Although the purposes of punishment vary with their theoretical standpoints, the function of "special deterrence" of the criminals should be the primary correctional goal. Article 1 of the Korean Correction Law defines that "the reintegration of inmates" is the main objectives of the execution of punishment. "A short-term imprisonment" which deprives criminals of their liberty for the short period of time is too short to run the rehabilitative programs for fulfilling the goal of "reintegration." In contrast, it provides sufficient time for the criminals to learn criminal techniques and attitudes from their prison colleagues. In this sense, some argue that this type of punishment has more negative effects rather than it serves the correctional goal. As a result, attempts are recently made to find out alternatives of the short-term deprivation of liberty(e.g. pecuniary punishment). However, there have been much controversies about the exact time-span of "the short-term" punishment and the clear diagnosis of the alleged negative impacts. This article, therefore, is designed first to illustrate possible negative effects of the short-term imprisonment with its relation to the penological thoughts, and then seek alternative types of punishment that better serve the correctional idea of "reintegration."