Gyeonggi-do to Acquire 332 Harmful Items and Relics from Human Rights Abusing 'Seongam Hakwon'

Seongam Academy Former Site

Gyeonggi Province will take custody of 275 remains and 57 personal belongings, totaling 332 items, of the victims of the human rights abuses at Ansan's 'Seongam Hakwon.'

Seongam Hakwon was a place where, under the pretext of reforming vagrant children from 1942 to 1982 during the Japanese colonial period, over 4,700 boys were subjected to forced labor, beatings, harsh treatment, and secret burials, violating their human rights.

On the 10th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it will take custody on the 13th of 275 remains (teeth) and 57 personal belongings excavated in two rounds from 2022 to 2023 by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Past (TRCP) to ascertain the burial status of remains at the Seongam Hakwon victims' communal graveyard (San 37-1, Seongam-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si).

After collecting the victims' remains this time, Gyeonggi Province plans to process them in connection with the 'Seongam Hakwon Victims' Communal Graveyard Remains Excavation Project.'

Earlier in March, Gyeonggi Province decided to carry out the 'Seongam Hakwon Victims' Communal Graveyard Remains Excavation Project' on behalf of the state and urgently allocated a budget of 900 million KRW as a reserve fund.

Currently, Gyeonggi Province has conducted a comprehensive survey of the graves and issued an opening notice in accordance with the 'Act on the Management of Graves' to excavate the communal graveyard. From October, when the excavation is expected to be completed, anthropological investigations, genetic analysis, cremation, and enshrinement will be conducted on all excavated remains, including the previously unearthed remains.

Masunheung, Gyeonggi Province's Human Rights Officer, stated, "Since Gyeonggi Province is carrying out the excavation of remains on behalf of the state, it is only proper that the province also takes custody of the previously unearthed remains," adding, "We will do our best to console the souls of all victims who were unjustly sacrificed and fully restore their tarnished honor."

Meanwhile, the TRCP concluded the Seongam Hakwon case as a 'child human rights violation by public authority' in its truth verification decision in October 2022 and recommended that Gyeonggi Province, the operator of Seongam Hakwon, and the state, which implemented the illegal vagrant child policy, prepare support measures for the victims and excavate the victims' remains.

On October 19, 2022, a day before the TRCP's recommendation announcement, Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon officially apologized to the Seongam Hakwon victims for the state violence committed during his tenure as appointed governor and promised support for the victims.

This year, Gyeonggi Province has allocated a total budget of 2.25 billion KRW to implement support measures for Seongam Hakwon victims, including victim compensation and medical support, ▲ research on preservation and utilization of the former Seongam Hakwon site ▲ installation of a memorial monument ▲ support for memorial cultural festivals ▲ excavation of victims' remains.

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