EDaily: TRC 3 Opens Investigations Into 686 Cases, Including 268 Human-Rights Violation Cases Involving Group Detention Facilities And Overseas Adoption.
Paraphrased EDaily Article Title:
TRC 3 Opens Investigations Into 686 Cases, Including 268 Human-Rights Violation Cases Involving Group Detention Facilities And Overseas Adoption.
EDaily Article Actual Title:
First Investigation Into Forced Relocation of Bamseom Residents…Truth and Reconciliation Commission Opens Investigations Into 686 Cases
Original Korean Article published on September 22nd, 2026.
ChatGPT English translation posted to Paperslip on September 23rd, 2026.
BOLDS and blue highlighting mine.
Please see original Korean article for photos.
“First Investigation Into Forced Relocation of Bamseom Residents… Truth and Reconciliation Commission Opens Investigations Into 686 Cases
First truth-finding investigation into Seoul’s forced relocation of Bamseom residents
“Delayed measures by the Seoul Metropolitan Government made it difficult to secure housing”
Salvation Army case and Dongil Textile union suppression also to be investigated
Registered: September 22, 2026, 6:34:21 PM
Updated: September 22, 2026, 6:34:21 PM
[Reporter: Kim Tae-seop]”
“At the 5th plenary meeting of the 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea, held on September 22, Commission Chair Song Sang-gyo is shown striking the gavel. (Photo provided by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.)
The 3rd Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea has, for the first time, decided to launch an investigation into the forced relocation of residents of Bamseom by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The Commission announced on September 22 that, at its 5th plenary meeting held at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, it had decided to begin investigations into 686 cases, including the forced relocation of Bamseom residents, the Salvation Army human-rights violation case, and the Dongil Textile labor-union suppression case.
The cases approved for investigation include 288 cases involving civilian deaths after the Korean War, 130 human-rights violation cases that occurred before the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in 2001, and 268 human-rights violation cases involving group detention facilities and overseas adoption.
In particular, the Commission will investigate for the first time the forced relocation of Bamseom residents by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The applicants allege that, during the development of Yeouido in February 1968, the Seoul Metropolitan Government temporarily housed residents of Bamseom—who had lived there before the island was demolished—inside temporary tents set up along the Han River in Sangsu-dong, Mapo-gu, for more than a year. They argue that this violated their freedom of residence and movement as well as their property rights.
The Commission confirmed that the Bamseom residents, including the applicants, signed demolition agreements with the Seoul Metropolitan Government only three to seven days before the island was demolished. It determined that delays in implementing the city government's relocation measures made it difficult for the residents to secure new housing, and on that basis decided to launch the investigation.
The Commission also decided to investigate the Salvation Army human-rights violation case, in which human-rights violations allegedly occurred during group detention. In that case, government officials and Salvation Army employees forcibly confined women in a Salvation Army facility in Busan between 1980 and 1990, after arbitrarily classifying them as women in need of protection. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission determined that, in addition to the forced confinement, there were indications of other human-rights violations, including assault.
The Commission also decided to launch investigations into several major cases that had previously been investigated by the 1st and 2nd Truth and Reconciliation Commissions. One notable example is the 1978 Dongil Textile labor-union suppression case.
The Dongil Textile case involved the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) and Dongil Textile allegedly conspiring to interfere with union activities after a woman became the first female branch chair of the Dongil Textile labor union. At the time, some workers who had been bribed by management caused controversy during a union delegate election by throwing feces at union members.
Commission Chair Song Sang-gyo said, “We have begun investigations into a variety of human-rights violation cases, including the forced relocation of Bamseom residents in Seoul, which we are investigating for the first time. Through full-scale investigative activities, we will do our utmost to respond actively to the earnest demands of victims and their bereaved families.”’