[Curiosity Lab] "I swore never to come back"... Why do repeated prison visits keep happening?

From Teens to 70s, Multiple Repeat Offenders with Numerous Convictions
Are Fines Included in Criminal Records? Increasing Trend of Recidivists
Annually 50,000-60,000 Enter and Leave Prisons
6,000-7,000 Repeat Offenders... Nearly Half of DUI Cases Are Repeat Offenses
Many Causes of Recidivism, but Issues Due to Alcohol Draw Attention

Seoul Dongbu Detention Center. A detention center is a facility that houses suspects or defendants who have been issued an arrest warrant. It is a place where pretrial detainees (suspects) or defendants in criminal trials, whose sentences have not yet been finalized, are confined. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

A 56-year-old man, Mr. A, was caught by the police on October 22 last year at 3:10 p.m. in broad daylight in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongbuk, while driving a passenger car with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.225%. Upon investigation, it was found that Mr. A had a total of 10 prior offenses for drunk driving. The first trial sentenced him to 2 years and 6 months in prison. Mr. A appealed, claiming the sentence was too harsh, but the appeal was dismissed in the second trial. A 54-year-old man, Mr. B, had committed robbery three times. After serving a 3-year prison sentence and being released in 2018, he was caught last year after hitting a neighbor with a blunt object in broad daylight and stealing a gold ring from the victim’s finger. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The reason for the assault was reportedly because the victim was spreading rumors about him “going in and out of prison.” The judge stated, “There is little sign of remorse, no sincere reflection, and he has not been forgiven by the victim.”

Mr. C, aged 60, is accused of stealing two cargo trucks with open doors in the Daejeon area last month, driving them, and breaking into a small store to steal cash and valuables worth 36 million won. On the 9th, he was caught by the police as a suspect in an assault case and was immediately arrested after the police recognized him as the same person involved in the previous theft. Mr. C had 41 prior convictions. A female accountant in her 30s who embezzled 300 million won of company funds had 18 prior convictions, and a teenage youth caught for stealing a smartphone was only 15 years old but had as many as 47 prior convictions.

Inside view of a correctional facility [Screenshot from the Ministry of Justice promotional video]

Being a repeat offender does not necessarily mean having served time in prison. Generally, anyone who has received a fine of 1 million won or more, imprisonment without prison labor, or a suspended sentence is considered a repeat offender. Most people never encounter judges, prosecutors, or police throughout their lives, let alone go to prison. So who are the so-called repeat offenders who go in and out of prison? The recidivism rate for all released prisoners (including those who served labor sentences) is known to be between 6% and 20%. This means 1 or 2 out of 10 people return. In 2008, the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice estimated the total social cost of violent and property crimes at a staggering 158.7293 trillion won. At that time, South Korea’s GDP was 977.7865 trillion won, so the social cost of crime was about 16.2% of GDP. With a total population of 48.61 million, each citizen bore approximately 3.265 million won in social costs due to crime.

Every year, about 50,000 to 60,000 people enter and leave prison. Among them, some reflect on their criminal behavior during incarceration, prepare to return as law-abiding citizens, and successfully reintegrate into society. On the other hand, some fail to reintegrate and end up reoffending after release.

On December 16, 2023, the day of the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test, juvenile inmates at the Nambu Correctional Institution in Guro-gu, Seoul, are entering the test site prepared within the prison and getting ready for the exam.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice’s December 2023 report, “Study on Support Measures for Successful Social Reintegration of Released Prisoners,” discusses recidivism rates. It defines recidivism as the rate at which individuals sentenced to imprisonment or higher and confined in correctional facilities are re-sentenced to imprisonment or higher for new crimes and re-incarcerated within three years after release. From 2013 to 2022, the number of recidivists increased from 5,000-6,000 per year to 6,000-7,000 recently. Out of more than 20,000 released prisoners (excluding those who completed labor sentences), about 1 in 4 or 5 returns to prison. In the case of drunk driving, over 100,000 cases are detected annually, with a recidivism rate approaching 50%. This means 1 in 2 drunk drivers has driven under the influence more than once.

A normal person would not enter prison thinking, “I’ll commit crimes and come back again.” They feel guilt, remorse toward family, acquaintances, and victims, and a sense of responsibility, vowing not to reoffend, but many still fail. According to in-depth interviews with 46 repeat offenders conducted by the institute, causes of reoffending included financial hardship, personality or temperament, boredom and loneliness, stigma, and discrimination. A notable factor was alcohol. Most participants about to be released felt they had to rely on alcohol but also saw it as something they needed to overcome to avoid reoffending.

Some participants recalled past experiences and expressed regret over incidents caused by alcohol and worry about potential future incidents after release due to drinking.

“When I drink, I lose control. In my 20s, I enjoyed hitting on people, going to nightclubs, and one-night stands when I drank. I know I shouldn’t behave like that as I get older, but it happens naturally. I get into fights with people drinking at nearby tables and hit on women I see on the street.”

“I try to get my act together. But after two years, my life has been ruined again because of alcohol... my life so far has been ruined because of alcohol...”

Police are conducting a drunk driving crackdown on the entrance ramp to the Busan direction at Seocho IC in Seoul. [Photo by Asia Economy]

Concerns about reoffending were especially high among drug offenders and also appeared among drunk driving violators.

“I think I won’t drink again, and if I don’t make mistakes, that’s fine. But if, against my will, I get involved with someone, have relationship problems, or face issues in social life, I’m always scared that I might be disadvantaged because of my repeat offenses. Even if it’s not my fault, I worry that my past will cause me harm.”

In the movie The Shawshank Redemption, Red (Morgan Freeman) was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing someone in his youth. At every parole hearing, he claimed he had been reformed and had become a new person, but was repeatedly denied. After 40 years, he faced another parole hearing. When asked if he had been reformed, Red said:

“Reformed? I don’t know what that means. What I really want to know is this: Do I regret my crimes? I look back at my younger self, a foolish kid who committed terrible crimes. I want to talk to him, tell him to get a grip, to face reality. But I can’t. That young kid has been gone for a long time, and only the old man remains.” Red was granted parole.