[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Ministry of Justice has recently taken steps to improve the special visitation system after controversy arose over Jeong Seong-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, meeting with pretrial detainees related to criminal charges against Lee Jae-myung, the party leader, in what was seen as an attempt to influence them.
Under the special visitation system, just like regular visitations, conversations will be recorded, and the system?which had mainly been used by large corporation chairpersons or influential politicians?will now be operated focusing on socially and physically vulnerable groups such as the elderly.
The Ministry of Justice announced on the 21st that it will improve the 'location change visitation' system in correctional facilities and implement the changes starting from that day.
The main improvements include three points: ▲recording conversations of pretrial detainees ▲expanding the scope of suspects restricted from location change visitations ▲introducing new review criteria to prioritize socially and physically vulnerable individuals.
First, to prevent evidence tampering and other misconduct, the Ministry decided that conversations of pretrial detainees under investigation or trial will be recorded. Additionally, by restricting location change visitations for defendants and inmates under separate investigations as if they were suspects, the Ministry aims to completely block evidence tampering.
Furthermore, the Ministry stated that in the future, applicants accompanied by physically vulnerable individuals such as the elderly or children will be given priority for location change visitations unless there are special reasons, changing the system to be used by those who truly need it rather than by socially influential figures.
Commonly referred to as 'special visitation,' 'location change visitation' means visitations conducted in places without contact barriers, unlike regular visitations where inmates are visited separated by a partition.
When a petitioner submits an application for location change visitation, the decision to approve or deny is made after a review by a meeting of correctional officers consisting of the head of the detention facility such as the prison warden or detention center chief, deputy chiefs, department heads, and correctional officers of grade 6 or higher designated by the chief.
Unlike regular visitations, location change visitations have not recorded conversations but only had correctional officers take notes of key points.
Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon said, "Taking recent cases as an opportunity, we will transform the location change visitation system, which had been perceived as a privilege for socially influential figures, into a system for the vulnerable such as the elderly."
Previously, it was reported in the media that Representative Jeong met with Jeong Jin-sang, former Political Coordination Officer of the Democratic Party leader’s office, who was indicted and detained on corruption charges related to the Daejang-dong development project, Kim Yong, former Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute, and Lee Hwa-young, former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province, who was indicted and detained on charges of receiving illegal political funds and bribes from Ssangbangwool Group, through location change visitations.
In particular, it was revealed that during the visit, Representative Jeong told Jeong Jin-sang and Kim Yong to "make a good alibi" and said, "Lee Jae-myung might become president in the future," as recorded in the visitation records written by correctional officers, sparking controversy over attempts to influence detainees.
Lee Hwa-young, a close aide during Lee’s tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province, is currently under prosecution investigation for allegedly being involved in transferring hundreds of dollars to North Korea in 2019 under the pretext of Lee’s visit expenses, with Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group.
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