President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday instructed the government to gather public opinion on whether to lower the age threshold for criminal minors. Lee made the call during a Cabinet meeting after the justice ministry gave a briefing on its proposal to lower the upper age limit of criminal minors, those aged 10 to under 14, to address concerns over rising crime rates among early teens. "It seems that an overwhelming majority of people agree that the age threshold should be lowered by at least one year," Lee said. Vice Justice Minister Lee Jin-soo said there are growing calls to lower the age threshold to the level of first-year middle school students, typically around age 13, to better address youth crime. In contrast, Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyung took a cautious stance, pointing to insufficient preventive measures for juvenile offenders. Lee said the most reasonable line may be whether a child is in elementary or middle school, given their different educational and developmental environments. "The mindset of middle school students and elementary school students could be