowering Age Trend in Juvenile Crime Detected
"Not Solvable Through Harsh Punishment" Opposing View
"Prevention Effect Through Fear of Criminal Record Rather Than 'Punishment'" Also Claimed
A 6th-grade male elementary school student who followed a female student from the same school into the women's restroom and illegally filmed her was given a "3-hour school community service" punishment, sparking controversy and raising questions about the juvenile offender system. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. / Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] Voices questioning the juvenile offender system have emerged after it was revealed that an elementary school student who illegally filmed a female student at the same school was given a punishment of 3 hours of school community service. Recently, as the proportion of juvenile offenders classified as juvenile delinquents has increased and there are signs of younger ages committing juvenile crimes, there are opinions that the juvenile offender system does not need to be maintained as it is.
According to a JTBC report on the 24th, A, a 6th-grade elementary school boy, secretly followed into the girls' restroom of an academy in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and illegally filmed B, a girl attending the same school, and was caught and given 3 hours of school community service. On the day of the incident, the academy's internal closed-circuit television (CCTV) captured A wearing an inverted hat, lingering in front of the girls' restroom, looking around, and following B inside after she entered.
The School Violence Countermeasures Committee (School Violence Committee) imposed 3 hours of school community service on A, stating that they considered it his first offense when deciding the punishment. The Office of Education also stated, "This decision was made comprehensively considering his young age and remorse." Meanwhile, B's mother lamented, "I heard from the police that other people's photos were also found on his phone," and said, "I told the School Violence Committee, but it was not accepted."
In response, posts expressing outrage over the severity of the punishment were continuously posted on online communities. On the same day, a mom cafe in the Gwangmyeong area was filled with posts criticizing the punishment given to A, such as "Cleaning for 3 hours only, this will make them think like this, which is worrisome. It seems there is no concept of guidance," "Not a week, not 3 days, but only 3 hours of school community service," "I don't know why they say it's a first offense when it doesn't seem like one," and "How can we send our children to the same school as this kid?"
Meanwhile, the Gwangmyeong Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced that since A is a juvenile offender, the case will soon be transferred to the family court, while criticisms that "there is a problem with the juvenile offender-related law itself" have also been raised. The Juvenile Act, which aims to guide youth, is instead preventing appropriate punishment.
Gwangmyeong Police Station in Gyeonggi announced that it will soon transfer the case of A, a juvenile offender, to the Family Court. There are criticisms that the law related to juvenile offenders itself has problems. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. / Photo by Yonhap News
Juvenile offenders refer to minors aged 10 or older but under 14 who have committed illegal acts. They are criminal minors and, even if they commit crimes, they lack criminal responsibility and receive protective measures such as criminal custody orders, community service, or transfer to juvenile training schools. Even if the heaviest punishment of "transfer to a juvenile training school for up to 2 years" is imposed, no criminal record remains.
The problem is that some exploit the limited punishment options available to criminal minors to commit habitual crimes. In April, two middle school students, including C (14), who had committed about 40 crimes by abusing their juvenile offender status, were caught only after surpassing the age of 14, the age of criminal responsibility, sparking controversy.
According to the Gwangju Seobu Police Station on April 19, two middle school students, including C (14), were investigated on charges of special theft and other offenses after stealing an unlocked van and driving without a license at around 4 a.m. on April 15 in an apartment complex in Geumho-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju. Police investigations confirmed that they had committed similar crimes about 40 times in the past. However, they were repeatedly released because they were juvenile offenders and continued similar crimes afterward.
Recently, there have been claims that the proportion of juvenile offenders classified as juvenile delinquents is increasing and that juvenile crime is trending toward younger ages. Analyzing juvenile crime statistics from prosecutors, police, and courts over ten years from 2011 to 2020, published in the April issue of the academic journal "Correctional Discourse" in the paper "A Study on the Lower Age Limit of the Criminal Minor Standard," showed that the proportion of juvenile delinquents among all juveniles receiving protective measures increased by 2.4 percentage points from 11.2% in 2011 to 13.6% in 2020.
Along with the "increase" in juvenile crime, a trend toward "younger ages" was also detected. The proportion of juvenile delinquents among newly admitted juvenile training school inmates rose threefold from 1.1% in 2014 to 3.1% in 2020.
As the increase and lowering age trend of juvenile crime are detected, the need for crime prevention effects using the 'fear of a criminal record' is raised. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. / Photo by Yonhap News
Nevertheless, opinions advocating careful consideration before lowering the age standard for juvenile offenders continue to be voiced. It is pointed out that it cannot be guaranteed that criminal punishment is effective as a means to reduce crime. In the long term, punishing youth who could be rehabilitated through protective measures may cause adverse effects.
In 2018, the Lawyers for a Democratic Society issued a statement saying, "Countries like the United States, which punished juvenile violent offenders the same as adults, and Japan, which lowered the juvenile criminal responsibility age from 16 to 14, failed to achieve the goal of reducing juvenile crime through expanded criminal punishment," and explained, "Harsh punishment policies are neither effective nor appropriate responses to juvenile offenders."
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea also issued an opinion on lowering the age of criminal minors the same year, stating, "Juvenile crime cannot be resolved simply through harsh punishment," and emphasized the need to focus on preventing recidivism and protecting victimized youth.
The authors of the paper "A Study on the Lower Age Limit of the Criminal Minor Standard" argued, "The effect of punishment will be higher if minors cannot predict whether they will receive protective measures or criminal punishment when they stand trial." They explained that lowering the juvenile offender age standard has a preventive effect by using the "fear of a criminal record" rather than the actual purpose of "punishment."
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