CONTENTS
- 1. Recurring Juvenile Crime: Does It Begin Online?
- - Case 1: The Seoul Public Bicycle "Ttareungi" Personal Information Leak Incident
- - Case 2: The Incident of Posting Threats to Kill the President
- 2. Why Online Spaces Become the Starting Point of Juvenile Crime
- - The Structural Characteristics of Platforms and the Risk of Juvenile Exposure
- 3. President Lee Places Lowering the Age of Criminal Responsibility on the Agenda: What Are the Key Issues?
- - Domestic Public Opinion Forming Around the View That "the Age Should Be Lowered"
- 4. Analysis of Overseas Trends: The Lower Age Limit for Criminal Responsibility and Online Regulation
- - The Age Standard for Criminal Responsibility: Differences by Country and International Trends
- - The Spread of Online Regulation of Juveniles: "Environmental Control" as Another Strategy
- 5. Online Juvenile Crime: Applicable Laws and Levels of Punishment
- - The Levels of Punishment for the Crimes at Issue in These Cases
- 6. Strategy for Victim Compensation
- - Response Strategy for Compensation
1. Recurring Juvenile Crime: Does It Begin Online?
A considerable number of the juvenile crime cases recently reported in the media appear to have begun through contact or activity in online spaces.
Cases are increasing in which initial contact is made in anonymous communities, game chats, social media, open chat rooms, and similar spaces, and where mild curiosity and a desire to show off lead to crime.
In particular, there are not a few cases in which some juveniles, recognizing that they fall within the category of juveniles below the age of criminal responsibility, commit offenses under the mistaken belief that criminal punishment will be limited.
As a result, owing to the criminal acts of juveniles, millions of items of personal information have been leaked, and thousands of police officers have been mobilized in response to false threats, prompting continued observations that the social harm has reached a very serious level.
The cases to be introduced below likewise share the common feature of being "crimes that began online," which highlights the need for a response.
Case 1: The Seoul Public Bicycle "Ttareungi" Personal Information Leak Incident
An incident occurred in which the personal information of approximately 4.62 million users was leaked from the server of "Ttareungi," the Seoul Metropolitan Government's public bicycle service.
The suspects in this case were teenagers who had taught themselves hacking techniques. They were middle school students at the time of the offense, and it was revealed that they communicated through social media, shared hacking vulnerabilities, and conspired to commit the offense.
They obtained hacking information online and used a vulnerability in the server's authentication structure to access user information without going through any login procedure. The leaked information is reported to have included a range of personal data, such as IDs, email addresses, mobile phone numbers, addresses, and dates of birth.
The juveniles in question were referred to prosecution without detention, and an investigation is also being conducted in parallel into the security responsibility of the server's managing entity and whether its management was negligent.
As collective harm has occurred, legal determinations regarding the scope of future compensation and the responsible parties are expected to become an important task.
Case 2: The Incident of Posting Threats to Kill the President
Teenagers who posted a message on the 119 online bulletin board stating that they would harm President Lee Jae-myung with a weapon were referred to the prosecution.
These juveniles also met online. It was revealed that they met on the voice messaging service "Discord" and conspired to commit the offense, and it was determined that they committed this crime by stealing the name of a person with whom they had been in conflict within Discord in order to cause that person trouble.
During the investigation, it was detected that one of them had also written threats to kill students at A High School in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do, and B High School in Incheon.
Another of them wrote messages threatening to bomb six locations, including the KT building in Bundang, broadcasting stations, and Gangnam Station. He was detained by the police on the 15th of last month and is currently under indictment.
The police applied charges of intimidation and obstruction of official duties by deceit.
They stated that they had no actual intent to carry out the acts and had done so out of curiosity, but the reason the charges were applied was that administrative and social costs were incurred as security systems were activated and police forces were deployed as a result.
2. Why Online Spaces Become the Starting Point of Juvenile Crime
What the two cases have in common is that the starting point of the crime is online.
The reasons digital spaces become points of contact for juvenile crime can be surmised as follows.
First, anonymity.
Online, one can act without revealing one's real name, and because one does not directly face the actual reaction of the other person, it is difficult to feel the seriousness of the act.
As a result, the psychological barrier against dangerous behavior can be lowered.
Second, the ease of conspiracy.
Discord, open chat rooms, game chats, and similar platforms connect people quickly based on shared interests.
There are no physical constraints on sharing methods or information for committing crimes, and when group psychology comes into play, behavior can become bolder.
Third, a culture of showing off and a structure of immediate responses.
View counts, comments, and real-time reactions act as strong stimuli for juveniles.
There are not a few cases in which "behavior aimed at gaining attention" gradually escalates in intensity.
The Structural Characteristics of Platforms and the Risk of Juvenile Exposure
Whether juvenile crime should be viewed solely as individual delinquency or whether environmental factors should also be taken into account is another important issue.
Digital platforms are fundamentally designed on the basis of scalability and connectivity; anyone can be connected instantly, and information spreads rapidly.
This structure enables positive communication, but at the same time it can create an environment in which harmful information or criminal planning can be shared quickly.
In particular, voice-based chats, closed communities, and anonymous servers have structures that are not easily subject to external control, so there is also a possibility that juveniles may be exposed to dangerous conversations.
3. President Lee Places Lowering the Age of Criminal Responsibility on the Agenda: What Are the Key Issues?
President Lee Jae-myung instructed the relevant ministries to discuss a proposal to lower the threshold for juveniles below the age of criminal responsibility from the current age of under 14 to under 13.
With the instruction that "the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family should take charge and bring this to public discussion" having been issued, the debate over lowering the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles is expected to intensify.
A debate is also being raised at the same time over whether stronger punishment will lead to crime deterrence or instead produce other side effects.
