The justice ministry has formed a task force to review lowering the age of criminal liability for minors in fulfillment of a campaign pledge by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The ministry announced the formation of the task force on Tuesday, explaining that it will consist of officials from the ministry's bureaus of criminal affairs, crime prevention policy and human rights as well as the Korea Correctional Service.

The ministry said the task force will be commissioned to draw up legal revisions while seeking ways to prevent an increase in the number of ex-convicts and the number of crimes committed by minors.

Under the current law, minors aged ten to 13 that commit a crime are subject to protective judicial recourse intended to reform, including community service or confinement to a juvenile detention center.

There has been a growing call to apply stricter penalties against minors in the wake of a series of heinous crimes committed by children in the age group who knowingly abused the system.

During his campaign, Yoon had pledged to lower the threshold from under the age of 14 to 12.