Leprosy in Korea: The Isolation, Sterilization, and Forced Labor

By Jaewon Kim

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, has been one of the most stigmatized diseases in human history throughout the world. Perhaps the visible symptoms on the skin and the rumored high contagiousness are the reason for people’s great fear. Whichever the case may be, many leprosy patients were isolated from society due to the forced segregation and were discriminated against with no fault of their own. This circumstance was no different for the leprosy patients in Korea, especially under the colonial and authoritarian regime. The leprosy in Korea is often represented with ‘Sorok Island (소록도/Sorokto),’ where patients were transplanted for social separation. Although the isolation on the island began with the pretext of disease treatment, the reality lay in the inhumane practices of forced labor, social isolation, and the sterilization that was to deter the reproduction of undesirables.

The history of leprosy isolation in Korea traces back to 1873, when a Norwegian microbiologist, G. Armauer Hansen, discovered the Hansen bacillus, a bacterium responsible for leprosy [1]. With the announcement of the new research, the Japanese government facilitated a national meeting on leprosy in 1897 and promulgated the ‘Leprosy Prevention Law’ in 1907, concluding that isolation was the exclusive method to prevent the spread of the disease [2]. Although by 1907, leprosy treatment facilities established by Western missionaries were already available in Korea, Korea’s annexation by Japan in 1910 had dismantled the existing treatment structure and adopted the ‘Leprosy Prevention Law’ of 1907, which prioritized the separation of leprosy patients from others. Under these circumstances, the full-fledged leprosy policy reform began in 1915, when the colonial government designated Sorok Island, located south of the Korean Peninsula, as the appropriate site for leprosy isolation [3].

In 1916, the construction of Chahye Hospital (자혜의원/Chahye ŭiwŏn), a hospital and isolation facility for leprosy patients on Sorok Island, was completed and began operation. However, the early operation of Chahye Hospital was not at its full effect due to its initial 100-patient capacity [4]. Therefore, it was not until the 1930s that the patient capacity began to increase, and brutality in the facility began [5]. Coming into the 1930s, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 imposed a burden on the Japanese territories and their inhabitants. Under pressure, patients at the Chahye Hospital were compelled to participate in the war effort through labor. One testifier addresses that the high work intensity and lack of provision have resulted in numerous self-inflicted deaths among the patients [6]. Furthermore, the increased security around the facility during this time suggests that an intense workload had begotten an increased number of fugitives from the institution [7]. The early Chahye Hospital was utilized as a superficial welfare measure by the Japanese colonial government, which propagated Japan’s modern medicine and justified its colonial rule. However, the outbreak of war turned a medical institution into a labor camp consisting of patients who were forced to sever relations with their family members and society due to the misunderstood illness. While the forced labor coerced by the Japanese colonial government seemed to be coming to an end with Korea’s liberation and the conclusion of World War II in 1945, the oppression of the leprosy patients continued until recent years.

In 2016, a Korean TV documentary, Unanswered Questions (그것이 알고싶다/ Kǔgŏt i algosibta), aired an investigative episode about Sorok Island. The documentary exposed the inhumane practices of forced abortion and sterilization of the leprosy patients who were operated on underwater, shocking the public. Consisting of interviews from the victims, the documentary presented the evidence of these practices through the horrifying pictures of fetal cadavers preserved in glass bottles after the abortion, highlighting the violation of human rights at the Sorok Island that was possible due to its disconnection from the society. Furthermore, the testimonies argued that it was not just fetuses that were made into human cadavers, but also patients’ reproductive organs that the leprosy treatment facilities removed. Through this episode, the Korean public confirmed that suppression of the leprosy patients, which began during the Japanese colonial period, continued until the 1980s when Korea’s authoritarian régime was overthrown despite the fact that leprosy is not a hereditary disease.

With the rise of modern medicine, humanity has made significant strides in conquering diseases that have long threatened many lives. However, medical evolution did not accompany the ability to eliminate the stigmas associated with various diseases and patients. Rather, under the pretext of modernization, modern medicine contributed to the suppression of many disabled individuals, especially leprosy patients, who were often separated from their kin and community in the name of disease prevention. Under this context, the case of Korea and its leprosy patients presents an example of the suppression and exploitation of a social minority through the state propaganda, the public safety and war effort, as well as the legacy of eugenics that prospered during the 20^th century. The isolation facility, Sorok Island, which was to help the leprosy patients, turned into a labor camp and a camp of human experimentation within the state narrative of leprosy as a highly contagious disease; And today it represents the history of disability suppression and offers valuable lessons on the significance of human rights and the inclusion of disability in community.

[1], [2] Kim, Kiju (Kim, Ki-ju). “Sorokto chahye ŭiwŏn nahwanja chŏngch’aek ŭi sŏnggyŏk” 소록도 자혜의원 나환자정책의 성격 [The Character of Leper Policy of Jahye Hospitalin Sorok Island]. Yŏksahak yŏngu 역사학연구 Vol 44 (2011): 224. 

[3] Kim, Kiju (Kim, Ki-ju), 228.

[4] Kim, Kiju (Kim, Ki-ju), 231.

[5] Kim, Kiju (Kim, Ki-ju), 239.

Kim, Mi Chŏng (Kim, Mi-Jeoung). “Na hwanja e taehan ilban taejung ŭi insik kwa chosŏn ch’ongdokbu ŭi nabyŏng chŏngch’aek —ch’ŏngubaek samsip~sasip nyŏndae sorokto kaengsaengwŏn ŭl chungsim ŭro—나환자에 대한 일반대중의 인식과 조선총독부의 나병정책—1930~40년대 소록도갱생원을 중심으로— [The public awareness of lepers and the leprosy policy of the Japanese Government General of Korea—Focused on 1920s~40s Sorok-do rehabilitation center—]. Chibangsa wa chibang munhwa 지방사와 지방문화 Vol 15, no. 1 (2012): 450-451.

[6], [7] Kim, Mi Chŏng (Kim, Mi-Jeoung), 452-453.