[Reporter’s Notebook] How to Make a "Decision to Leave" Prison

"I committed the crime because I liked being in prison too much."

This is what Han Mo, a woman in her 20s, said to the judge who asked about the cause of her repeated offenses. Her appeal trial for habitual special injury, sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial, is underway at the Seoul High Court.

She has many prior convictions of the same kind. As a juvenile offender, she was sentenced to 3 years in prison and 2 years of short-term imprisonment in 2014 for group and weapon injury crimes. In 2018 and 2021, she was sentenced to 3 years and 1 year in prison respectively for special injury crimes. This time, just 19 days after her release, in August last year, she swung a weapon bought at a stationery store at Seoul Station Square, injuring a stranger.

"Are you saying that being in prison is more comfortable, so you tried to get back inside?" the judge asked again. Han suffered abuse from a young age. Her family broke apart, and she did not receive proper education. She mingled with homeless people near Seoul Station and was exposed to various crimes. Mental illnesses followed. "I couldn’t adapt at home or in society," Han replied.

Most defendants in court plead not guilty or ask for leniency. Imprisonment, which restricts the fundamental right of physical freedom, is an absolute object of avoidance. Nevertheless, the recidivism rate within 3 years for those released in 2017 reached 24.6% of all released prisoners. This is why strict criminal punishment is emphasized along with 'restorative and therapeutic justice.'

Related legal systems and infrastructure are insufficient. However, some judges with the will to do so have tried to realize this despite heavy workloads. Typical cases include sentencing with probation combined with treatment orders and probation after confirming the possibility of treatment with the help of external experts such as psychiatric evaluations, or granting bail with treatment conditions.

The judge in Han’s case also requested a psychiatric evaluation, saying "It is necessary to secure basic data" instead of concluding the defense procedure. In the process of seeking fundamental solutions to the problem, there is hope that a healthier society will be created.