The Brothers' Home () was an

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

(officially a

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

facility) located in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, South Korea during the 1970s and 1980s. The facility contained 20 factories and held thousands of people who were rounded up off the street, homeless people, children, and student protesters who opposed the government. 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 of social purification. It has been nicknamed "Korea's

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

" by various Korean media outlets.

Background

Early days and the establishment of the camp

Throughout the 1950s, the Republic of Korea struggled to recover from the devastation of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Welfare policies during this period were focused on the housing of

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

s, as they were seen as a stain to South Korea's national reputation. As the 1960s unfolded,

Park Chung Hee Park Chung Hee (; ; November14, 1917October26, 1979) was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961 until Assassination of Park Chung ...

's military junta commenced efforts to 'cleanse' society of those who were seen as "symbols of the 'poverty' and 'disorder' of cities", and these policies were expanded to cover the detention of general

vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

. Starting around 1960, major cities such as

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...

, and

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

began the construction of 'vagrant detention facilities'. A set of laws enacted in 1961 institutionalized the establishment of vagrant housing facilities. The Social Welfare Services Act of 1970 () made every vagrant between 18–65 eligible for "social welfare services".

Social cleansing, incidents and the arrest of Park In-geun

In 1975, the South Korean

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

announced the Ministry of Home Affairs Directive No. 410 (), which required municipalities and their local police departments to form "vagrant patrol teams", which would conduct regular patrols at least once a month. Ministry of Home Affairs Directive No. 410 defined vagrants as those who "prevent a healthy social order in cities and society." This ambiguous definition allowed local authorities to autonomously decide who was classified as a vagrant and who was not. Likewise, the city of Busan and its local police arrested and detained numerous people who were seen on the streets, including panhandlers, abandoned or orphaned children, and the disabled as vagrants. In some cases, police took unattended children into custody without their parents' or guardians' knowledge. The of 1953 provided a legal basis for police forces to detain or transfer those who lacked supervision from "an adequate supervisor" and were "in need of aid" to police stations, hospitals, or other welfare facilities. Section 3 of the act required officers to acquire the consent of the subjected individual before aid was to be given. In the case where police "protection" was to take place, officers were required to "inform family members or other close associates of the aid recipient without delay". However, according to witness accounts, these procedures were rarely followed. Arrested vagrants were distributed among 36 detention facilities across South Korea. Brothers Home was the biggest among these facilities. First established on July 20, 1960 in ,

, Brothers Home began business as an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

under the name "Brothers Orphanage" (). As the orphanage expanded in size, it transformed into an accommodation center for general vagrants in the early 70s. In July 1975, Brothers Home signed a contract with the city of Busan and became one of its official vagrant detention facilities. Subsequently, Brothers Home relocated to Jurye-dong. This crackdown on vagrancy was intensified as rebranding efforts were taken place by the South Korean government in preparation for the 1986 Asian Games and the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were repres ...

. On April 10, 1981, upon receiving a report from Military Security Command on the status of panhandling among disabled citizens, then-President

Chun Doo-Hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Prior to his accession to the presidency, he was the cou ...

ordered Prime Minister Nam Duck-woo to "crack down on begging and take protective measures for vagrants." In October 6, Chun ordered Nam to "make sure no panhandlers are on the streets of Seoul" before the 1988 Olympics. While Park In-geun was arrested in January 1987, the facility remained in operation until early 1988 and the company changed its name to Siloam's House in 1989.

Discovery of human rights abuses

Investigations

In August 1982, a man with the surname Kang submitted a petition asking the government and police to investigate his brother's mistreatment while held at Brothers Home. The case was handled by the , which arranged a meeting between Kang and Park In-geun, who had been the director of the center since 1977. Park took legal action against Kang for

false accusation A false accusation is a claim or allegation of wrongdoing that is untrue and/or otherwise unsupported by facts. False accusations are also known as groundless accusations, unfounded accusations, false allegations, false claims or unsubstantiated al ...

