Ministry of Justice's Delayed COVID-19 Measures... Another Disappearance of Choo (Comprehensive)

Correctional Facility Social Distancing Level 3... Vice Minister Lee Yong-gu "Apologies to the Public for Inadequate Quarantine Measures"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Ministry of Justice will raise social distancing to level 3 for correctional facilities nationwide for two weeks until the 13th of next month. The main point is to fully restrict inmate treatment systems such as visitations and education, and to expand parole to prevent the worsening of symptoms or additional infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in advance. However, criticism is expected to continue regarding the government's initial failure in quarantine and delayed administration of state-managed institutions.

On the 31st, the Ministry of Justice announced COVID-19 measures targeting correctional facilities nationwide and decided to take immediate action. Lee Yong-gu, Deputy Minister of Justice, who announced the measures directly that day, stated, "We will strengthen quarantine and inspections within correctional facilities to prevent any further infections."

First, a level 3 social distancing system will be applied to correctional facilities nationwide for the next two weeks. This means fully restricting inmate treatment such as visitations, work, and education to minimize contact between inmates. In particular, visitations with lawyers will also be restricted. Staff will immediately enter an emergency work system, and external activities will be prohibited in principle.

Additional transfers to reduce the inmate density at Dongbu Detention Center, the epicenter of this cluster infection, are also being considered. The Ministry of Justice had previously stated that after transferring 345 confirmed cases to Cheongsong Prison, the density at Dongbu Detention Center would not exceed 120% even if new confirmed cases remained there. However, as additional confirmed cases continued to surge, other transfer locations are now being considered.

Parole will also be expanded for labor prisoners, inmates with underlying conditions that could worsen severely, and model prisoners. This is also a measure to reduce density within correctional facilities. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office, considering the lack of additional capacity in correctional facilities, decided the day before to reduce the number of labor camp detainees due to unpaid fines, which account for about 20% of new inmates.

Furthermore, measures to prevent further spread among asymptomatic individuals will be implemented. Rapid antigen tests will be conducted on all correctional facility staff and inmates to fundamentally block infections caused by asymptomatic carriers.

However, criticism of delayed administration is unavoidable as government-level measures were only announced a month after confirmed COVID-19 cases appeared at Dongbu Detention Center on the 27th of last month. During the rapid increase to over 800 confirmed cases in a month, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, who is responsible for managing and supervising correctional facilities, as well as Deputy Minister Lee, were embroiled in various controversies and left quarantine measures unattended.

In particular, Minister Choo faced criticism for visiting the Ansan Probation Office instead of Dongbu Detention Center on the 29th, when the cluster infection at Dongbu Detention Center reached its worst. On the 28th, when inmates were transferred to other regions due to the surge in confirmed cases, she posted on her personal YouTube account a message titled "Impeachment of Yoon Seok-yeol, the backlash will not come." She only visited the site after the number of confirmed cases in correctional facilities exceeded 700, and even that evening, she expressed only that she found the return of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol "hard to accept."

The fact that Deputy Minister Lee, not Minister Choo, announced the measures that day also became a subject of controversy. Although Minister Choo's resignation was accepted the day before and a new Minister of Justice was appointed, Minister Choo was to remain in charge until the new minister's appointment, making it appear as if she was trying to avoid responsibility. Ultimately, Deputy Minister Lee apologized on her behalf. He said, "I once again apologize to the public for this incident occurring due to the limitations of detention facilities and insufficient proactive quarantine measures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.