Children as young as 13 years old can now be sentenced to criminal punishment for perpetrating a crime.

The Ministry of Justice announced a set of measures on Wednesday that will lower the age of criminal liability from 14 to 13 in an effort to address crimes committed by adolescents.

The measures call for the establishment of juvenile divisions at some prosecutors’ offices and improvements to programs designed to prevent and remediate juvenile delinquency.

The district prosecutors' offices in Suwon and Incheon will likely each gain a department dedicated to youth crime to cope with the high volume of cases in each district.

Prior to these changes, adolescents between ten and 14 who commit a crime were 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 liability age amid a surge in violent crimes committed by minors.