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Ministry of Justice to withdraw appeals in re-education camp cases

Published: 28 Sep. 2025, 19:18

Inmates at the Samcheong re-education camp perform baton exercises in 1980 under the Fifth Republic’s so-called “social purification” campaign. [YONHAP]

The Ministry of Justice will withdraw or forgo government appeals in state compensation lawsuits filed by victims of the Samcheong re-education camps forced into "reeducation" during the 1980s military dictatorship.

“To ensure swift relief for victims, we have decided to withdraw appeals in cases currently at the appellate and Supreme Court level,” the ministry said in a press release released Sunday. “For upcoming first-instance rulings, we will also forgo appeals except in exceptional cases.”

Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho described the case as “a human rights violation caused by unlawful state power,” adding, “In line with the government’s policy of national unity, we have decided to withdraw or abandon appeals to provide swift relief to victims who have long suffered.”

The Samcheong incident dates back to 1980, when the Special Committee for National Security Measures invoked martial law decree No. 13 to forcibly confine more than 39,000 people in military-run reeducation camps. Detainees, who were mostly political dissidents, multiethnic families, trade unionists, religious figures and the mentally disabled, were subjected to “purification” programs and forced labor.

Many suffered severe abuse, including beatings and forced labor, leading to more than 50 deaths and numerous injuries. A total of 2,045 victims have filed compensation suits against the government, with 638 cases currently ongoing: 430 in district courts involving 1,383 victims, 178 in appeals courts with 519 victims and 30 at the Supreme Court with 143 victims.

The ministry previously made similar decisions to drop appeals in state compensation cases related to the Brothers Home welfare facility and the Seongam Academy, which both involved human rights' violations by the government during modern history.

Victims of the Brothers' Home in Busan, a concentration camp that operated between 1975 and 1987, at the Seoul Central District Court in December 2023. [YONHAP]

The Brothers Home case dates back to the 1970s and ’80s, when tens of thousands of disabled or homeless people were rounded up by police and confined in a state-sanctioned welfare facility in Busan, only to be subjected to forced labor, beatings and other forms of abuse.

The Seongam Academy case involved a state-run juvenile facility on Seongam Island in Ansan, Gyeonggi, where boys from poor or broken families were forcibly confined from the 1940s to the 1980s. Under the pretext of discipline and moral education, the boys endured years of forced labor, physical abuse and hunger.

“We will continue efforts to reduce the suffering of victims in lawsuits over illegal acts committed by the state,” the Justice Ministry said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]