National Legal Medicine Hospital Renamed from Treatment Custody Center After 35 Years... "Focus on Treatment and Rehabilitation"

National Legal Medicine Hospital
Photo by Ministry of Justice

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The National Forensic Hospital is making a fresh start as a research-centered institution focusing on treatment and rehabilitation to reduce the risk of recidivism among mentally ill offenders.

On the 18th, the Ministry of Justice held a vision declaration ceremony at the National Forensic Hospital in Gongju, Chungnam, attended by Vice Minister Ino Gong and Gongju Mayor Choi Won-cheol, announcing the hospital's goal to become a "Forensic Psychiatry Research-Centered Institution."

The staff of the National Forensic Hospital pledged to pursue patient safety and human rights, realize treatment, rehabilitation, and social safety through the establishment of a professional medical environment, build a research institute recognized by the global forensic psychiatry community, play a key role in treating mentally ill offenders, and expand the expertise of judicial treatment through a public-private hub role.

The National Forensic Hospital opened in 1987 as a treatment and custody center and has been responsible for the treatment and rehabilitation of mentally ill offenders. On the 5th, following the revision of the Treatment and Custody Act, its name was changed from the Treatment and Custody Center to the National Forensic Hospital.

In his congratulatory speech, Vice Minister Ino Gong said, "The renaming clarifies that the purpose of treatment and custody is treatment and rehabilitation rather than confinement and punishment, aiming to reduce the risk of recidivism among patients and protect the public safely," and urged, "I ask all staff to work with a sense of mission on the front lines."

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