Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice visited Anyang Prison to inspect aging facilities and poor confinement conditions and to seek ways to ease overcrowding and improve facilities.
According to the Ministry of Justice on the 19th, the Minister and the legal affairs press corps visited Anyang Prison on the 15th.
Anyang Prison was completed in 1963. It is the oldest among correctional facilities currently in use in Korea, and it has been used with ongoing reinforcement and repairs. Large communal cells designed for nine people are temporarily housing up to 20 inmates. The Ministry of Justice says newly building the facility is urgently needed for inmate safety, human rights, hygiene, and treatment.
The Minister, together with the legal affairs press corps, wore inmate uniforms and experienced a day in the life of an inmate after admission, including prison labor, headcounts, meals, and transfers.
The Minister said, "I was shocked to see that the appearance of Anyang Prison I visited more than 20 years ago has not changed much even now," and added, "I am deeply grateful to all the staff who have quietly carried out their duties despite difficult conditions."
The Minister added, "We will do our best to enhance the effectiveness of corrections by easing overcrowding and improving facilities, and to build a safer society for the public."
A reporter who accompanied the on-site assessment said, "Through this on-site assessment, I was once again struck by the severity of the overcrowding issue," and added, "I expect we will be able to report on correctional administration in a more balanced and accurate manner going forward."
The Ministry of Justice plans to actively continue hosting a variety of correctional field communication programs in line with the government's on-site, field-centered policy development approach, to raise public understanding of correctional sites and to ensure that voices from the field are faithfully reflected in policy.