Over 10,000 Juvenile Offenders Outside School System Every Year; Shelter Placement Only Possible with Voluntary Consent
A man in his 50s was arrested on charges of murdering a teenage girl, and the victim, 15-year-old A, was an out-of-school youth—someone who neither attended school nor had any place of protection. The case raises renewed questions about the dangers out-of-school youth face and how the state is protecting them.
Jin Mo, 59, was urgently arrested on suspicion of murdering A at a shared lodging business in Jeongneung-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. On the 13th, the Seoul Northern District Court issued an arrest warrant citing the risk of evidence destruction and flight, and he was formally detained.
According to police and court sources on the 15th, A had repeatedly sought help from police over family problems. She had been moving between municipal youth shelters that provide food and lodging to at-risk youth. On the day of the incident, she was staying at one such shelter but left and never returned. An official from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said, "She had made plans with shelter staff before going out, and when she failed to return by the agreed time, a missing person report was filed."
A had been entangled with Jin's family even before the murder. Jin's son was referred to prosecutors (now the prosecution service) in March on charges of statutory rape (quasi-rape by deception against a minor) against A. Jin's common-law wife, Kim Mo, 26, is accused of urging A to run away from home and engage in prostitution, and of directing her to steal money and valuables from home. On the 13th, the Seoul Northern District Prosecutor's Office sought an arrest warrant for Kim on charges of instigating theft, acquiring stolen goods, violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth Against Sex Offenses, and fraud. A had often found food and lodging at a gym Kim formerly operated. Police are weighing the possibility that Jin murdered A not as revenge for his son's sex crime case, but to prevent the arrest of Kim, his common-law wife, as they investigate the motive.
Out-of-school youth pushed into being both victims and perpetrators Meanwhile, the number of youths who have fallen outside the protective umbrella of family and school exceeds 10,000 every year. According to the National Police Agency, of the 58,568 juvenile offenders apprehended from January to October this year, 10,433 (17.8%) were out-of-school youth. The number of out-of-school juvenile offenders exceeded 10,000 annually: 11,319 in 2023, 10,663 in 2024, and 10,790 last year.
According to a 2024 study by the Korea Youth Policy Research Institute on doubly vulnerable youth outside home and school, 9 of 87 out-of-school respondents (10.3%) said they had been coerced or threatened into crimes such as theft or prostitution by those around them. 29 respondents (33.3%) said they struggled because they had no one to turn to for help.
Sexual exploitation victimization is also serious. According to the '2025 Annual Report of Support Centers for Child and Youth Victims of Sexual Exploitation' published by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute, the 17 centers nationwide supported 1,226 child and youth victims last year, 98.6% of whom were female. The 14–16 age group, which A belonged to, accounted for the largest share at 567 (46.2%). By type of victimization, compensated dating was most common at 942 cases (37.9%), followed by assault and extortion, digital sex crimes, and forced initiation into criminal activity.
According to the ministry's '2024 Survey on the Living Conditions of At-Risk Youth Using Support Institutions,' the rate of sexual violence and stalking victimization among at-risk youth rose to 6.3%, up from 4.3% in 2021, with females (9.2%) 2.6 times more likely than males (3.5%) to be victims. Nevertheless, 3 out of 10 youths who suffered such harm told no one about it.
Stays capped at 7 days, forced placement prohibited: limits of shelters Youth shelters are considered the last safety net for at-risk youth, but they face structural limitations. Youths can stay up to 7 days in temporary shelters, up to 2 years in short-term shelters, and up to 4 years in mid-to-long-term shelters. With insufficient grounds to control residents against their will, placement or facility transfers cannot be forced merely because a guardian wishes it.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, A repeatedly used only temporary shelters, and during counseling she mainly discussed family discord. A ministry official said, "A was a youth in a complex crisis situation. Even the shelter where she last stayed was aware of her family discord, but it was difficult to detect any sexual violence or sexual exploitation victimization."
In the same survey, 72.6% of youths residing in shelters or independent-living support facilities said they had experienced physical violence or abuse from guardians, and 75.8% said they had experienced verbal violence or abuse.
There are gaps in follow-up management as well. Shelters conduct phone or in-person counseling with youths who leave for six months, but if the youth avoids contact, effective management becomes difficult. Shelters also cannot forcibly prevent residents from going out. Banning smartphone use or outings altogether risks violating human rights, according to the ministry's position. As a result, youths who leave shelters often have only their peers to rely on. In the survey, 62.6% cited 'friends or school seniors/juniors' as those who helped them while living outside the home—2.5 times higher than 'youth institution and facility staff' (25.1%).
Experts point out that A's repeated use of short-stay temporary shelters was itself a warning sign. Heo Min-sook, a legislative researcher at the National Assembly Research Service, said, "Shuttling between temporary shelters where she could stay only seven days at a time was proof that the child's life was extremely unstable. When this pattern repeats, someone should have looked into whether she was being pursued by someone or had circumstances that required keeping her whereabouts hidden." She added, "Even though she remained within the shelter protection system, no one treated her frequent moves as a danger signal. Under the pretext of a youth's right to self-determination, we must not mistake handing all decisions over to the child for protection."
