[Drug Nation]⑬Released for 'Treatment'... Half of Hospitals Show No Results

■ Chapter 4. Drug Investigations at a Turning Point


Even After Indictment, 47% Receive Suspended Sentences in Court

At the Prosecutorial Stage, 20% Face Summary Indictment or Suspension of Prosecution

Treatment as the Goal, but Ha

Nearly half of those convicted of drug-related offenses were released either because they were first-time offenders or had a treating physician. However, it was found that half of the treatment and protective institutions where these addicts should have received care had no record of providing any treatment. Due to this lax leniency—rather than strong punishment or effective treatment and rehabilitation—one in three ends up relapsing into drug use.

Half Receive Suspended Sentences: Courts and Prosecutors Release Offenders for "Treatment"

According to the Drug Crime White Paper published by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on May 21, the number of individuals convicted of drug-related offenses remained above 20,000 annually after peaking at 27,611 in 2023. However, many offenders received relatively light punishments such as fines or suspended sentences.

Looking at the outcomes of first-instance trials for drug offenders, in 2024, fines and suspended sentences accounted for 2,963 out of 6,315 cases (46.9%). In 2014, fines and suspended sentences made up 1,352 out of 3,365 cases (40.2%). This marks an increase of 6.7 percentage points over 10 years, meaning that nearly half of all drug offenders were released without serving a prison sentence or higher. Regarding the length of suspended sentences in 2024, less than three years accounted for 53.2%, less than five years 38.9%, five years or more 5.0%, and less than two years 2.9%.

The prosecutorial response has also become more lenient. In 2014, formal indictments (where the prosecutor requests a full trial in court) were issued in 3,949 out of 10,222 cases (38.6%), while summary indictments (where the prosecutor requests the court to impose a fine or other penalty through a document review) and deferred prosecutions accounted for 1,804 cases (17.7%). In 2024, out of 25,822 cases, only 8,928 (34.6%) resulted in formal indictments, showing a decrease in the proportion referred to trial. Meanwhile, summary indictments and deferred prosecutions increased to 5,207 cases (20.1%).

The increase in deferred prosecutions reveals a chronic issue of “prosecutorial discretion.” There are no objective metrics or standardized criteria made public for granting deferred prosecution; it is entirely at the discretion of individual prosecutors. As a result, deferred prosecution can be abused as a bargaining chip in sentencing for first-time offenders or those who cooperate with investigations.

Conditional Deferred Prosecution for Treatment: Question Marks Remain on Effectiveness

The legal community emphasizes that deferred prosecution is often granted on the condition that the offender receives treatment. However, the system for verifying whether treatment is actually administered is weak. Recidivism rates for drug offenders have remained high: 36.6% in 2021, 35.0% in 2022, 32.8% in 2023, and 34.5% in 2024. This means that one in three reoffends.

Conditional deferred prosecution by prosecutors typically includes requirements such as treatment, guidance at probation offices, completion of educational courses, or participation in judicial-treatment-rehabilitation linkage models. The number of such conditional dispositions was 1,403 in 2021, 1,553 in 2022, 1,540 in 2023, and 1,453 in 2024. Although drug crimes and deferred prosecutions have both increased significantly each year, the number of conditional deferred prosecutions has remained relatively steady. Notably, when looking only at those conditioned on treatment, the numbers have actually decreased each year, dropping to just 11 cases in 2024 from 22 in 2021. The number of cases linked to the judicial-treatment-rehabilitation model reached only 148 in its first year of implementation in 2024.

Some argue that sentencing guidelines need to be revised. According to the Sentencing Commission of the Supreme Court, sentencing for drug crimes is determined by factors such as use or simple possession, sale or mediation, import/export or manufacturing, and large-scale offenses. For cases of use, the basic prison term for hallucinogens is only 6 months to 1 year. Cannabis and certain psychotropics (categories Ra and Ma) carry sentences of 8 months to 1 year and 6 months; other psychotropics (categories Na and Da) 1 to 2 years and 6 months; and narcotics and certain psychotropics (category Ga) 1 to 4 years. Mitigating factors include being a first-time offender, voluntarily seeking treatment, diminished mental or physical capacity, or cooperating with investigations.

In this classification, category Ga includes poppy, category Na is opium, category Da is unprocessed coca leaves, category Ra contains cocaine, heroin, morphine, oxycodone, and other major narcotics, and category Ma includes fentanyl.

