



For South Koreans seeking an escape from the everyday grind, a 24-hour lock-up at a fake prison gives them "a sense of freedom." It's an unconventional means of escape, but the participants here are paying $90 a night to stay in a South Korean prison.

Tucked away in the northeast corner of the country, the "Prison Inside Me" facility hosts stressed out workers and students who are willing to spend 24 hours in solitary confinement.

28-YEAR-OLD PRISON STAY PARTICIPANT, PARK HYE-RI, SAYING:

"Ironically, it feels this prison is giving me a sense of freedom."

Here, there's a ban on any kind of communication, mobile phones, clocks, or even mirrors, and customers say the solitude allows them to get away from their busy lives.

South Korea has an infamously demanding academic and work culture. According to data from the OECD, South Koreans worked over 2,000 hours in 2017, putting in the third-longest hours among OECD countries.

The country's suicide rate is double that of the U.S., and one of the highest in the world.

Co-founder Noh Ji-Hyang says part of the inspiration for the mock prison came from her husband, a local prosecutor who often worked about 100 hours per week.

CO-FOUNDER OF PRISON STAY, NOH JI-HYANG, SAYING:

"At first people say it would be stuffy to be in a prison cell. But after their stay, they say this isn't a prison - the real prison is where they return to."

Since last July, the South Korean government has cut working hours to 52 in a week, but the policy has drawn criticism that says its standards are too vague. (Reuters)







A participant meditates before being locked up in a cell at Prison Inside Me, a mock prison facility, in Hongcheon, South Korea, November 10, 2018. Since 2013, the facility has hosted more than 2,000 inmates, many of them stressed office workers and students seeking relief from South Korea's demanding work and academic culture. Reuters







Park Hye-ri, 28, a startup business program manager, stretches while being locked inside a cell of Prison Inside Me, a mock prison facility, in Hongcheon, South Korea, November 11, 2018. "This prison gives me a sense of freedom," Park said. "I shouldn't be here right now, given the work I need to do. But I decided to pause and look back at myself for a better life." Reuters

Park Hye-ri, 28, a startup business program manager, puts her mobile phone outside a cell of Prison Inside Me, a mock prison facility, in Hongcheon, South Korea, November 10, 2018. Reuters







Participants are seen through the windows of Prison Inside Me, a mock prison facility, in Hongcheon, South Korea, November 10, 2018. Reuters





