The Ministry of Justice said on the 28th it will solicit sites from local governments nationwide to build four new correctional facilities. The move aims to ease overcrowding in correctional facilities and minimize social conflict in the site selection process.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the call for proposals targets the creation of four correctional facilities, each designed to house 1,000 people with about 250 staff. The standard site area is at least 192,000 square meters (about 58,000 pyeong).
Construction will proceed through a build-transfer-lease (BTL) private investment model, with construction costs of about 967.6 billion won, while land compensation and operating costs will be funded separately.
The project timeline starts with the call for proposals on Aug. 28, with applications accepted until Nov. 4, followed by proposal evaluations and the signing of MOUs with selected local governments in December.
Under the call, when a local government submits a hosting proposal with its council's consent, the Ministry of Justice site selection evaluation committee will choose sites for the correctional facilities through a comprehensive review, including document screening and on-site inspections, based on criteria such as ▲ resident acceptance ▲ feasibility of securing infrastructure ▲ land use and development potential ▲ site accessibility.
To ensure fairness in the review, the Ministry of Justice said the chairperson of the site selection evaluation committee, which has been formed for this purpose, will be elected from among external commissioners. A majority of the commissioners will also be external, and clear, objective criteria for evaluating hosting proposals will be established.
The Ministry of Justice said, "To prevent residents from having vague fears about correctional facilities, we will apply advanced security technologies to strengthen security and safety, and we will create and open parking lots, electric charging stations, parks, and sports facilities to promote coexistence with local residents."
It added, "We plan to establish these as public facilities that invigorate the local economy by hiring local talent as correctional officers and purchasing goods and agricultural products produced in the region."