Buses for transfering inmates are entering a major prison complex in Cheongsong, North Gyeongsang Province, on Tuesday. (Yonhap)
Buses for transfering inmates are entering a major prison complex in Cheongsong, North Gyeongsang Province, on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

South Korea’s correctional authorities decided to transfer about 500 of its inmates from a major prison complex in North Gyeongsang Province Tuesday as wildfires that began in Uiseong spread to Cheongsong, threatening the area around the facility.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the decision was made in the afternoon to evacuate inmates housed in the Northern Correctional Institution of North Gyeongbuk Province, formerly known as Cheongsong Prison, after the wildfire reached Cheongsong County. Prisoners were being transported by bus to nearby correctional facilities.

Staff at the Northern Correctional Institution of North Gyeongbuk Province are spraying water to prevent a forest fire from spreading to the prison area on Tuesday. (Yonhap)
Staff at the Northern Correctional Institution of North Gyeongbuk Province are spraying water to prevent a forest fire from spreading to the prison area on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

Authorities are also considering relocating another 800 inmates from Andong Prison, located in Pungsan, Andong City, which lies in the path of the same wildfire.

Corrections officials say that such a large-scale evacuation of prisoners due to a natural disaster is unprecedented in South Korea’s modern penal history, tracing back to the post-colonial transformation of its prison system.


jychoi@heraldcorp.com