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Hansen People’s Day – The Korea Times

Hansen People’s Day – The Korea Times

By Kim Jin-heon

On May 17, it was 22 years ago that Hansen People’s Day took place. Authorities, caregivers and more than two thousand Hansen people participated in the event. After the ceremony, they played volleyball, held a singing competition and took photos with the help of volunteers. Most of the Hansen people, now in their 70s, were born or raised in the area. After their illnesses were cured, they moved to different parts of the country.

That day was also the 108th anniversary of Sorokdo National Hospital. The hospital has a long and painful history that spans three periods. The first was from 1916 to 1945, the second from 1945 to 1960 and the third from 1961 to the present.

In 1916, Korea was colonized by Japan. At that time, there were more than 20,000 leprosy patients living on the Korean Peninsula. Some were treated by missionaries living in Korea. Under the pretext of social security, the Japanese began to quarantine patients by setting up detention facilities in various parts of the country. Jahaeeuwon, the predecessor of Sorokdo Hospital, was established.

Until 1945, the hospital directors were all Japanese. They used Hansen people as objects for their greed or the business of the Japanese government. The patients suffered under forced labor, doing landscaping or baking bricks. If they died while working, their bodies were dissected for experimental purposes, cremated, and then thrown away. Thus it was said: “The lepers die three times. The first death is by outbreak, the next death is by dissection, and the third death is in the crematorium.”

Worse, young people were forced to undergo sterilization operations. When couples had babies, they were separated under the pretext of stopping the transmission of leprosy. Once a month, mothers and babies were brought together and were only allowed to look at each other’s faces from a restricted area.

After the defeat of Japan in 1945, patients were checked by Koreans, but their environment did not improve. Fortunately, Diaminodiphenylsulfone, a drug used to cure leprosy, was introduced into the hospital. Thanks to this drug, more patients came to the area and the number of patients with negative conversion increased. As a result, many people who were cured left the area and settled in rehabilitation centers throughout the country.

In 1961, the Damian Foundation, a missionary organization based in Belgium, sent a number of nurses to the hospital where they treated patients with their bare hands and began plastic surgery and rehabilitation. Two nurses in particular, Marianne and Margaret, treated patients as friends and advised them on personal matters such as marriage or future jobs. This environment encouraged patients to live more hopefully.

As described above, the patients lived in extreme abuse and disdain or a situation that was only slightly better, but they survived. When they did, in cases where patients were negative, they were moved to a self-sufficient village. If they separated, they might never see each other again, or they might meet for a special occasion.

To ease their loneliness and homesickness, the General Council of Hansen People has declared May 17, 2022 as Hansen People’s Day. This opportunity for people to socialize together is held every year, giving new hope to the living and evoking old nostalgia.

Now there are less than five hundred patients in Sorokdo or Sorok Island. Most of them are over seventy years old and suffer from age-related diseases. I hope that they and everyone with Hansen’s disease will have a more comfortable and happy life.

The author is a retired English teacher who has published a book entitled, “Flower Is Flower.”