Justice Ministry posts video of detention cell to rebut claims of special treatment for former president

The Ministry of Justice released a video showing the interior of a single cell at the Seoul Detention Center, seeking to rebut claims that former President Yoon Suk Yeol is using three cells there and receiving special treatment.

Yoon has been held at the detention center in connection with his December 2024 martial law declaration.

The ministry posted the 2-minute, 14-second clip on Wednesday on its official YouTube channel. The footage showed the type  of single cell in which Yoon is reported to be staying.

The cell, including its toilet, measures 6.76 square meters (73 square feet), barely enough for one adult man to lie down straight. Inside were an electric fan, a small shelf for personal belongings and a notice listing basic inmate rules. The space looked so cramped and worn that there was hardly room to leave a pair of shoes.

"Single cells house inmates classified for individual management, whether on grounds of health or conduct or under other criteria," the ministry said. "Each cell is managed independently, and inmates are not permitted to move into other cells at will."

"No matter how much someone has stirred the world, no one can be an exception behind the iron doors," it added. "What runs this place is principle, not privilege."

The video appears aimed at rebutting recent allegations of preferential treatment for the former president. A YouTube broadcast had claimed that Yoon was using three connected cells with the doors left open and was moving between them freely, and that two inmates assigned to clean the cell block were waiting on him.

"Yoon is currently using only one single cell, identical to ordinary inmate cells, and there is no cleaner assigned solely to him," the ministry said.

The ministry reiterated that Yoon is living under the same standards as other inmates and that the claims of special treatment are untrue.

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]