, and Kang was sentenced to eight months in prison on December 23, 1982. In December 1986, Kim Yong-won, a

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

from the District Prosecutors' Office of Ulsan, set out on an investigation after hearing rumors from a local

hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

that a group of laborers were

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucks Kim discovered that the workshop, which was located on a mountain in Ulju County, Ulsan, was operating under orders from Park In-guen, director of Brothers Home. Kim reckoned that Park was subjecting inmates brought from Brothers to

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

, and launched a full-scale

search and seizure Search and seizure is a procedure used in many Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law legal systems by which police or other authorities and their agents, who, suspecting that a crime has been committed, commence a search of a person ...

investigation into the workshop and the center's main facility in Busan, on January 16, 1987. The investigation, which included interviews of more than 100 inmates, guards, and executives of the center, concluded that the center's inmates, most of whom were of sound mind, had been involuntarily transported to and detained by the center, where they were subjected to forced, unpaid labor. A bank receipt indicating a deposit of 2 billion won (approx. $10.6 million in 2025 USD) was also found in a safe in the director's office. Following the investigation by the Prosecution Service,

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

members of the New Korean Democratic Party subsequently conducted an independent investigation into Brothers. The party published its first report on the investigation on February 4, 1987. It concluded that, of the 3,975 inmates who were present at the center in 1986, 3,117 had been brought in by police, and 258 by county officials. From 2022 to 2024, the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission conducted a series of three investigations into the incident.

Beatings and torture

Subsequent investigations into the incident revealed that the inmates at Brothers Home were subjected to serious violations of human rights, including arbitrary detention, enforced labor,

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

, and

sexual violence Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted Human sexual activity, sexual act, an attempt to obtain a sexual act through violence or coercion, or an act directed against a person's sexuality without their consent, by any individual regardless of ...

. The center was administered with an "army-like chain of command." To reduce administrative costs, one inmate was chosen as the "commander" of the facility, working directly under director Park In-geun. Under the commander, 120 vagrants were grouped into a single residence as one "platoon." Each platoon had a "leader", "general secretary", and "team leaders", all of whom were selected inmates. Inmates were also subjected to collective punishment. In some cases, the entire platoon would be beaten or tortured over the mistake of a single member. Widespread torture was common. Inmates were often forced to keep painful and exhausting postures for prolonged periods and were beaten when they failed to stay still. In 2020, the ''

Kukmin Ilbo ''Kukmin Ilbo'' () is a South Korean daily newspaper published by The Kukmin Ilbo in Seoul, South Korea. In South Korea, "Kukmin" means "nation people". It is headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul Seoul, officially ...

'' reported accounts from a former inmate who claimed that director Park In-geun physically abused inmates himself and kept handcuffs and oak clubs in the director's office. He further claimed that he had heard rumors that about 40 to 50 inmates in Brothers were killed directly by Park himself. Children and adolescents of Brothers often became victims of sexual violence by platoon officers. A small number of victims, labeled as 'ttongti' (stemming from "ttong", which translates to excrement) became the primary victims of same-sex sexual violence. Various testimonies have reported that Brothers Home fed its inmates

antipsychotics Antipsychotics, previously known as neuroleptics and major tranquilizers, are a class of psychotropic medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), principally in schizo ...

as a form of "chemical restraint". Purchase records from the center have revealed that Brothers purchased 250,000 tablets of

chlorpromazine Chlorpromazine (CPZ), marketed under the brand names Thorazine and Largactil among others, is an antipsychotic medication. It is primarily used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Other uses include the treatment of bipolar d ...

—along with a series of other antipsychotics such as

haloperidol Haloperidol, sold under the brand name Haldol among others, is a typical antipsychotic medication. Haloperidol is used in the treatment of schizophrenia, tics in Tourette syndrome, mania in bipolar disorder, delirium, agitation, acute psychos ...

