"Forced to Work Every Day... Student Walked 30km to Escape Seodang Where No Studying Was Allowed"

On the 2nd, JTBC reported that around May of last year, about a year after A had been staying at a seodang in Hadong, he ran away from the seodang in the middle of the night. Photo by JTBC broadcast screen capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] As the Seodang in Hadong, Gyeongnam, has come under scrutiny for repeated abuse and violence, it was revealed that last year a student who was mobilized to build the Seodang building walked 30km late at night to seek help from his family.

On the 2nd, JTBC reported that around May last year, when A-boy had been living at a Seodang in Hadong for about a year, he escaped from the Seodang late at night.

According to the report, A-boy walked 30km from the Seodang in the mountains to a PC room in Hadong-eup because he was not allowed to use a mobile phone at the Seodang.

A-boy sent a text message to his family saying, "Could you please take me home?" and his father immediately headed to Hadong.

A-boy's father took him home that day.

He told JTBC reporters, "I couldn't endure the beatings and forced labor, so I escaped," adding, "I walked for about 6 to 7 hours. I left around 10 p.m. and walked until 6 or 7 a.m. because there are many eyes watching during the day."

After quitting the Seodang, A-boy confessed to his family that "they made me work every day" and "they never helped me study at all."

A-boy expressed that he wanted to leave the Seodang immediately but had no way to inform the outside world because mobile phone use was prohibited.

A-boy's father explained, "He was very exhausted and lost more than 10kg every time he went there. So I just brought him back."

It was reported that the food was insufficient and that beatings, such as hitting his face for not obeying, were frequent.

The Seodang side stated that the forced labor was at the level of "helping with tasks like fetching water" and that "there was no violence other than discipline."

Meanwhile, A-boy was not included in the investigation into the actual state of violence started by the Gyeongnam Office of Education and the police on the 2nd.

Only currently enrolled students are subject to the investigation, excluding students who previously attended the Seodang.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.