Teenager exempted from criminal punishment for ‘acting as a retaliatory agent’ for lacquering someone else’s house… Sent to the juvenile division

A teenager who committed so-called 'retaliatory terrorism' by lacquering the front door of someone else's house and distributing leaflets with false information escaped criminal punishment and was sent to the juvenile department.

On the 11th, Judge Ko So-young of Criminal Division 9 of the Seoul Southern District Court announced that she had decided to transfer Chu Chu (18), who was put on trial on charges of trespassing, property damage, and defamation, to the juvenile division of Jeonju District Court.

The Juvenile Act requires the court to review cases of boys under the age of 19 and transfer them to the Juvenile Department if it determines that there are grounds for protective measures for behavior correction.

When a decision is made to transfer the child to the juvenile department, he or she will receive dispositions 1 to 10, ranging from ‘entrusted to custody’ to ‘transferred to long-term juvenile detention center.’ This is not recorded as a criminal record.

Judge Ko said on this day, "The defendants are confessing to the crime, and all are found guilty," and pointed out, "Retaliation by proxy is becoming a big problem, and the possibility of social criticism is high, as the defendants break into homes to receive compensation without any awareness of the illegality."

However, he explained the reason for sending the case to the juvenile department, saying, “I want to believe that the defendant (a juvenile) has the potential to improve his sexual behavior through appropriate education and guidance in the future,” and “I took into account the fact that he reached an amicable agreement with the victim and that his family ties and support were solid.”

He added, “We decided that it was more important to enable the person to grow into a healthy member of society rather than a general criminal punishment.”

Chu is accused of painting the front door of the victim's house in Gangseo-gu, Seoul with red lacquer and sprinkling soy sauce and flour on July 22nd. It was discovered that leaflets containing false facts about the victim were also distributed.

It was discovered that Chu committed the crime by receiving money from an unknown person (unidentified person) through Telegram.