Female inmate pen pal for 70,000 won? Alleged service sparks controversy online.
To apply for the service, users must specify their preferences, such as the desired age range, appearance and personality of their pen pal. They can also separately indicate whether they seek to exchange sexually explicit letters.
A photo shows a list of profiles, believed to be those of female inmates, for a pen pal matching service. The list includes information about their age, physical appearance and personality.SCREEN CAPTURE
A service that reportedly matches users with female prison inmates as pen pals has sparked controversy online.
A post describing a pen pal service that pairs users with female prison inmates circulated on online communities and social media on Tuesday. According to the post, the service costs 70,000 won ($50) per match, with three letters from the woman guaranteed. A photo of an alleged list of more than 20 available pen pals was also attached to the post.
The list appears to contain the women’s personal information, including their height, weight, blood type and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, personality test results. Some entries even have additional information, such as the women’s university majors.
The list also includes descriptors of their physical appearance, from “innocent-looking” to “slim and tall” and “glamorous,” and of their personality traits, such as “affectionate and kind” and “cheerful and considerate.”
The service is reportedly arranged through a company that delivers items to inmates and handles various tasks on their behalf. The company said that the service is available to men from the general public and inmates at other correctional facilities.
Users must first submit a request specifying their preferences, such as the desired age range, appearance and personality and the amount of time remaining in a sentence. They can also separately indicate whether they seek to exchange sexually explicit letters. The company then matches them with an inmate who fits those preferences.
The Cheongju women’s correctional institution in Cheongju, North ChungcheongYONHAP
Criticism spread online over the post for sharing inmates’ personal information and over the service.
“Making money off inmates’ personal information is just not normal,” one commenter wrote.
Another wrote that “it’s absurd that [the service is] even encouraging [people to become] sexually explicit pen pals with those in prison.”
Pen pal exchanges between inmates are reportedly common.
“Inmates exchange a lot of letters with each other,” a worker at Cheongju women’s correctional institution said while appearing on tvN’s “You Quiz on the Block” (2018–) in July.
Regulations do not allow employees to censor the letters’ content. They can only check if the letter contains prohibited items.
“We go through hundreds of letters one by one every day,” the worker said during the broadcast. “It may be hard to imagine, but sometimes they even contain body hair or bodily fluids.”
BY JANG GU-SEUL [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
