Deaths in Korea’s Immigration Detention System Spotlight Medical Care Gaps
Government data showing 12 deaths at South Korean immigration detention facilities over 11 years has renewed scrutiny of medical coverage, with designated staff available at only four of 19 facilities nationwide.
Twelve foreign nationals died in South Korean immigration detention facilities between 2015 and 2025, government data showed Thursday, intensifying concern about access to timely medical care for people awaiting deportation.
The figures, obtained from the Justice Ministry by Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Han-kyu, show that seven deaths occurred from 2015 through 2023. Two were recorded at the Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center and two at the Cheongju Immigration Detention Center. Immigration offices in southern Seoul, Busan and Suwon each recorded one death during that period.
Three more people died in 2024, at the Seoul Southern Immigration Office, Cheongju Immigration Detention Center and Cheongju Immigration Office. Two deaths followed in 2025 at immigration offices in Gwangju and Chuncheon. No deaths have been reported so far in 2026.
The causes were not disclosed in three cases, including one death in 2024 and both deaths in 2025. The other cases were attributed to illnesses or serious medical conditions, including lung cancer, acute heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, acute pneumonia and end-stage liver cirrhosis.
The data has drawn attention to staffing across Korea’s detention network. Only four of the country’s 19 immigration facilities have designated medical personnel: the detention centers in Hwaseong and Cheongju and immigration offices in Yeosu and Ulsan. Each is authorized to employ one doctor and one nurse.
Even that limited coverage is not always filled. The Yeosu Immigration Office has had no resident doctor since its physician resigned in December 2021. It has instead relied on temporary medical personnel who provide consultations once a week.
Immigration rules require detainees showing physical abnormalities to receive attention from a facility doctor or an outside medical institution. Authorities must also arrange examinations for detainees who become ill or are injured. However, no law or regulation explicitly requires medical staff to be stationed at every immigration detention facility.
The Justice Ministry said it assigns medical personnel to the four facilities with the largest detention capacities. Smaller facilities at other immigration offices generally hold people for relatively short periods of about 10 days, reducing the need for resident staff, according to the ministry. It also said detainees reporting pain or other medical problems receive treatment through local institutions that have agreements with the government. From January through August this year, detainees received treatment at outside institutions on 834 occasions.
Public interest law group Duroo said the absence of medical personnel at smaller facilities could weaken legal guarantees of access to treatment. Attorney Lee Sang-hyun called for more staff to be stationed across the system so facilities can respond to emergencies and other medical needs.