Forensic psychiatric systems for mentally disordered offenders in East Asia: A comparative narrative review of Japan, South Korea, and Thailand

Abstract

In this article, we compared inpatient forensic psychiatric systems for mentally disordered offenders in Japan, South Korea, and Thailand through their laws, official data, and academic literature until 2025. The Japanese system operates through 35 designated facilities, which provide relatively higher staffing, established multidisciplinary risk assessment tools, and structured programs for social reintegration. South Korea's National Forensic Hospital serves as the central forensic psychiatry facility, but with limited psychiatrist staffing. Thailand runs 137 facilities that provide nationwide access to mentally disordered offenders, but with limited standardization of admission and monitoring protocols. This comparative narrative review highlights potential challenges in forensic psychiatric care for mentally disordered offenders. Specifically, establishing a single forensic psychiatric inpatient facility without adequate staffing and admission capacity, as well as implementing community-centered court-ordered treatment without standardized monitoring and risk management protocols, may pose risks to both the quality of inpatient care and public safety. An integrated approach combining community-based inpatient treatment with nationally standardized supervisory frameworks could be explored as a potentially effective model for forensic psychiatric care systems in East Asia.