On March 29, Daejeon Dongbu Police arrested eight people, including a 13-year-old boy, on charges of causing a fatal accident while driving a stolen car without a license. After stealing a rental car from Seoul, they engaged in a chase with a police patrol car at an intersection in Dong-gu, Daejeon. They were accused of running after hitting a motorcycle and killing the driver.

The police say that, under the current law, the suspects cannot be criminally punished because they are under the age of 14, and that only the man who drove the car has been handed over to the Daejeon Juvenile Classification Review Board.

Currently, the case is widely known as an incident against the Chokbeop Boys and was filed with the Cheong Wa Dae National Petition on April 2 under the title "Please punish teenagers who stole a rental car and caused death," with 1.007,040 people agreeing within a month. We are currently waiting for an answer based on the criteria that the petition, which has received over 200,000 signatures within 30 days, will be answered by the government and Blue House Officials (each minister, senior presidential secretary, special adviser, etc.).

Who are Chokbeop Boys, and what allows them to avoid punishment?

Anyone under the age of 19 is protected by juvenile law. There are three main categories by age. The degree of disposal varies depending on the age, such as under 10 years old, over 10 years old to under 14 years old (Chokbeop Boys), and over 14 to under 19 years old.

Those who are 14 or older and under 19 years of age will be subject to the same criminal punishment as adults if they are judged to have committed serious crimes. In principle, it is subject to juvenile law protection, but it makes exceptions according to the case. This is because people of age are considered to responsibilities similar to those of adults.

Chopbeop Boys, aged 10 or older to under 14 years old, are not an exception. Even if they commit murder, they are not subject to criminal punishment and are subject only to juvenile law protection. Those under 10 years of age will not even be subject to this protective disposition.

Depending on the degree of crime, Chopbeop boys will be subject to probation, facility consignment, or juvenile detention. In the case of a protective disposition, such as sending a juvenile detention center, no criminal record will be left. It follows a legal stipulation that "a boy's protective disposition has no effect on his future life."

The juvenile law was created with the intention that enlightenment comes to juvenile offenders before punishment. The problem is that there have been repeated cases of abusing such regulations. This has led to calls for lowering the age of young offenders.

A revision to the juvenile law was proposed to lower the actual age of young men from the current 14 to 13. The revision is based on the statistics showing a tendency for crimes to rapidly increase from the age of 13.

Punishment can't be a good thing. However, there is no denying that the changing reality of juvenile delinquency matters. It's time for a revision to encompass both sides.