Q: Even a police officer cannot recklessly investigate or get involved in the operation of a salt farm without special circumstances or circumstances that could become criminal cases.



Answer: Yes



Q: Therefore, no matter how diligent the crime prevention activities are, there is a limit to grasping and responding in advance to everything that happens secretly between the parties in the labor relationship.



Answer: yes


The above questions and answers are the contents of the questions and answers of the defendants in the Republic of Korea litigation agent in the court of the Seoul Central District Court No. 562 on September 30, 2016, and the police officers present as witnesses.

A Witness, who was one of four police officers who worked at the Shini Police Box in Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do at the time of the salt farm slave incident in Shinan-gun, which made us all angry in February 2014, spoke about the 'limitation of crime prevention activities' in the courtroom.



In the state compensation lawsuit, which started with a very common-sense question, 'How did the police box officer in the jurisdiction not know when more than 100 people with disabilities have been abused like slaves for decades?' He trusted the testimony of the above police officer and accepted the state's hand.

When I took over the job in February 2009, when I took over the job, the 'Salt Farm (Farm Farm) Staff Personal Interview Book' form was prepared and filled out, and I continued to fill it out after I took over... The number of employees registered at the police box of God was 100 I remember it being over.



I remember that the criminal staff of the Mokpo Police Station entered the military in a two-day, one-night format, and divided teams and conducted a Japanese investigation once a quarter or every two to three months by looking for salt farms or the residences of employees by village.


However, the above statement is the content contained in the written testimony submitted to the Seoul High Court of the Second Instance for State Compensation on September 12, 2018 by a police officer who worked at the Shin's Police Box from February 2009 to July 2010.

Contrary to the previous police officer's statement that salt farms could not be investigated without special circumstances, there was a 'personal interview record' that detailed the workers, and based on this, testimonies that investigations were carried out at the Mokpo Police Station about three to four times a year this is what came out



Only after this testimony came out, the Jeollanam-do Provincial Police Agency submitted official documents in the name of the Mokpo Police Chief to the court titled, 'Delivering a Japanese search plan for national protection facilities and island areas'. It was contained as follows.




Seoul confirmed that the Mokpo Police Station did not find any damages of labor exploitation by more than 100 people with disabilities despite the fact that the Mokpo Police Station conducted a Japanese search three to four times a year with the 'personal interview record' prepared by the frontline police station by interviewing the workers entering the island. The High Court overturned the first instance judgment and ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

And this decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court on April 5, 2018.

A belated apology from the Commissioner of the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency in 2019...

However, the neglected victims

"Even though the local police were aware of some of the salt farm situation, they were not able to actively respond. I apologize for the delay to those who have been exploited inhumanely and unfairly for a long time. I apologize for saying that I will do my best to protect the people as much as possible when they are in danger. Taps with "



October 10, 2019 at the government Administration safety Commission national audit gimnamhyeon South Jeolla province police chief has officially apologized.

The state compensation lawsuit corrected the attitude of the police, which denied their legal responsibility, by announcing the results of the inspection in 2014 that there was no close relationship with the beads.

However, who has won the national compensation lawsuit and received alimony from the government?

There were only 4 people.

This is because the personal interview record book stored and managed electronically by the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency was destroyed in July 2015.



[In-It] After the judgment of state compensation for salt farm slaves…

People



Ignored As a lawyer who participated in the lawsuit as a member of the National Compensation Litigation Agency, and as a citizen who was outraged by the news of the salt farm slavery case, I proposed to the state through an In-It article in December 2019.

The plan was to restore the discarded personal interview record using forensic technology, etc. so that all victims with disabilities could be compensated for the damage, and to thoroughly investigate the reason why they could not find it despite the massive Japanese crackdown, and come up with measures to prevent recurrence.

However, there was no response from the state to this proposal.

Another salt pan slave case?

Can you make a corrective measures to prevent recurrence?


Human rights violations in Korea seem to repeat every few years. Seven years after the 2014 Sinan-gun salt farm slavery incident, in 2021, we are hearing the testimony of the disabled victims who suffered the same damage. As the size of the disabled victims has not yet been revealed, it is unclear whether this will become the 'second salt farm slave incident'. However, there are concerns about entrusting the investigation of this case to the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency, which could not prevent similar damage even after losing the national compensation.



On the 28th of last month, a civic group argued that the investigation into this case should be handled by the Serious Crime Investigation Division of the National Police Agency, not the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency. The National Police Agency said, "Even considering the reality of the investigation, it would be effective for an investigation team familiar with the area to take charge of the case." It's a sensible story. However, we have entrusted the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency to solve similar problems in the past. It was entrusted before and after the salt farm slavery incident in Sinan-gun in 2014, but it has not been eradicated. If so, wouldn't it be necessary to make a 'special effort' literally now?



When the salt farm slaves in Sinan-gun became known to the world in 2014, major foreign media reported shocking facts to the world, and citizens around the world were astonished that such human rights violations took place in South Korea, not North Korea. In 2021, seven years later, I am afraid that the human rights reality of the Republic of Korea, which has failed to prevent the recurrence of the salt farm slavery, will once again be exposed to the world. But even more terrifying than that is this question.



"Can we be different this time? Can we come up with measures to prevent recurrence?"



It will depend on how precisely you ask questions to the government, how fiercely you get the government's answers, and how fiercely you watch the answers keep your eyes open.



#In-It #Init #Choi Jeonggyu #Struggle for common sense



# Meet 'In-It' to think about with this article now.


[In-It] Salt Farm Slave Victims Still Unrescued