8 haunting quotes from “Juvenile Justice”: “I heard that kids under the age of 14 don’t go to prison even for murder”

One of the things that makes “Juvenile Justice” attractive is the quotes that reflect the pain in the drama.

1. “We need to show them how harsh the law can be! We have to teach them that when you hurt someone, you have to pay the consequences” – Shim Eun Seok

Shim Eun Seok is a stern-faced judge, an intelligent woman who takes strict punishments. In the first episode, Shim Eun Seok clearly expressed her point of view: “I have no sympathy for juvenile criminals”. This sentence is also a clue to explain Eun Seok’s serious and uncompromising personality. When her colleague Cha Tae Joo (Kim Mu Yeol) constantly wondered why Eun Seok had a grudge against minors, she argued that mistakes are mistakes, no matter how old the culprit is. Penalties should not be relaxed just because the defendant is a minor.

2. “I heard that kids under the age of 14 don’t go to prison even for something like murder” – Seong U

This was the sentence that made listeners feel the most terrifying in the first episode. In episode 1, viewers were shocked by a case based on a true event in Korea. Specifically, 9-year-old boy Ji Hu was kidnapped, murdered and decomposed by 16-year-old female student Han Ye Eun and 13-year-old male student Seong U. Knowing that he was under the age of imprisonment and suffered from schizophrenia, so when questioned about the murder of Ji Hu, Seong U was not afraid of confessing his crime, even making excuses that could not be colder.

Facing Judge Shim Eun Seok’s interrogation, the indifferent attitude of 13-year-old criminal Seong U made the victim’s mother unable to hold back her grief. She ran out of the court and burst into tears.

3. “People often reveal their true nature when cornered. That’s why humans are cruel” – Shim Eun Seok

When listening to people discussing the dignity and human rights of juvenile delinquents, Kim Eun Seok clearly stated her point of view. She believes that the way children share their stories with adults and the way children behave are two completely different things.

When her son was convicted of murder, Seong U’s mother did not realize her son’s mistakes, on the contrary, she wanted to cover up and make excuses for those mistakes. Seong U’s mother still thinks her son is only a 13-year-old child and still can’t believe what her son has done. But children are human beings after all, and in the words of Kim Eun Seok, “People often reveal their true nature when cornered”.

4. “It was me who was beaten. Why do I have to run away every time?” – Seo Yu Ri

Not only mentioning the hidden evil in each person, the drama also presents the problems and causes of pain to children. In episode 3 of the drama, the audience shudder at the scene where the biological father beats his daughter with a baseball bat. The unfortunate thing here is that although the girl has her grandmother by her side witnessing all those crimes, the grandmother did not speak out to protect her granddaughter but tried to cover for the inhuman father instead.

Perhaps that’s why Yu Ri thinks that it was a mistake for her to be born and exist in this world. Even though she is a victim, she always blames herself. Only with the persuasion of the judge did Yu Ri have the courage to denounce her father. Yu Ri’s seemingly simple question to judge Cha Tae Joo made viewers unable to hold back tears because it contained so much sadness and grief, “It was me who was beaten. Why do I have to run away every time?”

5. “She’s a child who suffered from domestic abuse. Children like that never grow up. 10 years, 20 years? Only time will pass by but they will just remain as an abused child regardless of that.” – Cha Tae Joo

Both are judges, but while Shim Eun Seok is strict with the children, Cha Tae Joo tends to sympathize and understand them more. Constantly puzzled by the harshness his co-worker has towards the children, Judge Cha always seeks ways to alleviate problems before trying to solve them.

As it turns out, this personality of Cha Tae Joo is the result of what he was going through during his teenage years. Cha Tae Joo is also a victim of his father’s domestic abuse like Yu Ri. Because he underwent the same experience and understands the mentality of victims, Cha Tae Joo always has an objective and sympathetic view of minors.

6. “He pushed Sin U to death” – Sin U’s mother

Academic pressure, stress over exams, parents’ expectations have never stopped taking toll on students’ mental health in today’s society. There have been many heartbreaking deaths of high school students due to suicide because of such pressure. 

Sin U is the eldest son of Kang Won Joong, a judge who is aiming to become a member of the National Assembly. Because Sin U cheats on the exam, which threatens to affect his father’s career, he decides to commit suicide. No child was born with pressure about grades, exams, and high performance. If a child commits suicide, typically Sin U, and the cause is academic pressure, who is the most responsible for his death?

7. “Please return me my life before this” – Kang Seon A   

The final case of “Juvenile Justice” is a case that is no less shocking than the first one. the 10th episode is about a group of adolescents who lure out innocent female victims they met online before raping them. Not stopping at that, they even recorded the footages to sell for money.

Kang Seon A was a victim of this group. However, Seon A was different from the previous victims as she bravely stood up to report the crime of these criminals. Unfortunately, after everything was exposed, when Seon A should have been cared for and protected, the society only doubted and isolated Seon A.

When asked about what she wanted to say to the juvenile criminals, Seon A didn’t curse or blame them at all, she only wished for her normal, peaceful life before all of this happened. Criminals might have paid for what they did, but the pain that the victims are enduring cannot be healed.

8. “I hate juvenile criminals” – Shim Eun Seok

This is the starting quote if the series, but only until the end of the series do viewers realize the meaning of this saying from Judge Shim Eun Seok. Turns out, Shim Eun Seok’s child was kileed by juvenile criminals, specifically Hwang In Jun and Baek Do Hyun, the ones who have raped Seon A.

These two have thrown a brick from the rooftop, which hit the boy and caused him his death right at the scene. However, these two juveniles were judged as innocent after only 3 minutes. Eun Seok’s hatred started from that. After all those years, Shim Eun Seok was still haunted by what happened and still couldn’t find a way out for her misery, which was why juvenile crimes always haunted this harsh judge.