This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz RM Report website at 2:38 p.m. on May 6, 2026.
On Apr. 29 at 4:10 p.m., Courtroom B209 in the basement of the Seoul Administrative Court. The plaintiff's seat was empty. Instead, a man in a blue prison uniform appeared on a monitor connected by video on one side of the courtroom. The presiding judge asked, "Is the plaintiff, Jang Dae-ho, present?" Jang Dae-ho, who received a finalized life sentence in the "Han River torso body" case, said, "Yes."
The hearing that day was an administrative suit filed by Jang Dae-ho seeking to overturn a decision by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). He had filed a petition with the NHRC, arguing that a correctional authority's opening and reading of his civil litigation documents violated his human rights, but when it was dismissed, he filed an administrative lawsuit on Nov. 19 last year.
Such lawsuits are not unusual. Petitions to the NHRC filed by prison and detention center inmates account for more than 40% of the total, and hundreds of administrative suits and constitutional complaints are filed every year. But cases that are actually recognized as rights violations are extremely rare. Critics say the system has gone beyond a remedy for rights to become a "malicious civil complaint."
◇ Inmates' NHRC petitions top 4,000 a year for nine straight years
According to the Ministry of Justice and the NHRC on the 6th, a total of 11,119 petitions were filed with the NHRC last year. Of these, 4,501 petitions (40.48%) were filed by prison and detention center inmates. Even by the 10-year average, the figure is 42.55%, meaning 4 out of 10 people who claim human rights violations or discrimination to the NHRC were inmates.
An NHRC petition is a procedure by which a person who claims to have suffered a human rights violation or discrimination requests relief. Once a petition is filed, a researcher is assigned to investigate the case, and after a commission vote, a recommendation, dismissal, or rejection is decided.
The reasons inmates petition the NHRC vary. Claims have ranged from alleging discrimination because only inmates who went to outside work sites received holiday special meals, to challenging as unjust the measure of attaching a "yellow name tag (five major violent crimes, subject to monitoring)" to inmates with past organized crime records.
But the NHRC finds actual human rights violations in only a very small number of cases. Of the 4,501 petitions filed by inmates last year, only 24 (0.5%) resulted in recommendations. That is one-quarter the recommendation acceptance rate for all petitions (2.15%).
◇ Inmates filed 122 administrative suits last year, the most in the past 10 years
Administrative suits show a similar pattern. Last year, inmates filed 122 administrative lawsuits, the highest number in the past 10 years.
In 2021, an inmate at Hongseong Prison filed suit in protest after "red-rimmed glasses" were banned from being brought in. That same year, a male inmate at Daegu Prison filed an administrative suit seeking permission to use "hair rinse." It has also been reported that some inmates have pursued class-action lawsuits, saying, "The prison is too cramped to live in."
Challenges to refusals of information disclosure or to nullify disciplinary measures are also representative types of inmate administrative lawsuits. However, few are accepted by the courts. Of the 44 cases concluded last year, only 5 (11.4%) were upheld, while most of the rest were rejected or dismissed for failing to meet procedural requirements.
Cases also continue in which inmates file constitutional complaints with the Constitutional Court, claiming violations of basic rights. Of the 29 inmate constitutional complaints filed last year, all 21 that were concluded—excluding 8 still pending—were dismissed. Broadening to the past 10 years does not change the picture much. Of 397 constitutional complaints filed by inmates, only 1 case (0.25%), related to restricting meetings with defense counsel, was upheld.
◇ "Sometimes they repeatedly file complaints to harass correctional officers"
Criminal complaints and accusations filed by inmates against correctional officials also continue unabated. Last year, 1,505 correctional officials were accused. Most complaints cite dereliction of duty or abuse of authority, but very few lead to indictments.
In the past 10 years, only 7 people (0.04%) out of 15,788 accused correctional officials were indicted or received suspended indictments.
On the ground, staff said repeated petitions and lawsuits add to their workload. A correctional officer said, "Once a petition is filed, we have to handle everything from verifying the facts to preparing materials and responding to the investigation," adding, "Not a few repeat the same petition, aiming for this."
Experts said that while the relief of inmates' rights itself cannot be restricted, abuse of the system could make it harder to respond to actual human rights violations. A human rights attorney, identified as A, said, "Because inmates' human rights must also be guaranteed, imposing limits would be inappropriate," but added, "It is concerning that a few who abuse the system could cause us to miss opportunities to detect actual rights violations."