The Kaohsiung Prison riot was a

hostage situation A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or r ...

that occurred at Kaohsiung Prison in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

starting 11 February 2015. Six inmates, whose ringleader was a member of

Bamboo Union The United Bamboo Gang (UBG; ; Bamboo Union triad) is the largest of Taiwan's three main criminal Triads. They are reported to have roughly 10,000 members. The membership consists largely of '' waishengren'' (Mainland Chinese) and has had his ...

, seized weapons, including assault rifles, and took the

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

hostage for a 14-hour high-profile stand-off, which caught media attention nationwide. The group of inmates eventually committed mass suicide. The inmates protested that the former President of the Republic of China

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

, who jailed for 20 years for money laundering, was granted

medical parole Compassionate release is a process by which inmates in criminal justice systems may be eligible for immediate early release on grounds of "particularly extraordinary or compelling circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen by t ...

due to his status as a political prisoner while other prisoners were denied. This is the first ever prison riot with officials held hostage in the

history of Taiwan The history of the island of Taiwan dates back tens of thousands of years to the earliest known evidence of human habitation. The sudden appearance of a culture based on agriculture around 3000 BC is believed to reflect the arrival of the ances ...

Aftermath

A subsequent investigation found that the head prison warden was unaware of the hostage crisis for 30 minutes after it began. On 26 February 2015, the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

announced that 23 prison officials had been reprimanded for their handling of the incident. The head warden was demoted and given a demerit. Demerits were also served to two of his top aides, and to the head of the Agency of Corrections. By August 2016, the head warden, deputy warden and head guard were no longer in their respective positions and had been impeached by the

Control Yuan The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Prior to constitutional reforms in the 1990s, the Control Yuan, along with National Assembly (electoral college) and the Legislati ...

Popular culture

Taiwanese media compared this riot to the 1988

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

prison jailbreak in which escaped to protest the seven-year sentence of Chun Kyeong-hwan, the brother of South Korean president

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah as president of South Korea from 1980 to 198 ...

, who was convicted of embezzlement and

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

. Ji thought it unfair that he received a longer sentence for stealing a smaller amount of money. The Korean movie starring

Lee Sung-jae Lee Sung-jae (born August 23, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Among his notable works include the films ''Art Museum by the Zoo'', ''Attack the Gas Station'', ''Barking Dogs Never Bite'', and ''Kick the Moon'', as well as the television series ' ...

was based on this incident.

References

{{coord, 22.5896, N, 120.3982, E, source:wikidata, display=title Kaohsiung 2015 in Taiwan Prison uprisings Mass suicides Bamboo Union Organized crime events in Taiwan