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Recently, Korean society was stunned when occurrences of modern slavery in rural areas were reported through various media outlets. It is difficult for anyone to acknowledge the fact that such an outdated and anti-humanitarian practice still continues in an egalitarian society where fundamental human rights are supposed to be guaranteed. What stands behind the reappearance of slavery in contemporary society? What is necessary in order to re-abolish this unpardonable practice?


The continuance of slavery in Korea which dates back to ancient times was brought to light a few years ago. It was in March 2014, when police reported that human trafficking and forced labor in the form of slavery was detected in the salt fields of Shinan-gun, South Jeolla province. The fact that 90 people, including several intellectually disabled people, were coerced into arduous labor in the salt fields caused indignation. The controversy expanded when a recent report about an intellectually disabled man who was enslaved for 19 years in a farm in Cheongju-si, North Chungcheong province was released. 

These two cruel incidents that consecutively ignited controversy both share one characteristic—social minorities, particularly intellectually disabled people, were the victims of slavery. About this similarity, Professor Kim Soohan (Department of Sociology) explains that, “Since intellectually disabled people are unable to clearly express their feelings or opinions, they easily become targets of inhumane practices.” Those sacrificed physically disabled people were simultaneously economic minorities who can easily be lured into traps established by immoral employers. The fact that they were minorities who have been isolated from the welfare system enabled such practices to continue with impunity.

After the disclosure of these incidents, what resulted in the biggest shock was that these cases of exploitation continued for years, or even several decades in the Cheongju case, even though they did not take place in secrecy. In the case of the salt field, neighborhoods acted as accomplices by repatriating workers whenever they attempted to escape from the island. Testimonies of rescued workers revealed that even the police contributed to the continuance of slavery by ignoring the requests of victims. In the Cheongju farm case, neighborhoods knew what was happening, but they did not take any action to rescue the victim until his escape. Indifference and corruption were perhaps the fundamental causes of the continuance of such serious exploitation.

Behind the Emergence of Modern Slavery
Judging from the extreme practices of modern slavery in Shinan and Cheongju, its primary root is indisputably lack of a social system and policies to protect social minorities. Professor Kim says that, “Insignificant legal punishment regarding such human rights violations has contributed to the repetition of similar actions.” Besides legal decisions, lack of welfare for social minorities, including provision of financial support, job opportunities, and education, drove disabled people to fall into modern slavery without any other option. The absence of protection for social minorities resulted in not only their inability to sustain lives without such decisions, but also degradation of social awareness to protect those people for the sake of morality.

In order to prevent recurrences of such incidents, it seems necessary to establish a welfare system to protect other social minorities from joining the vicious cycle. Strict legal decisions and punishments should be enforced to convey the seriousness of anti-humanitarian actions and to function as useful precedents for future occasions. However, strict punishments will not be enough, considering that 40 out of 63 rescued workers from Shinan actually returned to the salt fields. It is crucial that the government provides necessary education and sufficient job opportunities for minorities through social enterprises. Moreover, monitoring on a regular basis is also necessary to enable prompt correspondence whenever similar practices are detected.

Even though lack of a social system functioned as an important source of modern slavery, it is difficult to solely blame the society without considering individual problems. Kim explains that, “Since these cases were extremely cruel, problems in individual morality, besides the absence of a social system, has also definitely contributed to its occurrence.” In both cases, active cooperation of the assailants allowed these practices to continue, and their lack of awareness of human rights resulted in extreme exploitation without any guilt. Considering the social indifference toward those victims for decades, the awareness of the entire society, including that of perpetrators, should be also be considered as an important root of modern slavery.

These problems in individual morality, or even social awareness in extension are difficult to reform through short-term solutions. These factors require individuals’ will to change their own perspectives, and therefore are difficult to resolve without voluntary actions. Kim says that, “Establishment of long-term measures, besides short-term ones, is necessary to improve social and individual awareness about human rights. The roles of media and education will be important in order to construct a transparent social atmosphere where individual morality is maintained through continuous monitoring of society.”
 
   
▲ Professor Kim Soohan. Photographed by Kim Seung Hyun.
 
Looking into the Korean society
About the reappearance of slavery in Korean society, Kim explains that, “We should take account of the process of the abolishment of slavery in Korean history.” Until the early 1900s, Korean society had a social hierarchy, but it suddenly disappeared as the society went through colonization and war. He says that, “Slavery was not abolished through our society’s voluntary efforts. As a result, the inherent authoritarianism is reappearing in our modernized society in the form of exploitation and modern slavery.”

Cases of modern slavery in the salt fields and farms are in fact the tip of an iceberg. In a larger sense, modern slavery is prevalent in our society in smaller forms; many workers in society are suffering from exploitation by superiors in various workplaces. The case of an apartment night guard who committed suicide in 2014 also resulted from inhumane exploitation practiced by the apartment residents. In a larger sense, millions of temporary employees and part-time workers in Korean society are working like slaves without receiving reasonable compensation for their excessive workloads. 

Besides other solutions, what seems to be most important to eradicate modern slavery in the Korean society in general is attention toward others around oneself. Even if various measures are implemented in order to resolve this problem, this practice will continue to exist if people remain indifferent towards others including social minorities. If people construct a healthy social atmosphere where morality is prioritized and individuals actually care about each other’s life, modern slavery will eventually encounter re-abolishment.
저작권자 © The Granite Tower 무단전재 및 재배포 금지