South Korean jails among most crowded in OECD

South Korea’s prisons are among the most crowded, with inmates exceeding facilities’ full capacities, according to the Ministry of Justice on Thursday.

The ministry’s data based on Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development prison population statistics shows the capacity rate of the country’s prisons was at about 121.8 percent of their capacity last year as of June, holding considerably more people than they were designed to house.

The rate is second highest among OECD member states, following Hungary, whose average capacity rate exceeded 131 percent.

The United States hovered around the full occupancy level at 101.6 percent, while Japan’s inmate population remained far below at 66.8 percent.

In terms of the number of inmates, 1,098.8 were housed per correctional facility last year, the highest of all the organization’s countries, followed by Spain’s 734.9.

Jail population exceeded capacity for the first time in 2012, with 101.6 percent, and has since been on a rise due to lack of budget to expand facilities, the data shows.

Critics say overcrowding in the state’s prison system can lead to violent acts and unsafe conditions for inmates.

“As the Constitutional Court ruled that overcrowding in prisons is a human rights violation, we need more spending on building additional correctional facilities to cope with the rising inmate population,” said Rep. Yoon Sang-jik of the Liberty Korea Party.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)