Prison Inmates Allowed Up to 30 Phone Calls Per Month... Two-Month Pilot Program Underway

Prison. Photo unrelated to the article [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Inmates incarcerated in prisons will be allowed to make up to 30 calls per month to family members and others.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the Ministry of Justice will pilot the 'Expansion Plan for Inmate Phone Usage' for two months by August at six prisons, including Hwaseong Vocational Training Prison, to strengthen inmates' rights to external communication.

Accordingly, the number of monthly calls allowed for inmates will be applied differentially from 5 to 30 times per month depending on the security treatment level of the inmate. For the highest level, Open Treatment Level (S1), the number of calls, which was previously limited to 5 times per month, will increase sixfold to 30 times per month. Pretrial detainees, who were previously not allowed to make calls, will also be permitted to use the phone.

Call duration will be set to about 5 minutes considering fairness among inmates and will be flexibly managed depending on the situation. The existing method, where correctional headquarters staff monitored inmates' calls, will be changed to a system that automatically records call content, preserves the data, and reviews it only if issues arise afterward.

Inmates can make calls by entering a number on digital public phones installed in the exercise yard or workshop during working hours, which will display a list of phone numbers of acquaintances they can call; selecting a number will connect them to the respective acquaintance.

To register a number on the call list that inmates can select, the person must visit a nearby correctional institution and complete a third-party information consent form.

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