A dedicated juvenile probation agency will be established to lower the recidivism rate among juvenile offenders.
The Ministry of Justice said on the 27th that a bill to amend the Probation Act containing this plan passed the National Assembly's plenary session on the previous day.
Currently, probation offices nationwide manage adults and juveniles in the same space and under the same operating system. This has raised concerns that juvenile offenders could be negatively influenced. The recidivism rate among juveniles under probation is recently around 12–13%, three times that of adults.
The newly established juvenile-dedicated agency will support the prevention of reoffending and stable social reintegration of delinquent youths, spanning preventive education (early intervention), probation (guidance, supervision, and therapeutic rehabilitation), and post-linkage (continued management).
A Ministry of Justice official said, "It aligns with the direction of juvenile justice policies in major countries such as the United Kingdom, which separate juveniles from adults in treatment and strengthen early intervention in delinquency," adding, "It will allow for more systematic management of juveniles' risk of reoffending."
Lee Jin-su, acting Minister of the Ministry of Justice, said, "For the first time in 37 years since the introduction of the probation system, we have created a new turning point to professionalize juvenile probation," adding, "Going forward, we will strengthen professional management and support tailored to juveniles' characteristics to respond to juvenile crime, which the public is concerned about, in a more systematic and effective way."