The government plans to set up jails for elderly and disabled to better meet their specific needs and improve overall living conditions. 

It will also install the so-called "remote imaging diagnosis system" in jails across the country to better care for prisoners with medical problems. 

The plan is part of measures submitted by the Ministry of Justice to President Roh Moo-hyun, which are designed to improve Korea's human rights conditions. 

The ministry will transform Kyongju Prison in North Kyongsang Province into a correctional facility specifically for the elderly in the first half of this year when a new prison opens in a nearby area. 

The envisioned facility is expected to improve the living conditions of elderly inmates. 

There are currently about 350 inmates aged over 65 in jails across the country, according to the ministry. 

But most correctional institutions are inadequately equipped to provide essential care to elderly prisoners who are housed together with younger inmates. 

The government also plans to establish jails for the disabled to provide better care. 

It is considering renovating Kunsan Prison in North Cholla Province to accommodate the handicapped by the end of the year as the current correctional facilities housing the disabled inmates have failed to adequately serve them. 

In addition, the government will set up the online diagnosis system in prisons so that inmates with medical troubles can be more easily examined and treated by doctors outside through the Internet. 

Anyang Prison in Kyonggi Province has been operating the system since last October, and the government plans to install it in every prison by 2010. 

Meanwhile, the government will build nursing homes for the elderly in all of 234 municipal districts across the country to prepare for "Elderly Care Insurance," which kicks off in 2008. 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled last week that it will introduce the long-term care insurance program for seniors to help relieve the financial burdens of the elderly and their families. 

Senior citizens aged over 65 and those under 64, who are suffering from age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, are eligible to subscribe to the new insurance scheme after going through the government's screening process. 

The ministry said that it has asked 53 administrative districts, which do not currently have nursing homes, to construct at least one facility catering to senior citizens by the end of next year. 

Thirty-one municipal authorities have already begun constructing the facilities, according to the ministry, while the remaining 22 local governments plan to start the construction early next year. 

The government will also provide financial assistance to municipal authorities with financial difficulties. 

It is aiming to build a large number of nursing homes and medical facilities for the elderly across the country to accommodate at least 61,000 senior citizens by next year.