9 Confirmed Inmates and Family Members at Dongbu Detention Center File Compensation Lawsuit Against the State and Minister Choo Mi-ae

On the afternoon of the 6th, an inmate at Dongbu Detention Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, showed a paper to reporters outside the window that read, "Please let the confirmed patients have warm meals." [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Lawsuits seeking damages against the state by inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 and their families are continuing within Seoul Eastern Detention Center (hereinafter Dongbu Detention Center).

According to the legal community on the 20th, nine people including Lee (24) and Park (49), who were infected with COVID-19 while incarcerated at Dongbu Detention Center, and seven of their family members plan to file a complaint seeking damages against the Republic of Korea and Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae at the Seoul Central District Court today.

This is the second publicly known lawsuit following the one filed on the 6th by four inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 while incarcerated at Dongbu Detention Center, each claiming 10 million won in state compensation.

On this day, the infected inmates including Lee and Park are reportedly claiming 20 million won each, stating that they suffered damages due to the correctional authorities’ inadequate initial response, while their parents and siblings are claiming 2 million won each in consolation damages.

Lee was incarcerated at Dongbu Detention Center in October and was moved seven times between cells before testing positive on the 3rd. Notably, among five inmates in the adjacent cell, three tested positive, but the remaining two tested negative and were forced to stay together, which led to the infection.

His family stated, “They even prevented us from sending masks, and the claim that confirmed patients were housed one per cell was all lies. There were no medical staff waiting as promised, and the only thing they did was briefly ask questions over the broadcast at lunchtime. They just gave painkillers,” describing the situation at the time.

Park Jin-sik, a lawyer from the law firm Between representing Lee and others, said, “The Ministry of Justice was so negligent that it did not start mass testing even after the first confirmed case and 14 additional confirmed cases appeared. Minister Choo only visited Dongbu Detention Center on the 29th of last month, a month after the outbreak.” He criticized, “They were so preoccupied with targeting Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol that they only visited about ten days after the disciplinary decision was made.”

Since the 4th, Lawyer Park has opened a cafe on a portal site to gather plaintiffs affected by the COVID-19 cluster infection at Dongbu Detention Center.

He stated, “The filing of the complaint may be delayed by about a day as more plaintiffs join. Although the specific infection processes differ, the basic structure of holding the correctional authorities liable for negligence is similar. We plan to file additional complaints as more plaintiffs are recruited.”

Meanwhile, two additional confirmed cases were reported among Seoul Detention Center staff, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in correctional facilities nationwide to 1,261 as of this morning. The Ministry of Justice plans to conduct the 11th mass testing of about 1,000 inmates and staff at Dongbu Detention Center today.

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