The systemic abuse of disabled children at a South Korean school - Inhwa School Incident

The Inhwa School, located in Gwangju, South Korea (about 3 and half hours South by train from Seoul) was founded back in 1961 as a Deaf-Mute Welfare Center before becoming a junior high school and subsequently had a senior high school section added in 1993.

There was, however, something rotten to the core of this institution that would only come to light decades later and would lead to the school's shutdown in 2011.

I first came across the following video essay about a 2011 South Korean film called 'Silenced' which from the video's thumbnail is labeled as the film that changed South Korea.

As a film buff/nerd, I was intrigued to learn about the film and its subject matter, and this is where I discovered just how horrendous and widespread the culture of abuse was at the Inhwa school for the hearing-impaired.
How could so many sadistic individuals belong to one organisation and destroy the lives of children, children who already have an added difficulty of being different to a lot of others in the wider society, while many others in the school administration just stood by and excused the behaviour for a half-century?
It really puts into perspective how evil can continue to flourish at the hands of bystanders who don't do anything to stamp out the injustice and illegal activities of others. People in power need to be held to a higher standard in all societies to ensure that toxic or abusive work, governmental, or other group environments aren't perpetuated and that all people involved are treated with respect and are protected from predators and bullying.

It looks like over time, there were a few people who tried to help protect and lend a hand to the children that were being abused, but it was only once one teacher made the choice to go to the police, get help from other protection agencies when the police were useless, and have this case be picked up by news media that the ugliness of the institution finally received exposure in South Korea and the world.

One of my favourite Youtubers currently, Stephanie Soo (and the rest of the team at Rotten Mango podcast), did a video on this case (see below) that details the rotten culture of abuse at the school that was deeply entrenched and perpetuated by one family, who employed multiple family members to positions of power at the school, protecting each other's disgusting actions and intentions of preying on students, and even hiring teachers that did not know sign language to work at a school to educate the hearing-impaired (let that sink in a moment). The corruption in the hierarchy of this school, not only led to the physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of many students, but also compromised students' level of education for their ages, setting them up for failure even once they would become adults. There were also financial motives for this disgusting family committing the various crimes that they did. Please do watch the video below to learn the full scope of the situation.

One of the most infuriating factors in this case is that the police somehow found a way to not do anything to put a stop to this corruption and abuse, dismissing the claims and finding ways to hand it over to other institutions like child protective services, even when the claims are supported by other adults at the school as well as by parents of the abused. The police in this jurisdiction apparently viewed the disabled population as untrustworthy and would not take up any sexual abuse cases for investigation due to this ableist viewpoint!

For the case to get a trial in the first place, the victims and their families went through a lengthy and frustrating ordeal of dealing with the police and other governing bodies that did as little as possible to help the families, and the teacher that spearheaded the campaign to put a stop to the abuse got chased out of the country for his own safety.
The dam broke in 2005, when this teacher reported the sexual abuse to the Gwangju Sexual Violence Counseling Center for Women with Disabilities, leading to the revelation of the heinous acts. Public outrage and protests followed, with numerous civic groups forming a 'Citizen Countermeasure Committee.'

The National Human Rights Commission conducted an investigation, revealing that six perpetrators, including the principal and administrative director, were involved in sexual assault against nine disabled students between 2000 and 2005. The victims ranged from 7 to 22 years old.
The perpetrators used the victims' disabilities as a defense during the trial, impacting the sentencing. Some were sentenced to prison, while others received probation or had charges dismissed.
The disappointing result of the trial happened due to sexual assault being considered a non-felony in South Korea at the time.

It was only after the novel "The Crucible" by Gong Ji-young was published in 2009 and later adapted into the 2011 film that I mentioned earlier that the fire among the South Korean public was reignited and led to a police reinvestigation.
The 2011 film was watched by 4.7 million in South Korea (10% of the population) and the continued uproar led to a retrial for a different set of charges (inflicting injury - mental trauma as a result of the physical and sexual traumas caused to the children) led by a top human rights lawyer in the country, who also used his influence to help the children receive treatment and care at one of the best hospitals in the country. His strategy involved putting one name and face at the top of people's minds as the monster in all of this so it would help get as severe a sentence as possible for the perpetrators.

The head of the administrative office, who was involved in the abuse, was eventually sentenced to 8 years in prison after the police reinvestigation.

The case resulted in significant changes in South Korean law, including the abolition of the "crime of pro-reporting" for sexual offenses against the disabled. The government also implemented reforms to prevent founder's tyranny in social welfare corporations.

Inhwa School faced public opposition, and the social welfare corporation's permit was canceled. The school closed in 2012, and the site is now designated for a complex training facility for the disabled and a Human Rights Memorial Hall.

The teacher Jeon Eung-seop, who first reported the sexual abuse, was dismissed and faced threats but persisted in supporting the students. He received recognition for his role in exposing the Inhwa School incident.

This was truly a landmark case in South Korea and led to many changes in their society, but the fight will never be over. Us regular citizens need to keep strong in our values, and if we have the power to influence and make change in institutions such as education and the police force, we absolutely need to speak up and keep people accountable. Checks and balances, as well as encouragement and reward to do the right thing are the only way to end the abuse and exploitation of others, and the costs of not doing so are higher than you can imagine.

Article originally published on November 5th, 2023

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References outside of the videos linked above:
https://www.rottenmangopodcast.com/episodes/77ewlwnbbrgngf8-b8srg-9ayh2-8a5j2-mcmm7-hp4w9-w96ds-k5m4l-23czb-pgkdz-arnzn-xtjlh-n7hbb-3d5ha-pwbnx-sms37-6pddd-fjlxg-rbzfm-5sjby-arhj5-bjjk3-2masw-haec2