Nationwide Full Inspection of Correctional Facilities Underway... Additional Transfer Plans Being Established

Seoul Eastern Detention Center, where a cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred, will conduct the 6th round of comprehensive testing for staff and inmates on the 5th. Tension is running high at the Eastern Detention Center on this day.
Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Ministry of Justice will conduct comprehensive COVID-19 testing across all correctional facilities nationwide. The aim is to quickly identify confirmed cases, close contacts, and negative individuals to preemptively block factors that could lead to mass infections. However, given that confirmed cases from local infections and transfers have already occurred, there are expected limitations to stopping the spread solely by expanding testing.

On the 6th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced a quarantine plan for correctional facilities, including comprehensive testing and preemptive transfer plans for negative individuals, and stated that immediate measures will be taken.

First, after completing comprehensive testing of staff and inmates at 11 correctional institutions, testing will soon be conducted at the remaining 41 correctional facilities. In cases where confirmed cases occur in high-rise correctional facilities like Dongbu Detention Center, a preemptive transfer plan will be implemented to house non-contact individuals in newly constructed buildings at Daegu Prison.

Based on the results of the 6th comprehensive test at Dongbu Detention Center released that morning, additional quarantine measures will be established. Although confirmed cases dropped from triple digits in the previous five rounds of testing to 66 in the 5th round (about half of the 127 confirmed cases), it is difficult to say the spread has stopped.

In fact, infection cases within correctional facilities nationwide are increasing. As of 6 p.m. the previous day, four inmates at Seoul Detention Center, two inmates at Seoul Southern Prison, one inmate at Cheonan Prison, and one inmate at Yeongwol Prison were newly confirmed positive. Additionally, seven confirmed cases emerged at Yeongwol Prison that morning. Among these, the confirmed cases at Southern Prison and Yeongwol Prison were all inmates transferred from Dongbu Detention Center. Previously, on the 3rd, Dongbu Detention Center transferred 217 inmates to Yeongwol Prison, and on the 4th, 109 inmates were transferred to Southern Prison.

The Ministry of Justice and quarantine authorities are also closely monitoring the results of COVID-19 PCR tests conducted at Suwon Detention Center and Incheon Detention Center. Both facilities are high-rise correctional buildings located in the metropolitan area, raising concerns that a second Dongbu Detention Center incident could occur. Following the 6th comprehensive test results and the government's quarantine plan for correctional facilities, correctional authorities plan to soon decide on additional transfers of inmates from Dongbu Detention Center.

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