Big crimes such as the recent Nth room scandal have become an issue. However, it was revealed that minors were among the perpetrators of the incidents, which shocked many people. Crimes committed by minors now are becoming more and more serious, and starting to match the level of to adults. Apparently, the creation of the ‘Juvenile Act’ was a good idea to provide young people with the opportunity to recreate themselves and to live a new life when they launch into the world as an adult. In contrast to this purpose, however, the effect of Juvenile Act is very minimal. Today, the Juvenile Act should be abolished, considering that violent juvenile crimes are increasing rapidly and the damage of the crime is not much different from that of adult crimes.

First of all, the number of cases of abuse of Juvenile Act is gradually increasing. Under the current law, adolescents under 19 are punished based on criteria than adults. For example, even if a juvenile offender commits a crime that could result in a maximum legal penalty, such as murder, his or her sentence will be reduced to about 15 years in prison. Furthermore, children between the ages of 10 and 14 are excluded from punishment because they are seen to be incapable of judgment. They cannot be legally punished for any wrongdoing. Some teenagers who are aware of this regard the Juvenile Act as an emergency exit from their crimes. Second, adolescents in the information age with advanced technology have changed from the past. The amount of knowledge they encounter directly or indirectly is no different from adults. As a result, even after committing crimes, that are hard to imagine to most, just because of ’curiosity,’ there is little repentance because they believe the Juvenile Act protects them. The existence of the Juvenile Act has led them to commit large and small crimes without much awareness of problems. Under these circumstances, the Juvenile Act is rather allowing crimes by teenagers. Although the fundamental purpose of punishment is the prevention of crime, the Juvenile Act should be abolished because the punishment itself is too light to prevent crime. Finally, teenagers should take responsibility for the freedom they enjoy themselves. Adolescents are allowed greater freedom today compared to the past. Freedom and responsibility must coexist. The brutality of crimes committed by teenagers has already surpassed that of adults, and to say that they cannot be held accountable because they are not as mature as adults is nonsense. With the changing times and the development of technology, the world that teenagers encounter is gradually expanding. The knowledge they learned as they grew up gives them the ability to tell right from wrong. Therefore, indulgence should not be given just because they are young.

The number of brutal crimes committed by teenagers is increasing. These days, teenagers are growing so fast that they are almost physically equivalent to adults. Also, they are more mentally mature by acquiring information through various media. The Juvenile Act was enacted to help the antisocial children grow up soundly, but the results were disastrous. According to the Ministry of Justice "2019 Youth Statistics," violent crimes under the age of 18 increased 6.7 percent since last year and violent incidents increased 11.3 percent, compared to 2016. This reality has begun to be perceived by people as a serious social problem. It is now hoped that everyone will be judged fairly, not by age but by the gravity of the crimes committed.