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| Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Kim Sang-kon speaks during a meeting with ministry heads at the Seoul Government Complex, Friday, on revisions to the juvenile law which has become an issue due to recent cases of school bullying. /Yonhap |
Gov't to complete amendment by end of the year
By Kim Bo-eun
Recent cases of school bullying are once again drawing attention on how to deal with and prevent it.
While "punishment vs. reform" is an age-old debate, public opinion is leaning toward punishment, after the case of middle school girls in Busan brutally beating up one of their peers became publicized.
Calls have grown for the revision of the juvenile law that protects minors from punishment, and the government has pledged to make revisions within the year.
Busan middle school case
Two middle school girls face charges of slapping a peer in the face at a park in the southern port city and beating her with a microphone at a singing room afterward on June 29.
On Sept. 1 the assailants took the victim to a remote industrial alley, beating her up for reporting the assault that occurred in June.
Last week, Busan police forwarded the cases of six students _ including some who were not actively involved in the assault _ to the prosecution and one to the family court's juvenile division, as she is subject to the juvenile law.
A photo of the bleeding victim which spread on social media drew public uproar. The assailants had taken pictures of, as well as filmed, themselves beating the victim, and sent it to other peers.
Similar cases of school violence also occurred in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, and more recently in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.
However, several of the assailants may be exempt from punishment based on the juvenile law.
Petitions flooded the Cheong Wa Dae website, urging for the law to be abolished.
The petition has received over 276,000 signatures as of Wednesday. This is the largest scale of participation among petitions on Cheong Wa Dae's site.
"Victims of school bullying live with life-long trauma. And assailants, because they are minors, are let off," the petition said.
"Considering the victims, I plead the presidential office consider the abolishment of the juvenile law."
Juvenile law
The juvenile law states that in cases involving criminal law violations by minors aged 10 to 13 they will not be held criminally responsible and protection measures will be taken instead.
In these cases the minors are put under protective custody at a facility or are ordered to perform community service.
The law also states minors who were aged below 18 at the time they committed an offense subject to the death penalty or life imprisonment, the sentence should be reduced to 15 years imprisonment.
A law covering special cases, however, states that for specific violent crimes, minors can be subject to up to 20 years imprisonment.
Voices are growing for the law to lower the age definition and revise the clause on penalty reduction in the juvenile law, as well as abolish the 20-year imprisonment limit.
Gov't measures
The government convened an emergency meeting of heads of related ministries last week and agreed to complete revisions to the juvenile law within the year.
The government will also draw up comprehensive measures to prevent teen violence.
"The system for providing counseling and assistance for teens in crisis must be organized within and outside of schools, procedures must be improved so criminal cases involving minors are swiftly dealt with and a review must be conducted on the effectiveness of protective custody for minors," Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Kim Sang-kon said in the meeting.
However, there are also voices cautioning against the revision of the juvenile law.
"We must not bury the real discussion by advocating a severe punishment policy, of which its effectiveness has not been proven," Rep. Keum Tae-sup of the Democratic Party of Korea posted on Facebook.
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