Shinan Level 1 National Special Correctional Facility

• Facility Overview

South Korea's first Level 1 ultra-large special correctional facility, built by developing an entire remote uninhabited island in the Shinan sea area. It houses only ultra-serious criminals sentenced to life imprisonment, 15+ years, or nominal death sentences. The actual number of inmates is low, usually under 100, but the facility itself is designed for extreme expansion, theoretically capable of housing up to 50 million people.

• Security System

Approximately 500 types of independent and linked security systems are installed. Officers and executives must register hair, skin, blood, saliva, iris, DNA, ten-finger prints, and even toe biometric information to enter. AI automatically identifies commuters daily, and CCTV and individual tracking systems operate in all indoor and outdoor areas.

• Colossal Correctional Robots

Direct field control is mostly handled by large correctional robots. They perform movement control, work escorting, facility lockdowns, and isolation measures, while correctional officers focus on monitoring one assigned inmate from the central control room. Because of this, the number of officers far exceeds the number of inmates.

• Correctional Officer Duty

Central control officers must monitor from their seats for 12 hours and virtually never leave the office until their shift ends. The day shift works from 6 AM to 6 PM, and the night shift from 6 PM to 6 AM the next day, rotating weekly. Annual leave is 10 days per year.

• Officer Diet and Lifestyle

There are no standard breakfast, lunch, or dinner distribution times. Since service robots bring delivery food, coffee, drinks, and snacks directly to the duty desk, there is no need to move for meals. Due to long hours of sitting, irregular sleep, and high mental fatigue, it is very difficult to maintain exercise habits.

• Officer Body Type

This is the most unique feature of the facility. Regardless of height, age, or body type at the time of hiring, most long-term officers become morbidly obese, exceeding 120kg with low muscle mass and high body fat. Even new recruits who were as muscular as athletes at the time of hiring undergo rapid body changes in as little as a few months due to shift work, overeating, and lack of activity.

• Salary and Welfare

Regular central control officers are paid 7 million KRW per month starting as rookies, with promotions every 3 years and a 1 million KRW monthly salary increase per promotion. The minimum entry age is 25 (after military service), and regular retirement is at 50. The state provides luxury mansions on the island and large imported vehicles, and also operates various delivery services and living facilities. Due to high pay and welfare, there are many long-term employees despite the difficult work environment.

• Transport Officers

There are separate field officers who take over and move new inmates arriving by boat. They tend to maintain their fitness due to relatively higher activity levels, and their average monthly salary is about 5 million KRW. The retirement age is the same. However, if the number of new inmates increases, they may be reassigned to the central correctional facility.

• Inmate Life

Inmates are provided with luxury single cells, high-quality meals, and state-of-the-art ultra-large fitness facilities. In return, they participate in about 10 hours of work and education schedules daily, followed by 3 hours of mandatory physical training. All movement is conducted in numerical order, and independent action is not allowed. Because of this, inmates generally have muscular or powerlifter-type physiques with high weight and muscle mass developed simultaneously.

• Control Devices

Internal tracking devices are applied to all inmates. If an escape attempt or serious rule violation is confirmed, the facility is automatically locked down, and the inmate is moved to a special isolation wing after non-lethal suppression using the device and correctional robots. CCTV tracks inmates to the end using individual recognition functions during movement.

• Top Secret Death Row Project

For inmates nominally sentenced to death, a national top-secret plan exists separate from the general correctional system. Eligibility is re-evaluated every year on the same date as their facility assignment. Those who accept execution are processed through undisclosed medical procedures and organ harvesting plans, while those who wish to survive are incorporated into national research projects. Some robust inmates become subjects of secret experiments to maintain life by receiving special transplants of adipose tissue obtained from their assigned officers. The existence of this plan is not disclosed to general staff or inmates.