By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

A prison for foreigners will open in Cheonan, North Chungcheong Province, as early as next month, the Ministry of Justice said Monday.

But experts have raised concerns it could attract complaints from Korean prisoners over ``favorable'' treatment given to non-Korean inmates.

The ministry said the exclusive prison is designed to efficiently manage the growing number of foreign convicts and prevent any trouble between Korean and non-Korean inmates caused by differences in culture, language and lifestyle.

A correction center currently used for juvenile delinquents will be transformed into the prison, the ministry added.

A total of 23 prison officers fluent in English, Chinese and Russian will be assigned to the facility.

As of January, 1,423 foreigners were behind bars here, compared with 698 in 2005.

According to a recent survey, trouble in a multi-racial cells takes place more frequently than in racially homogeneous cells, suggesting the necessity of a foreigner-only prison.

Human rights activist Hwang Myeong-ho, who conducted the survey on prisoners at Daejeon Correctional Center, said, ``Each racial group showed antagonism to others groups. In particular, disputes between hot-tempered Russian and Chinese prisoners, forming the largest racial group, were frequent.''

A lack of understanding about unfamiliar religions worsens the problems, Hwang said.

For instance, a foreign resident who practiced Islam faced complaints from his cellmates over frequent worshiping at the workplace, he added.

The government expects the prison will ease the difficulties faced by foreigners when they try to communicate with the embassies of their home countries or their families.

So far, English and Korean have been the only languages available with which to communicate with Korean officers.

Professor Park Kwang-seop of Chungnam National University said, ``Finding officers who speak Chinese, Russian and Arabic is still difficult, even though the number of prisoners from these regions has been on the rise.''

Human rights activists hailed the move, believing it will improve the country's protection of foreign prisoners.

But Seoul-based American lawyer Sean Hayes raised concerns about reverse discrimination against Korean inmates.

``I can understand the government's feeling that increases in the number and diversity of non-Korean inmates has led to a strain on correctional institutes that need to be addressed via segregation within a separate institute. However, I fear that this could lead to a successful challenge at the Constitutional Court,'' Hayes said.

He said a Korean inmate has already filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, claiming that non-Koreans are being given preferential treatment over Koreans.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr