South Korea
Corrections in South Korea
The Korea Correctional Service under the Ministry of Justice — and a Council-of-Europe-style figure showing the system well above capacity at the start of 2026.
Facts on this page were checked against their sources on .
Prisons in South Korea are run nationally by the Korea Correctional Service (교정본부), under the Ministry of Justice. Because the system is national, a figure for the whole system describes the whole system.
The same idea, explained generally
- What is justice?
Justice is the principle that people should be treated according to rules that apply equally to everyone, decided by bodies that are authorised, constrained, and answerable. This guide explains what that means institutionally.
- Why do justice systems need oversight?
Justice institutions hold coercive powers, often operate out of public view, and make decisions that are hard to reverse. This guide explains the oversight mechanisms built to detect and correct errors, and their limits.
Sources
Sources
World Prison Brief — Republic of (South) Korea
Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR), Birkbeck, University of London · Academic · link verified 2026-07-27
The World Prison Brief country page for the Republic of (South) Korea (compiled by ICPR from national sources), read directly and re-confirmed by hand. Supports: prison administration by the Korea Correctional Service under the Ministry of Justice; a total prison population of 65,279 including pre-trial detainees at 29 January 2026 (source: the national prison administration); an official capacity of 50,614 at the same date; and an occupancy level of 129.0% at 29 January 2026 — above capacity — with both the population and the capacity carrying the same reference date.