The age of criminal responsibility in South Korea is going to be lowered to 13 years

The South Korean government is considering lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 13 years amid rising crime among children. This was reported on July 14 by the Yonhap news agency, citing a report by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Families.

The Ministry said it may revise the age range of juvenile criminal responsibility from the current "10 years and older but under 14 years old" to "10 years and older but under 13 years old" in cases of violent, serious or recurring crimes.

It is noted that the final decision may be made after additional hearings.

The Ministry also presented the results of public opinion polls in support of the proposed changes to the current legislation. According to the results of one of them, 78% of the adults surveyed and 67% of young people supported the initiative.

According to current South Korean law, children under the age of 14 cannot be prosecuted.

The most severe measure that can be applied to a juvenile offender under the age of 14 is imprisonment in a correctional institution for minors for up to two years. Minors over the age of 14 can be sentenced to a maximum prison term of 15 years.

By and large: teenagers want to be tried for crimes as adults

In case of repeated crimes, they are offered to be carried out through criminal law emancipation.

On June 26, Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, announced the need to tighten liability measures for parents whose minor children commit certain types of crimes.

Bastrykin also said that the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation proposed lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years, but then the initiative did not find support. According to him, the development of modern children is much faster, but due to the age of criminal responsibility, they avoid punishment from the age of 14.