, flurazepam, and

carbamazepine Carbamazepine, sold under the brand name Tegretol among others, is an anticonvulsant medication used in the treatment of epilepsy and neuropathic pain. It is used as an adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia along with other medications and as ...

—in 1986 alone. In 1987, the city of Busan denied the accusations, explaining that the drugs were

over-the-counter drugs Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid presc ...

that were purchased for medical purposes. The 1987 New Korean Democratic Party investigation reports estimated that, based on records from the center, a total of 513 people died inside Brothers from July 5, 1975 to January 7, 1987. In 2014, an additional 38 victims were found to have died in the center from 1986 to its decommission in 1988, increasing the number to 551. In 2016, a DW news article reported that a minimum of 516 people died over the course of 20 years at Brothers Home. The 2022 Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigation reported that, based on a comprehensive analysis, including all newly discovered death records from 1975 to 1988, a total of 657 people had died in the center. The bodies of dead inmates were buried in secret, cremated and buried in public cemeteries, or sold to nearby hospitals.

Adoption and human trafficking

From the mid-to-late 20th century, about 200,000 South Korean children, mostly girls, were sent abroad for adoption. It is now believed that they constitute the largest diasporic adoptee population in the world. An investigation by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

discovered direct evidence that Brothers Home organized the adoption of 19 children from 1979 to 1986. The AP further revealed that six U.S. adoption agencies— Holt International, Children's Home Society of Minnesota, Dillon International, Children's Home Society of California, Catholic Social Services, and Spence-Chapin—had received adoptees from Brothers. The European countries included Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, and Denmark. Most of the Korean girls were not real orphans and had living biological parents, but their status was intentionally faked to show that they were orphans and put on adoption in foreign countries for money. The Korea Welfare Services, Eastern Social Welfare Society, Korea Social Service and Holt Children's Services were the adoption agencies involved in the trafficking of the girls. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission began investigating the scandal in 2022. The military leaders were linked to the agencies' board members, and they wanted to establish closer links with the West and decrease South Korea's population. South Korea's

Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS; ) is the public broadcasting, national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters under the government of South Korea. The KBS ope ...

reported on the case of the Korean girl Kim Yooree who was taken away from her biological Korean parents and adopted to a French couple where she was raped and molested by her French adopted father. Across Australia, Europe and the United States, the majority-female Korean adoptees asked for an investigation from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into the child trafficking scandal. Holt Children's Service was sued by a Korean adoptee in the US for compensation.

Aftermath

Trial of Park In-geun

Park In-geun was prosecuted on several charges including

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

and illegal confinement. On June 23, 1987, the initially ruled Park guilty on all charges and sentenced him to ten years in imprisonment and a 681 million won fine. On November 27, 1987, however, the dropped Park's charges of daytime imprisonment after an

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

was made, and the sentence was lowered to four years. On March 8, 1988, a second appeal at the

Supreme Court of Korea The Supreme Court of Korea () is the highest ordinary court in the judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Seocho, Seoul. Established under Chapter 5 of the Constitution of South Korea, the court has ultimate and comprehensive jurisdictio ...

ruled Park not guilty on all charges of illegal confinement. While a remanded case by the Daegu High Court once again ruled Park guilty of unlawful night-time imprisonment, the Supreme Court retained its ruling on a third appeal. A final ruling by the Daegu High Court during the case's second remand ultimately ruled Park not guilty of all imprisonment charges, including both daytime and night-time imprisonment, on March 15, 1989, and declared a final sentence of two-and-a-half years in prison. One final appeal was made to the case by the prosecution, but it was dismissed by the Supreme Court on July 11. The prosecution, which originally sought a fifteen-year sentence and a fine amassing around 600 million won, was put under pressure by the Chun Doo-hwan administration. While the incident initially sparked public outrage, public interest faded away from the case due to cover-up efforts by the military regime and the subsequent death of student activist Park Jong-chul. Park In-geun was eventually sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, not for the human rights abuses at Brothers, but for embezzlement and corruption.

