In South Korea's prisons, double standards abound

Quality of facilities and food vary for foreign, domestic prisoners

Here are examples of three kinds of South Korea corrections facilities:

1. A prison for U.S. military criminals, housed within the compound of Cheonan Juvenile Prison. Prisoners in this section have been convicted of crimes committed in South Korea based on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between South Korea and the U.S (photo, above).

At a 2.27-pyeong cell (1 pyeong is equivalent to 3.3 square meters) with a single bed, a U.S. criminal can watch television anytime. U.S. prisoners can use a joint kitchen with refrigerators filled with meat, eggs, and vegetables along with microwaves to cook with. They can meet with visitors without having to be behind a glass window, and they can exercise at a health club.

2. An ordinary prison. At a 5.7-pyeong cell, nine prisoners live in each room. The meals they eat (photo, center) are worth only 841 won (US$0.90). Although it is meant to hold 2,150 prisoners, 3,045 are now housed there. It is not easy for a prisoner to get a one-person cell, sized about 3 square meters.

3. A prison under the Justice Ministry's correction facilities for foreigners. The ministry requires prisons for foreigners to provide an individual cell with a single bed. However, at the facility, which mainly houses foreign prisoners, such as Chinese and Mongolians, there are no such cells. These criminals are housed in no better conditions than are domestic criminals, but their meals (photo, bottom)consist of toast, milk, and potatoes unlike the food of Korean prisoners.

Rep. Noh Hoe-chan of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party said on November 23 that "it's shameful that discrimination remains depending on who the prisoners are."

Rep. Noh continued, "All prisons must follow U.N. regulations." U.N. regulations require a prison to provide sufficient and nutritional food, a room for sleeping and at least one hour of outdoor exercise for prisoners. "But domestic and foreign criminals other than U.S. soldiers are merely provided with a room shared with too many others, and a half hour of outdoor exercise daily," Rep. Noh said.

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