Ansansi Min Network "Welcome Gyeonggi-do's 'Seongam Hakwon Harmful Excavation' Promotion"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is offering flowers for the victims at the site presumed to be the mass grave of Ansan Seongam Academy in October last year.

The 'Ansan Citizens' Network for Reconciliation and Healing of Seongam Academy' issued a statement on the 16th welcoming Gyeonggi Province's decision to excavate the remains of children from Seongam Academy.

In the statement, the Ansan Citizens' Network criticized, "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Past Affairs classified the Seongam Academy case in November 2022 as a human rights violation involving child rights abuses and recommended an official state apology, victim restoration measures, and prompt excavation of remains. However, the state has neither apologized nor planned any excavation even after one year and four months."

They particularly lamented, "Despite the state's grave duty to protect its citizens, it has not even confirmed the whereabouts or survival of 1,232 children, accounting for 26.3% of the 4,689 names recorded in the Seongam Academy children's registry, who remain missing."

The Ansan Citizens' Network further stated, "We actively welcome Gyeonggi Province's announcement on February 13th to allocate a budget for the excavation and to carry out excavation, investigation, forensic analysis, and enshrinement procedures over one year and five months starting in March," adding, "We earnestly hope that the deeply accumulated grievances of the young souls who could not properly close their eyes will finally be resolved."

They also emphasized, "Alongside the excavation work, efforts must be made for the healing and recovery of Seongam Academy victims, the remembrance and memorialization of Seongam Academy within the local community, and the transformation of Seongam Academy into a learning center for child rights. This will ensure that the painful history is neither ignored nor excluded, allowing society to mature into one of reconciliation and healing," and stressed, "Gyeonggi Province, which was responsible for operating Seongam Academy at the time, must be driven and monitored to fulfill its active responsibility and role regarding the child rights violations at Seongam Academy."

The Ansan Citizens' Network is a coalition of 46 organizations in the Ansan area promoting various educational, planning, and policy programs for the healing and recovery of the Seongam Academy child rights violation case. Recently, they held discussions such as the 'Ansan City Seongam Academy Child Rights Violation Case Role Exploration Forum.'

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