HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE CASE CONCLUDED

[Anchor Lead]

The scandal at Busan Hyeongje Welfare Facility was a glaring example of human rights abuse during the military regime in the 1970s. Thirty-five years have passed since the atrocities at the welfare facility were made public. Now, for the first time, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has concluded that unjust governmental authority has committed these grave human rights violations.

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In 1977, then 12-year-old Park Hyeong-dae went to Busan Station to meet his friend. That was when he ran into a police officer.

[Soundbite] Park Hyeong-dae(Victim of Hyeongje Welfare Facility incident) : "They said, ‘Hey, kid, come over here.’ I asked, ‘Why?’ and they responded, ‘Where are your parents?’"

The young Park told him the name of his school and his parents, but the officer nonetheless took him by force. The location the officer took the young adolescent was the infamous Hyeongje Welfare Facility. Not knowing why he was locked up there, the young boy had to endure physical violence, forced labor, and even sexual assault.

[Soundbite] Park Hyeong-dae(Victim of Hyeongje Welfare Facility incident) : "I was young and powerless. I feared the unit leader, so I was at his mercy."

His parents asked for help at several institutions, but to no avail. It took them seven years to find their son and bring him home. Seo Sang-yeol was locked up at the Hyeongje Welfare Facility in 1986 but managed to escape a year later. When he tried to inform the world what he had experienced, Busan city government officials came and demanded a statement. He was told to write that "those who lived earnestly in society do not end up at the Hyeongje Welfare Facility," basically refuting the fact that he had been forcibly locked up. Although many decades have passed, he still has nightmares from the memories.

[Soundbite] Seo Sang-yeol(Victim of Hyeongje Welfare Facility incident) : "I was beaten so badly. It wasn’t humane."

It's been 35 years since the abuses at the Hyeongje Welfare Facility were made public. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that this incident was a grave violation of human rights and recommended an apology and support for the victims. It was the first official admission that the state had used violence to perpetrate this tragedy.

[Soundbite] Jung Geun-sik(Chair, 2nd Truth and Reconciliation Commission) : "Their human dignity was violated through forced labor, assaults, abusive behaviors, sexual violence and even death. The state ignored the petitions about human rights abuses at Hyeongje Welfare Facility."

Roughly 650 people died while locked up at this so-called welfare center. That figure includes 105 new victims found during the commission's year-long investigation into the incident.