Ministry of Justice to Parole About 900 Inmates Tomorrow... Aimed at Responding to COVID-19 Spread

Seoul Eastern Detention Center, where a cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred, will conduct the 6th full-scale testing of staff and inmates on the 5th. On this day, the pedestrian signal in front of the Eastern Detention Center is red. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Ministry of Justice will parole about 900 inmates on the 14th to respond swiftly to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) within correctional facilities.

On the 13th, the Ministry of Justice stated, "Tomorrow, about 900 inmates will be paroled from correctional facilities nationwide," adding, "In order to respond stably and quickly to the recent spread of COVID-19 within correctional facilities, it was necessary to alleviate overcrowding, so early parole is being implemented."

They continued, "The parole eligibility criteria have been relaxed to expand the number of parolees, targeting vulnerable groups such as patients susceptible to COVID-19, those with underlying diseases, the elderly with weakened immunity, and model inmates."

However, it is known that the expanded parole does not include ▲ inmates serving life sentences or long-term sentences ▲ sex offenders ▲ drunk driving offenders (cases involving death, fleeing, or serious injury) ▲ child abuse offenders, and other crimes that have caused social controversy.

The Ministry of Justice forecasted, "Although the number of inmates released this time is insufficient to resolve overcrowding, it is expected to have effects such as protecting high-risk groups for COVID-19 and securing prison cells for isolation."

Separately from this parole, the Ministry of Justice plans to proceed with the regular parole scheduled for the 29th as planned.

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