As the heat wave persists, controversy continues over whether to install air conditioners and other cooling systems in correctional facilities. Critics say it offers excessive convenience to inmates, while others argue it is the minimum measure needed to protect life and health from extreme heat. On the ground, some say the debate over inmate cooling is obscuring the need to also examine the working conditions of correctional officers who patrol housing units and manage inmates amid the heat.
According to the Ministry of Justice and others on the 14th, the Ministry of Justice pushed a "correctional facility cooling system reinforcement project" this year with about 1.2 billion won. The project installs air conditioners and other cooling systems in the corridors of housing units that hold older adults, people with disabilities, and patients vulnerable to heat-related illness, as well as some overcrowded women's housing units.
With this summer's daytime highs topping 40 degrees Celsius, other correctional sites have also requested additional cooling systems. But as controversy has flared over whether it is appropriate to provide air conditioning to inmates with taxpayer money, installing additional systems beyond the previously allocated budget has effectively become difficult.
Lee Seong-su, a Ministry of Justice corrections official, said, "Requests from frontline institutions have continued amid the heat wave, but it has become difficult to add more cooling systems," and added, "Even in the existing project, we did not install air conditioners in all housing units, but only in some corridors with vulnerable inmates."
◇ "Even handheld fans are hard to use"… correctional officers collapse in the heat
Frontline correctional officers also report hardships from the heat wave. They must keep patrolling inside the housing units despite the sweltering weather and manage inmates who are more on edge than usual due to heat and fatigue.
Nam Hyeong-in, a correctional officer at Yeoju Prison, said, "I walk 20,000 to 30,000 steps during a shift," and added, "After patrolling at midday in midsummer, my deep navy uniform looks black from sweat."
According to correctional officials, inmates sometimes take turns dousing themselves with water to cool off. Because shower hoses are not installed in shared-cell bathrooms to prevent emergencies, they fill a basin with water from the faucet and wash their bodies.
Officers find it hard to shower while on duty, and they must be ready to respond immediately to emergencies such as inmate disturbances, so they try to keep their hands and pockets as free as possible. For that reason, even the handheld fans commonly used on the street in summer are not easy to use while working.
In fact, this summer some correctional officers collapsed on duty from heat-related illness. In late Jul., at a correctional facility under the Daegu Regional Correction Headquarters, Officer A suddenly complained of dizziness while on duty and collapsed, then was taken to a hospital. After showing signs of dehydration and receiving treatment, A returned to work.
◇ "Is prison a hotel?"… negative public opinion too
Public opinion on cooling correctional facilities is split. A leading backlash is, "If you provide air conditioning to criminals with tax money, how is prison different from a hotel?" The argument is that people incarcerated for committing crimes should not be given a better environment than the general public.
On the other hand, some argue cooling should be seen not as mere convenience but as the minimum measure to protect inmates' lives and health from extreme heat. They note that domestic correctional facilities remain severely overcrowded, making them more vulnerable to heat waves. As of last year, the nationwide occupancy rate of correctional facilities reached 125.8%.
Courts have also recognized the state's responsibility regarding poor confinement conditions in correctional facilities. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that if overcrowding places inmates in conditions where even basic human needs are hard to meet, the state is liable for damages. In assessing whether inmates are guaranteed minimum human rights in correctional facilities, it said not only the space allotted to individuals but also sunlight, ventilation, cooling and heating systems, and hygiene and medical standards must be considered together.
Experts suggest, instead of installing air conditioners uniformly in all facilities, gradually expanding cooling systems first to inmates vulnerable to extreme heat and establishing strict operating standards as an alternative.
Kim An-sik, a professor in the Department of Correctional Administration at Baekseok University, said, "To maintain basic health, I think it is necessary to gradually install cooling systems in spaces such as medical wards or where older adults stay," and added, "If operating standards are established and centrally controlled by correctional facilities, it would help with corrections."