hankyoreh

Family members of victims of the so-called Samcheong Gyoyukdae, or "Samcheong Education Center," weep during a memorial ceremony held in front of the National Assembly on September 5.

In 1980, just after General Chun Doo Hwan took power by military coup, his martial government arrested 60,755 civilians from 1980 August to January the following year, under the pretext of clearing "social evils" from society. While Chun’s government claimed the arrested were vagrants and troublemakers, they were never officially charged with any crime. Many of those arrested were forced to undergo a combination of imprisonment and brutal training under the surveillance of armed military police; according to a National Assembly report, 52 died during their "education," 397 died soon after as a result, and 2,678 were left with severe mental or physical injuries.

Family members of victims demand that those they have lost should be officially referred to as having been involved in South Korea’s democratization, and that families be provided restitution from the government.