The first death occurred at Seoul Dongbu Detention Center, where over 700 people have been confirmed to be COVID-19-positive. Experts point out that authorities had failed to establish proper measures for the inmates, putting inmates in an overcrowded environment and failing to distribute masks. The justice ministry and the city of Seoul also tried to deny responsibility for the latest incident.

On December 29, the Ministry of Justice announced that a prisoner in his sixties from Dongbu Detention Center died of cardiac arrest, cause unspecified, while being treated at a living treatment center in Gyeonggi-do on December 27. He was confirmed to have come in close contact with a COVID-19 patient on December 16. He was first tested for the novel coronavirus on December 18 and the results came back negative the next day. However, he later showed symptoms, such as a fever, and was tested again on December 22 and was confirmed positive on December 23. On December 24, the state decided to suspend the execution of his sentence and he was released from the center. He was already suffering from critical diseases, such as chronic kidney disease and complications from diabetes, even before he was imprisoned.

The inmate was identified as Yun Chang-yeol (66), the mastermind behind the Good Morning City case, a real estate scam of over 300 billion won in the 2000s. Yun was sentenced to ten years in prison for secretly hoarding the money from the sales of a real estate project named Good Morning City and was released after serving his sentence in 2013. But he returned to prison after the court sentenced him to four years and six months in prison for fraud in 2018.

The Central Disease Control Center announced that as of midnight this day, 762 people have been confirmed COVID-19-positive in connection to the Dongbu Detention Center. Among them, 21 were employees, 720 inmates, 20 family members, and 1 an acquaintance. Of the inmates from the Dongbu Center who were transported to Seoul Nambu Detention Center after testing negative for the virus, sixteen were also confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Experts point out that failing to conduct diagnostic tests of all inmates when the first case was confirmed was one reason for the massive transmission. Jung Jae-hun, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon University said, “When they found the first case, they should have quickly tested every contact.” The Dongbu Detention Center first conducted a general test of its inmates on December 18, four days after the first inmate was confirmed positive on December 14.

As for why the tests were delayed, the justice ministry and the city of Seoul have released different views. The justice ministry said, “When the first inmate was confirmed positive on December 14, the Dongbu Detention Center strongly suggested the need for tests of all inmates in the process of contact tracing. But the Seoul metropolitan government and the Songpa-gu office said it would be better to decide according to future developments.” The Seoul metropolitan government said, “The four tests of all inmates at the Dongbu Detention Center were determined after the Seoul Metropolitan Area Disease Control Center, the Seoul metropolitan government, the Songpa-gu office, and the Dongbu Detention Center reached an agreement following sufficient discussions,” and added, “We regret the attitude of the justice ministry, trying to put the blame on others.”

The justice ministry announced that they did not distribute masks to all inmates at detention centers nationwide due to a shortage in the budget. The state only provided masks to all inmates in detention centers where an inmate tested positive for the virus. In detention centers where no case was confirmed, they only gave masks to inmates when they had to go out for a court appearance or a doctor’s appointment. As of December 7, the Dongbu Detention Center was overcrowded, housing 116.6% of the number of inmates it could accommodate. Kim Woo-joo, a doctor of infectious diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital said, “Instead of arguing about whether or not authorities tested all the inmates, we should check whether authorities properly managed COVID-19 in correctional facilities and establish appropriate measures.” Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae visited Dongbu Detention Center this afternoon and inspected the facility’s response to COVID-19. The justice ministry plans to recommend the suspension of sentences for model inmates and inmates with chronic diseases to lower the number of inmates in the detention center and to separately house inmates confirmed COVID-19-positive at a living treatment center at the Korea Defense Language Institute in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi. Those who tested negative will be moved to Gangwon Bukbu (northern) Prison and Daegu Prison beginning December 30.