Juvenile offenders decrease, but recidivism rate remains unchanged

SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Yonhap) -- The number of "criminal youths" has been on a steady decline over the past five years, but their reoffending rate has remained almost unchanged, police data showed Tuesday.

Criminal youths refer to juvenile offenders between the ages of 14-19 who can be subject to criminal punishment.

The number of criminal youths has steadily decreased from 72,752 in 2017 to 66,259 in 2018, 66,204 in 2019, 64,584 in 2020 and 54,074 in 2021, according to the National Police Agency data obtained and released by Rep. Kim Hoi-jae of the Democratic Party.

But one in three juvenile offenders became reoffenders, and their recidivism rate has remained above 30 percent in the past five years, the data said.

In 2017, there were 23,989 repeat offenders, or 32.9 percent, among all criminal youths. The reoffending rate of criminal youths stood at 33.6 percent in 2018, 32.3 percent in 2019, 32.9 percent in 2020 and 30.2 percent in 2021.

There were also many habitual juvenile offenders.

About half of criminal youths who reoffended between 2017 and 2021 committed more than three crimes. The ratio of juvenile offenders who have committed six or more crimes also ranged from 24.1 percent to 29.5 percent in the five-year period.

ycm@yna.co.kr
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