“But as juvenile offenders, aren’t you meant to learn right from wrong by experiencing things? Isn’t it the nation’s way of giving you a learning opportunity? I’ll stop once I’m no longer underage ... I promise, really.” In a scene from the Netflix Korean drama "Teach You a Lesson," a middle school student involved in serious crimes responds with a sneer. “Arrest and lock me up, only if you can.” Technically, he is both right and wrong. In Korea, juvenile offenders — more precisely minors under the age of 14 — are not subject to criminal punishment, such as fines or prison terms, even when accused of serious crimes such as drug distribution or car theft. Under the Juvenile Act, they are instead placed under “protective disposition,” with the harshest measure being confinement in a juvenile detention center for up to two years. So, strictly speaking, they can still face legal consequences — just not criminal punishment. That does not mean the rage-inducing scene from the drama is pure fabrication, however. In 2020, when a group of middle school students killed a