Brothers Home () was an
internment camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
located in
Pusan
Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...
, South Korea during the 1970s and '80s. During its operation, it held 20 factories and thousands of people who were rounded up off of the street, the homeless some of whom were children, in addition to a college student who was protesting the regime. Only 10% of internees were actually homeless.
The camp was home to some of the worst human rights abuses in South Korea during the period, which were exposed in
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
and
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
articles in 2016.
The South Korean government called the Brothers Home and other similar concentration camps opened by the
Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah as president of South Korea from 1980 to 198 ...
regime during the
fourth and
fifth republics: "welfare centers".
A DW news article reports a minimum of 516 people died over the course of 20 years at Brother's Home.
Widespread torture was common in these welfare centers.
In the 1990s, construction labourers dug up about 100 human bones on the patch of mountain just outside where it stood.
Involvement of the Protestant Church
The camp was operated in conjunction with the Protestant Church, with the church on the premises accommodating 3,500 people at any one time. Survivors allege close cooperation between the camp and the church on the premises. One former inmate reports being forced to perform in Christian plays for local and international guests and given Easter eggs as rewards; another was sent to the camp via a Christian missionary; and yet another describes the church and the camp as a business operation run by Pastor Lim Young-soon and Director Park In-keun (a former boxer and soldier), with children forced to work and run an on-premises
Korean adoption operation,
including writing letters soliciting donations from families who have adopted children in the past.
Some of the adoption partners abroad were also part of Christian organizations.
Aftermath
Park was eventually sentenced to two and a half years in prison only for embezzlement.
See also
*
Chun Doo Hwan
Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah as president of South Korea from 1980 to 198 ...
*
Yodok concentration camp
References
{{SouthKorea-stub
Busan
Internment camps
Far-right politics in South Korea