Legal and legislative actions

In 2014, 진선미 and 53 sponsors introduced a special bill to investigate Brothers Home and compensate the victims to 19th National Assembly, though it died in committee. A revised bill was introduced in the next National Assembly by 진선미 72 sponsors in 2016, but also died in committee. The revised bill expanded the scope from the original bill to other social welfare centers. Many survivors have sued the government since May 2021. In January 2024, the court awarded the 13 survivors the total of 4.535 billion won of the 8 billion won requested. Each received 75 million to 420 million won. The state and the survivors both appealed, but the ruling was upheld by appeals court and in March 2025 the Supreme court, cementing the result. On December 10, 2020, public outcry led to the launch of the second Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which addressed human rights violations at facilities such as Brothers Home. On 23 August 2022, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea officially recognized the state's culpability in the human rights violations between 1975 and 1987 at Brothers Home. The abuses included confinement, isolation, forced unpaid labor, and various forms of violence. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission confirmed in February 2025 that at least 31 children were improperly sent overseas for adoption, with nearly 5,000 pending cases. The investigation was set to conclude in May 2025 unless the National Assembly extended its mandate.

Survivor protests

In 2012, Hahn Jong-seon began a year-long protest in front of South Korea's National Assembly by himself. He held up signs detailing the abuse he endured, along with a photo of him at the age of nine. With the support of human rights groups, more protests began across the country. Hahn Jong-seon, along with another survivor and a human rights activist, wrote a book titled ''Saranameun ai: urineun eotteoke gongmojaga doeeonna'' (''The Child Who Survived: How We All Become an Accomplice)'' that attracted public attention. April 2015 survivors shaved their heads as a demonstration, and in December, Hahn Jong-seon began a hunger strike. September 2017 survivors walked 500 kilometers from the Brothers Home site in Busan to the Blue House in Seoul, which took 2 months. November 2017 survivors began a sit-in in front of the National Assembly building. Among the most vocal and active participants in the survivor protest movement is Park Soon-hee is one of the most outspoken survivors of Brothers' Home and a key figure in the movement demanding justice for its victims. Detained at the age of ten, Park endured forced labor, physical abuse, and prolonged isolation. Her public testimony has helped to break the silence surrounding Brothers' Home and bring attention to the widespread human rights abuses that took place there under the guise of social welfare. She has participated in protest, media interviews, and truth hearins calling for full government accountability and a formal apology

To extend beyond domestic democracy, Park has raised concerns about former staff now living abroad, demanding further investigation and possible extradition. She has been particularly vocal about the complicity of religious leaders who supported the facility, emphasizing the need for institutional accountability alongside individual prosecution.

Popular culture

Rumors that the center has served as the inspiration behind the South Korean television series ''

Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean Utopian and dystopian fiction, dystopian Survival film, survival Thriller (genre)#Television, thriller horror television series created, written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. The series revol ...

'' have circulated online; however, the series' creators have not confirmed this.

Involvement of the Protestant Church

Survivors of Brothers Home have alleged close cooperation between the camp and the Protestant Church. One former inmate reported being forced to perform in Christian plays for local and international guests and given

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

s as rewards. Another was sent to the camp by a Christian missionary. Another survivor described the church and the camp as a business operation run by Pastor Lim Young-soon and Director Park In-geun, 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. According to Shin Yi-geon (), a representative of The Korea Christian Newspaper, Park In-geun was a senior presbyter of a church belonging to The General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Korea. Shin further claimed that, despite being aware of the human rights violations at Brothers, Christian organizations in Busan such as the Busan National Council of Churches and the Busan

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

neglected to reveal them.

Footnotes

References

{{Coord, 35, 9, 14.51, N, 129, 0, 35.91, E, display=title History of Busan Buildings and structures in Busan Internment camps 1960 establishments in South Korea 1988 disestablishments in South Korea Far-right politics in South Korea