Domestic Public Opinion Forming Around the View That "the Age Should Be Lowered"
As cases in which juveniles are mobilized for organized crime, such as violent crime, cybercrime, and drug transport, are also being reported, public opinion that the age for juveniles below the age of criminal responsibility should be lowered is forming.
According to the results of the activities of the "Task Force on Updating the Age Standard for Juveniles Below the Age of Criminal Responsibility," which the Ministry of Justice formed in 2022, an analysis was presented indicating that 13-year-olds account for approximately 70% of juveniles below the age of criminal responsibility.
At that time, however, the discussion on lowering the age did not lead to actual legislation and was effectively suspended.
The related discussion subsequently subsided once again, but as juvenile crime issues have recently been raised repeatedly, it has returned to the public forum.
Some argue that, since the age of 13 corresponds to middle school age, it is an age at which one can sufficiently recognize that one's conduct constitutes a crime.
In other words, the core argument of the public opinion in favor of the age limit is that the punishment gap should be reduced and the scope of criminal responsibility should be adjusted to fit reality.
4. Analysis of Overseas Trends: The Lower Age Limit for Criminal Responsibility and Online Regulation
Juvenile policy in various countries has recently been moving along two tracks.
One is the discussion on adjusting the age of criminal responsibility, and the other is the strengthening of regulation of online access itself.
A policy shift is occurring in which the strengthening of punishment and the question of how to control the digital environment surrounding juveniles are addressed at the same time.
The Age Standard for Criminal Responsibility: Differences by Country and International Trends
Country | Age Exempt from Criminal Punishment |
Germany, Japan, Singapore | Under 14 |
France | Under 13 |
Canada, China, the Netherlands | Under 12 |
The United Kingdom, Australia | Under 10 |
The United States | Varies by state, from under 7 to under 14 |
However, separately from the age of criminal punishment, each country operates probation systems, juvenile correction systems, and resocialization programs in parallel.
Observations are also raised that a cautious approach is needed, given that it is difficult to conclude that crime deterrence effects will automatically arise simply by lowering the punishment threshold.
The Spread of Online Regulation of Juveniles: "Environmental Control" as Another Strategy
Meanwhile, online regulation is spreading even more rapidly.
• France: Passage of a bill banning the use of social media for those under 15
• Spain: Pursuing a ban for those under 16
• Germany, the United Kingdom: Discussion of age limits and algorithm regulation
• Some U.S. states: A ban for those under 14 or mandatory warning notices
In this way, many countries are designing policies in the direction of reducing juveniles' online exposure itself, citing reasons such as the deterioration of teenagers' mental health, exposure to harmful content, and the possibility of involvement in cybercrime.
The approach is to block the digital environment through which crime is accessed before strengthening criminal responsibility.
5. Online Juvenile Crime: Applicable Laws and Levels of Punishment
Even if committed by a juvenile, acts such as the leaking of personal information, public threats, and defamation are clearly unlawful and can cause considerable social harm.
According to a survey by the Dong-a Ilbo of the status of lawsuits relating to crimes such as public threats since 2023, there were a total of 9 cases in which the police had filed or were preparing to file a civil lawsuit, including the Sillim Station murder threat, the bomb threats against Jeju Airport and other locations, and a series of nationwide bomb threats that included Incheon Daein High School.
In these cases, the directly calculated amount of loss alone, including labor costs and fuel costs incurred in police deployment and explosives searches, amounted to approximately 240.65 million won.
Observations are emerging that, since special forces are deployed once a report is received, such false threats not only incur enormous public costs but can also affect the golden window for crime prevention and emergency response.
The Levels of Punishment for the Crimes at Issue in These Cases
The statutory penalties for the main crimes that could apply to the cases examined in this article are as follows.
• Crime of public threat (Article 116-2 of the Criminal Act, etc.)
→ Imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 20 million won
• Obstruction of official duties by deceit (Article 137 of the Criminal Act)
→ Imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 10 million won
• Violation of the Personal Information Protection Act (unauthorized leakage, etc.)
→ Imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won
However, juveniles below the age of criminal responsibility, aged 10 or older but under 14, may receive protective dispositions under the Juvenile Act (such as probation, community service, and referral to a juvenile reformatory) instead of criminal punishment.
6. Strategy for Victim Compensation
From the victim's perspective, regardless of how the age standard for juveniles below the age of criminal responsibility is set, the possibility of recovering from the harm that has already occurred may be a more important matter.
First, under tort liability (Article 750 of the Civil Act), a claim may be made for property damage and non-pecuniary damage (consolation money).
Mental suffering caused by threats and the risk of secondary harm from the leaking of personal information may also be assessed as damages, so it is important to gather the relevant evidence.
Second, a claim for compensation may be made against the guardian of a juvenile below the age of criminal responsibility who has not fulfilled the duty of supervision (Article 755 of the Civil Act).
If a parent or other statutory representative has failed to fulfill the duty of supervision with respect to a minor's tort, one should assert their joint liability for damages and claim compensation for the harm.
Response Strategy for Compensation
For practical compensation for the harm, relevant materials such as posts, conversation records, URLs, and screenshots of the leak must be secured and preserved promptly, and it is necessary to organize the progress of the investigation and the applicable laws so as to clarify the structure of responsibility.
The work of specifically organizing the scope of damages, such as mental harm, the possibility of secondary harm, and business losses, is also important.
Daeryun Law Firm LLP systematically reviews the entire process in online-based juvenile crime cases, from the evidence-gathering stage through analysis of the structure of responsibility, calculation of the amount of loss, and the formulation of civil claim strategies.
If you are considering how to recover from harm caused by juvenile crime, you may wish to review a legal response strategy suited to your case in detail.
If you need a more detailed consultation, 🔗Legal Consultation Reservation can guide you through it.
