Why did the children go to Seongam Academy?
SBS's 'The Story of That Day' (hereinafter referred to as 'Kokkomu'), which aired on the 18th, traced the day of children who went to Seongam Academy with the subtitle 'There were children on that island.'
In July 2016, Heo Il-yong focused on excavation using an excavator at a hillside. And when he saw some of the bone fragments and shoes found there, he said they looked like his twin brother.
His twin brother died at the age of eight and his remains were discovered 50 years later. What on earth happened to them to face such a tragedy?
In the early 1960s, Il-yong and his older brother, who lived in Miari, went on an outing to the market with their grandmother. And at some point, her grandmother lost her hand.
A police officer appeared in front of them. The brother asked him to find a home and he knew he would return home soon. However, they arrived at a small island called Seongamdo after passing through a shelter for missing children.
In the summer of 1969, the Chaltteok brothers, who were staying at their grandmother's house, were playing with their older brother at Suwon Station and fell asleep at the station while the older brother was away at work. And they were taken somewhere by the police. A car traveling somewhere after passing through a lost children's shelter. The brother saw them passing in front of his grandmother's house and asked them to get off, but all they got in return for the children was a beating. And they also arrived at Seongam Island.
While waiting for the train at Suwon Station, the police took Yeongsu somewhere while his mother went to the bathroom. When Yeongsu said she was waiting for her mother, the police said that her mother decided to come after a while. However, the place where Yeongsu arrived was also Seongamdo Island.
And while Youngsu was on his way to Seongamdo Island, he recalled hearing the words, “Here, we will help you become independent and teach you good skills.”
The place they arrived at was Seongam Academy in Seongamdo.
Then why did they come here and why did Mr. Il-yong's older brother die? Mr. Il-yong recalled his brother's last strange appearance.
The older brother, who was found dead in his dorm, died with a bunch of blanket pieces in his mouth. His older brother died of starvation by eating a piece of blanket. And it was only after 50 years that I found him.
It was estimated that 150 graves were buried in the area where the bodies were secretly buried. Those buried here are victims of Seongam Academy. The cause of death was unknown and the number of people was not known for sure. The number of deaths announced by Seongam Academy is 20, but there are 150 graves.
Only some of the children who came to Seongam Academy were sent to school, and most of them were mobilized for labor. They had to work on reclaiming a whopping 5,000 pyeong of salt fields into farmland, and if they failed to meet the labor quota, beatings and punishments awaited them.
Most of those who ran Seongam Academy were public officials. In addition, the students were divided into ranks to manage the children.
Children who suffered from violence and forced labor were unable to eat even one proper meal a day. Pickled radish and salted shrimp were the only side dishes given to them, and the children, who were always hungry, dug up the dirt, ate sewage, and ate everything they could find on the island, including nuts, oysters, grasshoppers, rats, and frogs.
These children had something in common. That they are all outcasts. Seongam Academy was a facility for outcasts.
But the children were not outcasts. The government collected children without legal definitions or standards for enforcement. Children who had been separated from their families were admitted to Seongam Academy without proper verification of their identity or guardians and with only a false kindergarten register.
Seongam Academy has been in operation for 40 years, stigmatizing ordinary children as outcasts. Seongam Academy was created during the Japanese colonial period in 1942 and maintained until 1982.
There were as many as 4,689 children detained there. However, it is unclear whether even this number is accurate.
The children at Seongam Academy trembled at the sound of a pickaxe being dragged when darkness fell. This sound was a signal for an assault.
And the students at Seongam Academy suffered even worse things. Children who had suffered unspeakable things thought of their mothers whenever they were having a hard time.
Also, the children could not bear the pain and attempted to escape. However, very few children succeeded in escaping. They were caught and beaten while trying to escape, or they were swept away by the tide when they went to land in the mud flats.
The older of the Chalteok brothers tried to bear it while thinking of his younger brother, but the pain was so severe that he tried to make an extreme choice. He thought that his suffering would end when he died. So my brother collected the medicine one by one, and when he was pouring it all out, the employee stopped him.
And after that, the Chaltteok brothers were moved to another facility. Only in extreme circumstances could I leave Seongam Academy.
Youngsu attempted to escape several times and ran away while moving to another facility three years after leaving Seongam Academy.
At that time, the reporter who covered Seongam Academy received an internal tip and headed to Seongamdo. And she noticed that human rights abuses were being committed against children there, contrary to what the staff claimed, and she reported on this. However, when I visited Seongam Academy again six years later, nothing had changed.
Although the problem was reported several times, there was no improvement. This was because those who knew about this problem tolerated and neglected it.
The Chalteok brothers each ran away from the facility and met again. And I became a real outcast.
And it was not easy for them to find their families again. I tried to find Yeongsu's family, but I couldn't find them. Then one day, 40 years later, I happened to meet his older brother again.
The two recognized themselves as brothers at a glance. Mr. Youngsu asked his brother if he had found him. Accordingly, his older brother expressed regret by revealing that his mother had spent her days in tears missing Yeongsu even just before she passed away.
Youngsu visits the grave of his mother, who passed away just a few years before meeting his brother. He had no choice but to apologize for coming so late.
Mr. Il-yong could not find his family, but fortunately the Chalteok brothers found their family. However, the older brother of the Chaltteok brothers still visited Seongamdo from time to time.
This is because his friend Hammer, who endured the loneliness together at the time, remains there. And last year he found a friend.
Among the remains and mementos of the victims of Seongam Academy, I recognized Hammer's mementos at a glance. I found the oyster shucking tool that we always used to shuck oysters together.
My brother, who went to the scene, hugged his friend's remains and shed tears.
Gyeonggi Province recently decided to directly promote the excavation of the remains of Seongam Academy. And the Evolution Committee recommended an official apology from Seongam Academy and all related organizations, saying they were responsible for human rights violations.
Currently, victims of Seongam Academy are able to receive support funds. However, because it was a provincial budget, it was revealed that only Gyeonggi-do residents could receive it, causing disappointment.
We are continuing to pursue government support, but the schedule is currently being pushed back one by one.
The broadcast requested that future children's dreams be protected so that something like this does not happen again. And children who do not enjoy the basic rights of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea: “All citizens are ordinary before the law, all citizens have physical freedom, and no one shall be subject to arrest, detention, search, interrogation, punishment, or forced labor other than in accordance with the law.” I felt sad about life.
(SBS Entertainment News Editor Kim Hyo-jeong)
