BUSAN — 1987 · Major Tragedy
Brothers Home — Busan's Internment Facility
Brothers Home, in Busan's Jurye-dong neighbourhood, was officially a state-funded welfare facility for 'vagrants' and homeless people. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, police and staff rounded up thousands of people from the streets and held them there against their will; inside, they faced forced labour, beatings and abuse. The scandal emerged in 1987 when a prosecutor opened an investigation after reports of forced labour, yet the director received only a short prison term for embezzlement. In August 2022 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reported that at least 657 people had died there and held the military governments of the era responsible. In 2024 courts ordered the state to compensate survivors.
- Date
- 1987
- Place
- Sasang-gu (Jurye-dong), Busan, KR
- Category
- Major Tragedy
- Case Status
- Closed
- Coordinates
- 35.1510, 128.9980 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 1975-1987Police and staff sent people rounded up from the streets to the facility.
- January 1987A prosecutor opened an investigation into forced-labour allegations.
- 1989The director received only 2.5 years for embezzlement.
- 24 August 2022The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found at least 657 deaths.
- 2024-2025Courts ordered compensation for survivors.
Sources
- Al Jazeera — South Korea military gov'ts blamed for abuses, deaths at facility aljazeera.com ↗
- ABC News — Horrors of South Korea's Brothers Home exposed abc.net.au ↗
- Wikipedia — Brothers Home en.wikipedia.org ↗
- Al Jazeera
- ABC News (Australia)
- Wikipedia (EN)
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.