'Human Rights Violations' Ansan Seongamhakwon Memorial Cultural Festival to be Held... May 5th at 10 AM

Poster for the "9th Seongamhakwon Memorial Culture Festival" held by Gyeonggi Province on the 5th at Ansan City Gyeonggi Creative Campus (former site of Seongamhakwon)

Gyeonggi Province will hold the 9th Seongam School Memorial Cultural Festival on the 5th at the Gyeonggi Creative Campus in Ansan City (the former site of Seongam School).

Since 2016, Gyeonggi Province has been holding the memorial cultural festival annually to remember the pain of the boys forcibly confined at Seongam School, honor the victims, and foster social consensus.

Seongam School was a tragic place where many young boys suffered labor exploitation and abuse from its establishment by the Japanese colonial government in 1942 until its closure in 1982. Gyeonggi Province holds the memorial cultural festival on the first Saturday of October each year, which includes October 1st, the day Seongam School was closed. This year marks the ninth festival.

About 300 people, including surviving victims of the Seongam School incident, bereaved families, and residents of Gyeonggi Province, will attend this year’s memorial cultural festival.

The first part of the event begins at 10 a.m. at the Gyeonggi Creative Campus with a memorial ceremony for the victims of the Seongam School incident. Linked with the traditional cultural and artistic event ‘Jangseungje,’ the ceremony will honor the victims through the reading of Gocheonmun and pansori performances.

Participants will take a tour of the old paths, including the former dormitories of Seongam School students, accompanied by vivid explanations from surviving victims, reflecting on the historical significance. This will provide an opportunity to empathize with the pain and suffering experienced by the boys at that time.

The second part of the event starts at 1:30 p.m. with an opening ceremony at the Seongam Art Hall in the Gyeonggi Creative Campus. Following the opening declaration, memorial speeches and flower offerings will honor the spirits of the victims. The program includes memorial poetry recitations, reading letters addressed to the victims, a play involving victims, and choral performances. The event will conclude with traditional Jangseunggut and pungmul performances.

Masunheung, Gyeonggi Province’s Human Rights Officer, said, "Through this memorial cultural festival, I hope many people will remember the painful history of Seongam School, empathize with the suffering of the victims and their families, and achieve social healing and harmony."

This event is hosted by the Seongam School Child Victim Countermeasures Council and supported by Gyeonggi Province.