Nine People in a 16.6-Square-Meter Room, Double the Capacity: Cheongju Women's Prison Pushed to the Limit by Overcrowding

"We will begin roll call shortly. Everyone, sit up straight."

On June 17, when the daytime high reached 33°C (91°F) at Cheongju Women's Prison in North Chungcheong Province, a correctional officer shouted from the end of the hallway in front of reporters.

The room, measuring just over 5 pyeong (16.62 square meters) and equipped with modest household items, a sink, and a toilet, quickly became packed with no room to move as 12 adult women entered.

Because it was too cramped to stretch out their legs, some had to sit with their backs against the wall, pulling their knees up to their chests.

The room was filled with stifling heat.

Although two wall-mounted fans were running continuously, the heat did not easily subside.

Cheongju Women's Prison, visited on this day for an inmate experience program, is South Korea's largest women-only correctional facility. It opened in 1989 and moved to its current location in 2003.

It houses a large number of violent offenders and high-profile criminals who have sparked public outrage, such as Koh Yu-jeong and Lee Eun-hae, earning it the nickname "the legendary Cheongju" among netizens.

Although it is considered to have relatively better facilities among the country's 54 correctional institutions, it suffers from the same chronic overcrowding issues as other facilities.

While the capacity of Cheongju Women's Prison is around 610, the actual number of inmates stood at 742 as of June 17, representing an occupancy rate of 120 percent.

The shared cell experienced by reporters on this day has a capacity of five people, but an average of nine inmates are said to live there.

This means nearly two people are crammed into a space meant for one.

The room was cramped enough just sitting down, but when lying down, shoulders touched, and one person's head would end up near another's feet.

Only by lying down all the way to the front of the toilet could eight people barely fit.

Furthermore, about half of the prison's 67 solitary cells are currently shared by two inmates.

As people are crowded into such tight spaces, inmates have become increasingly sensitive, adding to the daily workload and burden of the correctional officers who manage them.

According to prison officials, only 18 correctional officers manage the entire inmate population during the night shift.

This means each officer is burdened with supervising more than 40 inmates and preventing various incidents.

A 30-year-old correctional officer surnamed Son lamented, "Shouting matches between officers and inmates are a daily occurrence. It is also very common for officers to get kicked when agitated inmates cannot be calmed down."

Indeed, in May, an officer was assaulted while checking on an inmate who had severely damaged the wallpaper in her cell.

In March, an agitated inmate threatened an officer with a wheelchair and kicked the officer in the waist, causing bruises and other injuries.

Another correctional officer said, "There is only one officer managing an entire floor. Since we never know what might happen, we cannot even carry safety batons. All we can do is helplessly put on protective gear."

Frequent exposure to various incidents and accidents, such as assaults and disturbances, has also worsened job-related stress among correctional officers.

According to the Ministry of Justice's 2024 "Correctional Officers' Mental Health Survey," about 20 percent of the respondents were identified as being in the "mental health risk group."

Their rate of planning suicide was about 2.7 times higher, and their rate of attempting suicide was about 1.6 times higher than that of the general adult population.

The Ministry of Justice cited "excessive workload due to overcrowding and staff shortages" as the biggest factor behind the job stress experienced by correctional officers.

Correctional authorities worry that the poor conditions faced by inmates could weaken rehabilitation and correction functions, thereby increasing the likelihood of reoffending and raising social costs.

In light of this, the Ministry of Justice is seeking a fundamental shift in its correctional policies.

Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho, who visited Cheongju Women's Prison on this day, said, "The purpose of correction is not simple detention, but preventing reoffending and protecting public safety. We will strengthen treatment and rehabilitation programs tailored to the characteristics of female inmates, and build a safer society that the public can feel through drug addiction rehabilitation and support for reintegration into society."

He added, "We will make 2026 the inaugural year of correctional innovation, improving working conditions on the ground and pushing forward with policy reforms centered on treatment, rehabilitation, and resocialization."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.