Controversy Erupts Over "Secret" Pen-Pal Matchings With Female Prison Inmates, Including "22 and Well-Mannered"

Three Letters Guaranteed for 70,000 Won
Participants Range in Age from 22 to 58
Agencies State: "Ordinary Men Also Eligible"

A so-called 'correctional pen-pal' list, which connects people to female inmates in prison in exchange for an introduction fee, has been released online, drawing public attention. The list contains detailed information on more than 50 female inmates, including facility, name, age, blood type, personality, and physical characteristics, which has sparked controversy over the sexual commodification of inmates.

The 'Correctional Facility List' contains personal information of about 50 female inmates. Screenshot by X

On August 17, a post titled 'Female Correctional Facility Pen-Pal List' was shared across online communities and social networking services (SNS).

The document that was made public included a phrase stating, "Correctional pen-pal matching costs 70,000 won per person, and three letters are guaranteed from the matched female." Ages varied widely, ranging from 22 to 58 years old. Some of the descriptions used terms like "girl crush," "very cute," and "slender," reminiscent of a dating profile.

Matching Services Based on Preferences--Ordinary Men Also Signing Up

This type of service is reportedly mediated through so-called "supply agencies," which run errands or deliver books and goods on behalf of inmates. Recently, the service has expanded to brokering pen-pal relationships between outsiders or other inmates at different correctional facilities, charging introduction fees in the tens of thousands of won. There have even been confirmed cases where male inmates, after being matched via pen-pal, send deposit money to female inmates.

A supply agency (an organization that delivers goods to inmates) obtains photos and personal information of female inmates, introduces them to men interested in pen-palling, and charges a fee for the introduction.

Penpal matching services within correctional facilities are expanding to be available to the general male public. Screenshot from the agency's website

On August 3, on the inquiry board of one such agency's website, a man introducing himself as "an ordinary person" asked whether it would be possible to pen-pal with an inmate. The administrator replied, "Please use the request board for pen-pal inquiries."

If a male user specifies the preferred age, remaining sentence duration, appearance, and personality of the person he wants to correspond with, the agency matches him with a female inmate who fits those criteria. Some agencies are also known to advise users who wish to engage primarily in "adults-only" (19+) correspondence to specifically indicate this on the application form.

Exploiting Prison Gender Imbalance and Lack of Letter Screening

The backdrop of this service's emergence is the stark gender imbalance in correctional facilities. Out of approximately 63,000 inmates nationwide, only about 5,400 are women, accounting for 8.6% of the total. As male inmates overwhelmingly outnumber female inmates, a demand has arisen where several men seek to exchange letters with individual women, leading to the commercialization of such matching services.

Prison penpal inquiries posted on the agency's 'Request Board.' Screenshot from the agency's website.

Another factor is the fact that correctional authorities are not able to scrutinize every letter exchanged between inmates. Since correspondence between inmates is not subject to constant censorship as a matter of principle, it becomes difficult to preempt or discover private agencies brokering inmates and managing the content of their communications.

A key issue is that it remains unclear how the personal information of the female inmates included in the list was collected, or whether the individuals involved gave their consent for such information to be released or brokered.

Supply agencies have also previously been flagged for arranging prostitution for inmates, facilitating sports gambling, or sending prohibited items such as pornography into prisons, drawing public criticism. There are reportedly more than 90 such agencies in operation nationwide. They mainly avoid detection by disguising themselves as freight companies or warehouses, or by operating as loose and fragmented networks.

As the post spread, some netizens voiced critical views, stating, "Why not include the charges too?", "What if someone convicted of a sex crime is matched?", and "Is it not enough for inmates to date each other, now even ordinary men are being introduced?"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.