Among 262 skeletal remains discovered in 2019, DNA of 1 matches a missing person
2 others show partial genetic matches, likely missing persons
More than 40 unidentified human remains were discovered at the site of the former Gwangju Prison in Buk-gu, Gwangju, which was identified as a secret burial site for the missing persons of the May 18 Democratic Movement. The military, police, and May 18 organizations are conducting a joint forensic examination. Some skulls showed signs of perforations, and a detailed analysis is planned. Photo by the May 18 Foundation
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Among the remains unearthed in large numbers from the unclaimed graves at the former Gwangju Prison in 2019, it has been confirmed that some belong to individuals who went missing during the May 18 Democratic Movement. This is expected to give new momentum to investigations related to suspected secret burials.
According to the May 18 Democratic Movement Truth Investigation Committee (Investigation Committee) on the 25th, one of the 262 sets of remains excavated from the former Gwangju Prison showed a 99.9% DNA match with the family of Mr. A, who is recognized as a missing person from that period.
This fact was revealed during the reinvestigation process after the National Forensic Service (NFS) transferred information on 160 sets of remains, for which genetic comparison analysis was possible, to the Investigation Committee.
Previously, the NFS compared this genetic information with that of families of missing persons but did not find any matching remains. However, the Investigation Committee began a reinvestigation using a different genetic analysis method (SNP) from the NFS and has examined about 60 sets of remains so far.
They expanded the verification scope by introducing not only the analysis method (STR - Short Tandem Repeat) that can confirm only direct relatives but also the method (SNP - Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) that can identify collateral relatives such as uncles or nephews. In this process, one set of remains was found to match Mr. A’s DNA information with a 99.9998% probability.
The Investigation Committee is conducting cross-analysis on two other sets of remains that are also suspected to belong to missing persons.
The Committee has completed analysis of about 60 sets of remains excavated from the former Gwangju Prison and plans to continue analyzing the remaining 100 or so. They also plan to thoroughly investigate the cause of death of Mr. A, whose genetic information has been confirmed, the circumstances of his disappearance, and the process leading to the secret burial.
In December 2019, a pile of unidentified remains was discovered in the unclaimed graves at the former Gwangju Prison in Buk-gu, Gwangju. Workers clearing the unclaimed graves for the construction of a theme park found scattered remains buried in a mound of soil during the process of collecting multiple graves.
At the time of discovery, about 40 sets of remains were recovered from the mound of soil, and about 40 more from concrete ossuaries below, totaling approximately 80 sets. After classification work by the NFS, the total number of remains was confirmed to be 262. The former Gwangju Prison had been identified as a site where martial law troops secretly buried civilians who died during the May 18 incident, drawing attention to its connection with missing persons from the May 18 Democratic Movement.
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