Thirteen-year-olds may soon be subject to criminal punishment should the justice ministry proceed as expected with legal revisions lowering the minimum age of liability.

According to the legal sector on Monday, the justice ministry has essentially confirmed plans to lower the age at which a child can be sentenced to criminal penalties by one year after apparently considering the capacity of correctional facilities and the management of teen crimes.

Revisions to related laws are expected to be announced as early as this week in response to growing calls for changes to be made to the nation’s Juvenile Act, which focuses on edification efforts, amid a surge in violent crimes committed by juveniles.

Under the current law, adolescents between ten and 14 who commit a crime are slapped with community service orders or sent to juvenile detention centers instead of facing criminal punishment.

Earlier in June, justice minister Han Dong-hoon ordered the launch of a task force charged with lowering the minimum age of criminal liability in line with a campaign pledge by President Yoon Suk Yeol to lower the legally defined age of a “juvenile offender” by two years to 12 years old.