A legal expert commented, “It’s been proven worldwide that harsh punishment alone isn’t the answer, but granting deferred prosecutions without detailed and specific follow-up measures can undermine deterrence. Considering recent trends, sentencing guidelines for drug offenders need to be strengthened.”

Designated Treatment Institutions Not Fulfilling Their Role

Some argue that treating and rehabilitating addicts is more urgent than simply strengthening judicial penalties. According to “Treatment and Protection Institution Performance” data obtained by The Asia Business Daily from the Ministry of Health and Welfare through Assemblyman Jeong Chunseng of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, 32 facilities nationwide were designated as treatment and protection centers for drug addicts last year. Of these, 14—nearly half—had no record of providing treatment. Five institutions—Incheon Chamsarang Hospital (758 cases), Seoul Eunpyeong Hospital (217), National Bugok Hospital (193), Daedong Hospital (138), and National Center for Mental Health (87)—accounted for 1,393 cases, or 84.5% of the total.

The 32 designated treatment and protection institutions have a combined 336 beds. The top five institutions have only 177 beds (52.7%) between them. Incheon Chamsarang Hospital, for example, has 50 beds but treated 758 patients. By contrast, Shinsaege Hospital, which has the next highest bed count (32 beds), treated only 7 patients.

Five hospitals—Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Uijeongbu Hospital, Gwangju Municipal Psychiatric Hospital, National Chuncheon Hospital, Cheongju Medical Center, and Yangsan Hospital—had no treatment or protection cases for five consecutive years. Except for Yangsan Hospital, all are national or public medical centers. This suggests that local governments or health authorities should have enforced operation, even if it meant injecting budget, but instead left the situation unaddressed.

A medical professional who wished to remain anonymous cited a vicious cycle of “profitability” and “staff shortages.” He said, “Managing drug addicts is much more demanding than treating ordinary psychiatric patients, and considering the fee structure and government subsidies, there’s no reason to keep doing this work unless you’re driven by a sense of mission. For private hospitals, it’s more profitable to treat general patients, and regional hospitals often refuse to accept drug addicts because they lack budgets and specialists.”

Lee Haeguk, Professor of Psychiatry at Catholic University, stated, “The proportion of offenders actually linked to treatment and protection is extremely low, and in fact, the current system can be said to hinder rather than facilitate treatment and protection. The real problem is that the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety each invest separate budgets in treatment and rehabilitation policies.”

Incheon Chamsarang Hospital Handles "Half" the Nationwide Treatment

Cheon Younghoon, Director of Incheon Chamsarang Hospital, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the hospital located in Seo-gu, Incheon, last April. Exclusive Reporting Team

Incheon Chamsarang Hospital is considered the last bastion in Korea. However, this hospital also reports facing the same difficulties as others. Director Cheon Younghoon said, “Drug patients are much more difficult and dangerous to handle than those with schizophrenia or alcoholism, but the fee structure is the same. The burden is heavy and there’s no compensation, so private institutions don’t want to take on these cases, and ultimately no experts are trained.”

Even if the government designates a hospital, a lack of corresponding fee structures and support prevents the training of specialists, leading to insufficient expertise. Hospitals lacking specialized programs and staff enter a vicious cycle where patients avoid them. Director Cheon emphasized, “We are being designated, but our treatment capacity is not keeping up. Instead of just sending subsidies, the government should fundamentally raise the fees for treating drug-addicted patients.”

He also pointed out that government support for treatment costs can trigger moral hazard. Director Cheon explained, “The original aim was to prevent people from claiming they couldn’t get treatment because of financial difficulties, but now, without even checking an individual’s assets, the government just pays for everything, which can cause moral hazard. Even the son of a wealthy family can receive free treatment, but discussions about differentiated support by income have been halted.”

He also mentioned the difficulty of hospitals being held solely responsible when problems arise during treatment. Director Cheon said, “Patients go out on leave or overnight stays and return with drugs hidden in Bibles or even concealed in their bodies. Since this isn’t a prison, we can’t control everything. If drugs are distributed in the hospital, the hospital is held legally responsible, and even if we report it to the police first, it’s difficult to avoid public criticism that ‘drugs are being used at a drug treatment hospital.’”

Exclusive Reporting Team | Jang Heejun, Oh Jieun, Park Hosu, Lee Jiye, Park Jaehyeon

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