"Fed and housed at taxpayers' expense, and now getting support payments too?"... 70,000 inmates receive livelihood support payments

73,565 person-equivalents in consumption coupons and high oil price relief payments
No rule excluding inmates... Family members can apply on their behalf
Use restricted while incarcerated... Returned to inmates or given to family upon release

It has emerged that more than 70,000 person-equivalents of government livelihood support payments were distributed to inmates at prisons and detention centers nationwide over the past two years, sparking debate over the program’s effectiveness and fairness. Critics say that loopholes in the current system, which is based solely on residency and income requirements, have resulted in billions of won in taxpayer money going to people who cannot spend it while incarcerated, while also increasing the administrative burden on correctional officers.

Journalists experience life as inmates at Anyang Prison. Ministry of Justice

73,565 person-equivalents over two years... Support totaling more than 7.3 billion won

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Justice to Yoon Sang-hyun, a People Power Party lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, 34,201 inmates received the first round of Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupons and 22,082 received the second round last year. A total of 19,082 inmates received this year’s high oil price relief payments.

Combined, the three rounds amounted to 73,565 person-equivalents. Assuming a minimum payment of 100,000 won per person for each payment, the total support is estimated to exceed 7.3 billion won. This is an estimate based on the minimum payment amount, however, not a sum of the actual payments made.

The eligibility criteria and amounts varied by payment. In the first round of last year’s Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupons, all citizens received a basic payment of 150,000 won per person. People in the near-poor bracket and single-parent families received 300,000 won, while basic livelihood security recipients received 400,000 won. Residents outside the Seoul metropolitan area received an additional 30,000 won, and residents of rural and fishing communities designated as population-decline areas received an additional 50,000 won.

In the second round, an additional 100,000 won per person was paid to 90% of the population, excluding the top 10% by income based on health insurance premiums and other criteria. This year’s high oil price relief payments were introduced to ease the impact of rising oil prices and cost-of-living pressures stemming from the Middle East war. They were paid on a sliding scale of 100,000 to 600,000 won per person to citizens in the bottom 70% by income. Given that the average daily inmate population at correctional facilities nationwide was 63,680 last year, a considerable number of inmates were eligible for the payments.

Family members generally apply on inmates’ behalf... Administrative burden on correctional facility staff

The figures cover only cases in which the head of a correctional facility applied for the payments on an inmate’s behalf. Since inmates have difficulty applying directly while incarcerated, the general rule is for family members to apply on their behalf. A correctional facility head handled the application only when the inmate could not contact family or had no one to apply on their behalf. Therefore, the actual number of inmates who received the payments may have exceeded the reported total if cases in which family members applied directly are included.

Prison inmates. Yonhap News Agency

The application process also created an administrative burden for correctional facility staff. When an inmate submitted an application form and a power of attorney, a staff member applied for the payment on the inmate’s behalf to the city, county, or district government with jurisdiction over the inmate’s registered address. In particular, staff at frontline correctional facilities reportedly faced increased workloads when applying for the high oil price relief payments, as they had to submit applications separately to local governments based on each inmate’s registered address.

Cannot be used while incarcerated... Returned to inmates or given to family upon release

The support payments given to inmates are managed differently from ordinary funds held in custody at correctional facilities. Inmates can use funds held in custody to buy snacks and daily necessities at facility shops, but vouchers received as support payments are classified and held separately as “special stored items.”

As a result, inmates cannot use the vouchers themselves while incarcerated. They are returned to inmates upon release or given to family members or acquaintances. The payment of support does not immediately change inmates’ ability to spend money inside correctional facilities.

Inmates were included among those eligible because, although both support programs set income criteria, neither has a separate provision excluding people on the grounds that they are held in a prison or detention center. Under the system, citizens residing in South Korea can receive the payments if they meet the specified income and other eligibility criteria, regardless of whether they are incarcerated.

"Does this align with the program’s purpose?"... Calls to review eligibility criteria

Some say that discussions of support payments for inmates should take into account both the program’s purpose and the circumstances of those who actually benefit. They argue that it is necessary to consider whether it is appropriate to provide payments to inmates on the same terms as the general public, given that correctional facilities provide them with room and board.

However, the economic circumstances of inmates and their families can differ, and the vouchers cannot be used during incarceration. These factors should also be considered, as the need for support cannot be judged solely on whether room and board are provided. Since the payments may be returned to inmates upon release or given to family members

afterward, the financial circumstances of their families, as well as the inmates’ own ability to spend money, may also warrant consideration.

Yoon Sang-hyun said, "We need to consider whether providing livelihood support payments to inmates who receive room and board is consistent with the program’s purpose," adding, "The eligibility criteria and method of payment should be reviewed, taking into account inmates’ ability to spend the money and their families’ financial circumstances."

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