[The State-Abandoned Seongam Academy①] Continued Secondary Harm by the State... Their Daily Life of Giving Up

Children of Seongam Academy Continuously Exposed to State Violence Including Samcheong Education Camp
Missed Educational Opportunities, Unable to Secure Long-Term Employment
21.4% of Basic Livelihood Security Recipients Among Human Rights Commission Investigation Subjects
"The State Must Actively Pursue Victim Recovery"

Seongam Academy was a facility established in the early 1940s on Seongamdo Island in Ansan during the Japanese colonial period and operated until 1982. It was a detention center where children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 were forcibly admitted and subjected to human rights abuses. Gyeonggi Province is preparing support measures for the victims along with an official apology, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is investigating the causes and scale of the damage. Asia Economy conveys the testimonies of victims who are still suffering and discusses measures to prevent the recurrence of state violence and support plans for the victims.

Children of Seongam Academy (Provided by the National Human Rights Commission)

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] “My life went wrong from the day I was kicked in the shin.”

Han Il-young (64), who was a sixth grader in elementary school in 1970, was caught by the police while visiting a relative’s house in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, without knowing the reason. When asked “Where is your home?” he answered “Gapyeong, Gyeonggi,” but was kicked in the shin for supposedly lying. He was then taken to an island in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. It was Seongam Academy. At the time, Han thought, “I’ll be able to go home soon.” However, he left the island only when he turned 18.

Han is currently a basic livelihood security recipient. He has no knowledge or skills and has not stayed long at any job. The longest he worked was about two years as a security guard at an apartment complex in Daejeon. Two years ago, he even divorced his wife due to financial difficulties. Han said, “Even though we loved each other, I cried so much when we divorced because we had no money,” adding, “I want to restore my honor no matter what, for the sake of my ruined childhood and life caused by the state.”

After escaping from Seongam Academy, Han tried to start a new life by getting a job at a factory in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, but this life did not last long either. He was again caught without knowing why and sent to the Samcheong Education Center. Thinking he could never return to a facility like Seongam Academy, Han tried to escape from Samcheong Education Center but was caught by military police and ended up imprisoned for a year. As a convicted person, his livelihood and employment prospects became even bleaker. Even after struggling to get a factory job, the police monitored him about once a month. Eventually, the factory fired him. Han said, “I have never had a proper job since then,” and “I could never escape poverty.”

Seongam Academy children lost educational opportunities due to the state... 21.4% of those investigated by the Human Rights Commission are basic livelihood security recipients

On the 28th of last month, Kim Young-bae, chairman of the Seongam Academy Child Victims Countermeasure Council, lamented the ongoing hardships faced by the victims at the Seongam History Museum.
Photo by Gong Byung-sun mydillon@

Among the victims of Seongam Academy, many are in difficult circumstances like Han. According to a 2018 investigation by the National Human Rights Commission targeting 28 victims of Seongam Academy, 21.4% (6 people) of those surveyed were recipients of basic livelihood security. Those earning less than 1 million KRW per month, close to the basic livelihood security level, accounted for 17.9% (5 people) of the total. Only 4 out of the 28 had graduated from at least one of university, high school, or middle school. Nine had not even attended elementary school. Only 12 of the 28 maintained married life, less than half. Six were separated or divorced, two remarried, and the remaining eight were single.

Kim Young-bae, chairman of the Seongam Academy Child Victims Support Council, said, “Most are over 60 or 70 years old, so the situation is desperate, but their honor has still not been restored,” adding, “Victims have lived stigmatized, with no hope for change, and are growing weary with age.” Professor Jung Ik-jung of Ewha Womans University’s Department of Social Welfare pointed out, “Adverse childhood experiences lead not only to adult depression and mental health issues but also to physical discomfort,” and emphasized, “There is little time left, so the state must act quickly.”

What is Seongam Academy? = Established by Japan, operated by Gyeonggi Province after liberation

◆Seongam Academy=Seongam Academy was a facility established in 1942 on Seongamdo Island, Ansan City, Gyeonggi Province, under the Japanese colonial ‘Joseon Juvenile Law.’ Originally intended to reform boys, it was effectively operated as a facility to make young boys into ‘Imperial subjects.’ It was distorted into a means to secure loyal human resources needed for war rather than genuine reform or training. After liberation and during the Korean War, Seongam Academy mainly housed war orphans. It operated without any legal basis, governed only by a few ordinances that did not specify concrete operational methods. Under the May 16 military regime, it arbitrarily detained vagrants from society and was used to legitimize the regime by claiming to solve the widespread vagrant problem at the time.

According to the National Archives, as of July 15, 1982, a total of 5,759 children were detained, and the Gyeonggi Provincial Archives hold records of 4,691 discharged children by period. There were four to five dormitory buildings, with 80 to 120 children, sometimes up to 150, living in one building. The residents spent most of their time doing various agricultural and labor tasks in collective farms and workshops, including grass cutting, weeding, sericulture, livestock management, salt field labor, and farming. Many tried to escape to avoid human rights abuses or died from beatings and malnutrition. Reports and records of these damages continue to be reported and accumulated even now.