"An hourly rate of up to 75 million won?" ... Fines worth over 18 trillion won commuted through workhouse labor in five years

183,864 Cases of Fines Commuted Over Four Years and Eight Months

Fines totaling 18.5 trillion won were commuted through workhouse labor over the past five years, according to data. There have also been cases in which some people who failed to pay their fines had large amounts commuted through labor, prompting calls for improvements to the system.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Justice to the office of Democratic Party of Korea Assemblyman Kim Yong-min, a member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, a total of 183,864 cases had fines commuted through workhouse labor over the four years and eight months from 2022 through August this year. The total amount of fines commuted through labor during this period was 18,432,284,000,000 won. The average amount commuted per case was 100,220,000 won.

The annual amount of fines commuted fell from approximately 3.8558 trillion won in 2022 to approximately 3.766 trillion won in 2023, 3.7243 trillion won in 2024 and 3.2659 trillion won in 2025, before rising again to approximately 3.821 trillion won in January-August this year.

Under the Criminal Act, anyone fined as a criminal penalty must pay the fine within 30 days of the judgment becoming final. If the fine is not paid by the deadline, it can be commuted through detention in a workhouse. The problem is that the maximum period of workhouse detention is set at three years. As a result, cases have emerged in which people work off fines at a rate of hundreds of millions of won a day.

As of August, the fines imposed on the 10 people with the largest unpaid fines totaled approximately 1.8 trillion won, but the cash collection rate was recorded at 0%. The fine owed by the person with the largest unpaid amount was 653,762,650,000 won. If this person were to refuse to pay and be detained in a workhouse, the daily rate would amount to 597 million won.

At a National Assembly audit of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 19th, Assemblyman Kim said, "Workhouse detention was created to provide another option for ordinary people who cannot afford to pay their fines, but high-value fine recipients are instead abusing the system," adding, "For some, the hourly rate amounts to 75 million won."

In response, Park Cheol-woo, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, said, "For people with large unpaid fines, too much of the amount is being wiped out through 'imperial labor' because of the maximum limit on workhouse detention," adding, "The system appears to need improvement." Jung Yong-hwan, acting head of the Seoul Metropolitan Prosecutors' Office, said, "We will make recommendations if we come up with good proposals for improvement in consultations with the Ministry of Justice, correctional authorities and others."

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