On the 19th, MBC's "News Desk" reported that it had obtained official footage in which women who were taken away during the Sabuk uprising directly testified to having suffered horrific sexual torture. Photo by MBC broadcast screen capture.
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] Testimonies have been revealed that the martial law command committed horrific sexual torture and assault during the 'Sabuk Uprising' in April 1980, when about 6,000 miners and their families rose up.
On the 19th, MBC's 'News Desk' reported that it obtained official footage in which women who were taken during the Sabuk Uprising directly testified to having suffered horrific sexual torture.
According to MBC, a woman who was a victim of sexual torture testified in the video, "They twisted (and touched) my breasts violently, and this person and that person touched me recklessly."
Another woman said, "When I said I was really going to die, they said, 'People like you deserve to die.'"
The Sabuk Uprising began with a general strike by coal miners in the Sabuk-eup area of Jeongseon-gun, the largest private coal mine in the country, from April 21 to 24, 1980. This was just before the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.
The struggle of these people against unfair labor exploitation, saying "Let's live like humans," seemed to bear happy fruit within four days through labor-management agreement.
However, the martial law command investigation team stormed into Sabuk.
The martial law command investigation team arrested more than 140 miners and their families en masse and subjected them to water torture and assault.
Among them, 40 to 50 were women, and cruel abuse and torture began for them.
Sexual torture was openly carried out even in front of the miners who were taken along.
A tortured miner recalled the situation at the time, saying, "'This is truly pandemonium,'" and added, "Even though I was tortured to the point of death, the anger that rose was unbearable."
A pregnant woman lost her child due to aftereffects, and her family was destroyed. This victimized woman appealed, "At first, (my husband) didn't say anything, but later, after it happened, we became strangers. I was not treated well by my husband and was not recognized."
The sexual torture testimonies, which were disclosed belatedly, were made during the investigation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Past Affairs between 2006 and 2007.
Of the four sexual torture witnesses who were in their 30s and 40s at the time, three are known to have already passed away.
Many workers who participated in the uprising were labeled as rioters and arrested. Those who were punished for leading the Sabuk Uprising were only acquitted in 2015, and conflicts have continued for decades.
Meanwhile, the government has not issued any apology or compensation measures for the sexual torture victims to this day.
In an interview with the MBC reporters, Hwang In-wook, director of the Jeongseon Regional Society Research Institute, pointed out, "The state, which almost retaliated by destroying the entire community and residents through torture and violence, is actually absent from this picture."
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