Lee Jun-seok, the Reform Party presidential candidate, announced a pledge on the 15th to industrialize correctional facilities and increase the labor intensity of inmates to enhance the effectiveness of prison sentences through "industrial correction reform."
Currently, the menial labor of inmates serving prison sentences is primarily composed of low-intensity, simple tasks, leading to a low deterrent effect as a punishment and failing to aid in reintegration after release, according to the candidate's explanation.
The candidate explained that he would transition low-intensity, low-value manual labor, such as sewing, woodworking, and cleaning, to high-intensity, high-value work focused on agriculture, machine assembly, digital tasks, and energy production.
The candidate's campaign committee diagnosed that "based on the 2023 standard, the average annual production value per inmate is only 1.9 million won, which is drastically insufficient compared to the average incarceration expense of 31 million won," noting that "the rigor of the law has deteriorated."
The candidate also pledged to establish a "pre-review council" to preemptively block repetitive and formal malicious complaints and information disclosure requests to protect correctional officers, using a portion of the labor revenue for their mental health counseling and treatment expenses.