Room 7 of Hell, whose fault is it?



On the 22nd, SBS 'I want to know' (hereafter 'Gal'), followed the murder case in Gongju Prison with the subtitle 'Room 7 of Hell - Gongju Prison Murder Case'.



On December 21, last year, the death of inmate Park Sang-soo, three months before his release from Gongju Prison, occurred.



He was found collapsed in a cell in a prison cell and was taken to the hospital immediately, where he died. The prison officials contacted the family, and the family who went to the hospital for the funeral were astonished to see the condition of Sang-soo's body.



Numerous bruises and wounds were found on Sangsu's body. An autopsy was conducted, and forensic scientists analyzed the wounds and bruises on his body as traces of assault. How could this have happened in a prison with 24-hour surveillance? In response, his family claimed that Sangsoo had been harassed in prison.



As a result of the investigation, the prisoners living in Room 7 with Sangsoo were listed as suspects, but they all denied the charges. However, the police identified Choi in Room 7 as the suspect.



As a result of the coverage, Choi is a weapon of violent crime, unlike the others in Room 7. He was imprisoned for robbery and murder.



And the production team met a informant who knew Mr. Choi, who was imprisoned in this case. The informant spent several months in prison together while Choi was unconvicted before being sentenced to life in prison. However, Mr. Choi, whom the informant remembers, was remembered as a person who reflected on his sins and shed tears in agony. He said, "I'm not a devil or anything like that. He was gentle and naive." The informant also testified that he did not think that Choi would commit another murder.



But a few months later, when Choi was transferred to Gongju Prison, he changed completely. Those who remember him at Gongju Prison argued that he was the most wanted to avoid in prison. What the hell happened to him?



In the Gongju Prison, Mr. Choi was not restrained by the guards no matter what he did, and he reigned like a king in Room 7. He did not do any of the basic tasks that prisoners were supposed to do, and others did it for them.



The production team guessed the reason through the story of the informant who served 40 years in prison. The informant said, "These children cannot use their power in Daejeon or Daegu prisons. Such prisons have a manual on how to deal with long-term inmates. However, Gongju Prison is small and has only a few weapons, so they can tell you whether to come or not. . As long as nothing big happens, I will take care of them. Because I am the so-called landlord.”



Experts analyzed that this attitude of the prison guards would have made Choi a murderer again.



The production team met with the correctional officer of the Ministry of Justice and asked about the management of the Gongju Prison for Mr. Choi. The correctional headquarters said they were unaware of the privileges and acts of violence that Choi enjoyed within the prison.



As soon as Mr. Sangsu was transferred to Gongju Prison, he was assigned to the same room as Mr. Choi. The family claimed that he must have been harassed as soon as he was assigned to room 7. On the basis of that, Sangsu, who had not been contacted before, sent a letter and asked for a deposit, saying that he had been indebted to Choi.



In addition, it was found that Sangsu spent more than 100,000 won on his bail money after he was transferred to Gongju Prison. In particular, it attracted attention by purchasing three times more stamps than before. Postage stamps that are used like cash in prison, may not have been given to Mr. Choi by Sangsu? And why did the Gongju Prison not know about this fact?



After Sangsu's death, a prison official met with the bereaved family and there were many ways for the prisoner to file a complaint within the prison, but he did not understand why Mr. Sangsu did not ask for help. And the correctional headquarters also drew attention by telling the same story.



In response, the prisoners who met with the production team claimed, "This proves that they are completely unaware of the reality of the prisoners." In fact, while living in the same room, it is impossible to file a complaint in front of a person who annoys you. In addition, I guessed that it would have been more difficult to ask for help secretly because the room 7 where Mr.



Regarding the pain that Sangsu must have felt for three months in Room 7, the expert said, "It's the words of a person who has already killed people and came in as a weapon, but you can't hear them. Naturally, a dominant relationship is inevitable. Existence would have been bigger. That's why I wouldn't have been able to say it anywhere."



Professor Kwon Il-yong said, "People feel fear and fear more than the sword in front of me. It can also be a reinforcing factor.”



The production team informed the officials of the correctional headquarters about the reality in the prison. Then, the official said, "We have a means to solve the difficulties of the prisoners, but it seems that they have not been able to solve them psychologically.



Sangsu, who could not even disclose his situation to his family, returned to his family as a corpse about a month later.



The guards opened their mouths saying that what happened at Gongju Prison was inevitable. The informant, who is an incumbent prison guard, said, "Realistically, prisons do not have the conditions for correction and correction. It is a difficult situation to keep and manage." He said, "The system inevitably causes accidents. It was said to be the result of correctional conditions.



In the case of the Gongju Prison, where the problem occurred, it was revealed that one prison guard was managing about 120 upper and lower floors at night and on holidays. In fact, the time at which Mr. Sangsu lost consciousness and was discovered coincided with the patrol gap of the guards. In addition, if there is a problem, disciplinary action must be taken unconditionally, and some guards say that they take a method of empowering a weapon-bearer like Choi and managing it without problems.



The expert pointed out that Mr. Sangsoo's death exposed a little-known problem with our corrections. In addition to the staffing problem of the prison guards, he raised his voice that the situation of segregation of the correctional officers could be a bigger problem. In our present case, we have failed to separate dangerous prisoners from those who are not.



In fact, according to the Ministry of Justice statistics, the recidivism rate in Korea in 2020 is about 25%. This means that within three years of being released, one in four will commit a crime again, which is evidence that the correctional and rehabilitative functions of the prison are not fully functioning.



In response, an official from the correctional headquarters said, "It seems that it is our duty to come up with measures and strategies that can be solved by constantly pondering and researching."



Finally, the broadcast said, "The problem in prisons is not their only problem. It is because those who are inside the fence will always come back to us outside the fence." If they commit a crime, can they still say that it is their own business?” he raised his voice.



In addition, it was expected that the correctional authorities would listen to the stories of those who had the courage to tell them, and that realistic and concrete alternatives rather than formalities would be created.

And I urged the correctional authorities of the Ministry of Justice right away so that a second Mr. Sangsu would not be created.



(SBS Entertainment News Editor Kim Hyo-jung)