[Breaking] "Treated as an Object, Not a Person, at Sinan Salt Farm and Gwangju Nursing Hospital"

Interview with a Victim of Labor Exploitation at Sinan Salt Farm
Decades of Abuse and Exploitation at Sinan Salt Farm
Moved to Gwangju Nursing Hospital and Church in 2018
Hospital Building Owner Suspected of Close Ties with Salt Farm Owners
Al

"Both the Sinan salt farm and the Gwangju nursing hospital treated me as nothing more than an object."

Mr. A was subjected to decades of labor exploitation at the Sinan salt farm, and even recently, he was extorted for money and subsidies at a nursing hospital in Gwangju.

Born in 1965 and originally from Gyeonggi Province, Mr. A was sent to an orphanage at a young age and was only able to graduate from elementary school. When he turned twenty, the place he went to earn money was a salt farm located in an island village in Sinan. Mr. A vaguely recalls, "Someone told me about a job and took me to that salt farm."

A victim of labor exploitation at the Sinan salt farm is pointing to scars on their hand, explaining that the wounds were left from the assault by the salt farm owner. Photo by Min Chanki

From the very first day, the owner of the salt farm assaulted Mr. A on the head with a hammer, claiming it was because he was not working properly. The violence against Mr. A continued every single day during the ten years he worked at that salt farm. On one occasion, when the owner tried to hit him with a shovel, Mr. A thought, "I could really die," and desperately blocked the blow with his hand. The scar from that incident still remains on his hand. Mr. A also tried to escape the island by launching a sailboat, but he was quickly caught by the owner and was beaten all over his body, including his back and legs. Due to the beatings at that time, Mr. A still suffers from back pain.

"There are two buses that run in that island village. If you take a bus from the right side of the OO church for about 20 minutes, you will reach the salt farm." Even after decades, Mr. A vividly remembers the way to the salt farm. The area was widely covered with salt farm villages, and each salt farm owner employed one or two workers. Because of the shortage of labor, it was routine to go do chores as the owner ordered, and the violence continued there as well. Truck drivers who came from outside to pick up salt would sometimes give the workers pocket money of 10,000 to 20,000 won, but even that was immediately taken away by the owner. Working hours were not observed, as workers were forced to wake up at dawn and continue working even after sunset.

After ten years of wage arrears, violence, and labor exploitation at this salt farm, Mr. A moved to another salt farm. He called the employer at that new salt farm "OO hyungnim," indicating that the working conditions were better than at the previous place. After working there for about fifteen years, he quit salt farming and returned to his hometown in Gyeonggi Province.

Having spent his entire life working at salt farms, Mr. A was unable to find proper work even in Gyeonggi Province. After wandering in his hometown, about ten years ago, he was introduced by someone to another salt farm in Sinan. Then, the "Sinan salt farm slave" case came to light, and due to reasons such as business closures, the salt farm owners sent Mr. A and many other salt farm workers to a church and a nursing hospital in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. The pastor of this church, Mr. Park, is also the owner of a nursing hospital building in Buk-gu, Gwangju.

Mr. A said, "I remember the salt farm owners were close to Mr. Park. One of the owners was probably even related to him. I came to the hospital at the end of 2018, and when I arrived, I saw many people I had worked with at the Sinan salt farm."

Here, Mr. A and other inpatients were made to open bank accounts into which their basic living allowance was deposited, and the money was immediately taken from them. Most of them were legally incompetent and only vaguely remember being accompanied to the bank by someone when the account was opened. After that, they had no idea what happened to their bankbooks, and according to the testimonies of the inpatients, they only occasionally received pocket money of about 40,000 to 50,000 won.

Mr. A said, "Even though it was called a hospital, I never received proper treatment while I was admitted. I had nowhere else to go, so I was just hospitalized in name only. Recently, Mr. Park kept asking me to lend him 150,000 won, so I have moved to another hospital."