Forced to call him 'Dad': Trial over sexual abuse in disabled care home shocks South Korea

ByJuna Moon BBC Korean. "I was hurting inside, so I came to tell my story." These were Seo Mi-hyeon's first words to the police.

Key points

• When Seo suffered a head injury, that was her life for almost 10 years, until the case came to light in February 2025.
• Seo first began living in Saekdongwon, a care home for the intellectually disabled, in 2016.
• Earlier this month, a court in Seoul sentenced the director – who has only been identified by his surname Kim – to 15 years in prison.
• He was sentenced to 15 years in jail for raping Lee and Seo, five years less than the original sentence prosecutors were asking for.
• But in the case of Saekdongwon, the abuse persisted despite regular regular inspections by Ganghwa County, the local authority responsible for overseeing the facility.

Seo, who has an intellectual disability, struggles to form long sentences and can only communicate through brief words and gestures. But her memories of the abuse inflicted upon her were clear.

She was one of three residents at a state-run care home in South Korea who were sexually assaulted by the home's director, in a case that has shocked the country and raised serious questions regarding state care for the disabled.

Earlier this month, a court in Seoul sentenced the director – who has only been identified by his surname Kim – to 15 years in prison. Kim is appealing the conviction.

For context, the court had heard that some residents were created to call the director "Dad". It prosecutors stated illustrated the unequal relationship between Kim and those in his care.

Meanwhile, the ruling came almost two years after Seo. This person is in her 40s, first disclosed the abuse to her mother.

We have changed Seo's name and the names of another victim in this story to protect their identities. 'I just endured it'.

Although it has been asked to close down in light of this case, the institute, located in the city of Incheon, is fully subsidised by the state and still houses some 33 residents.

According to Seo, the abuse began shortly after she began living there, with Kim visiting her at night or in the early hours of the morning to rape her.

Speaking through her lawyer Ko Eun-young, Seo remarked there was no adult at the facility she could speak to concerning the abuse, adding that she felt that other staff members would not support her. The care home has not responded to this allegation.

She remarked it happened one of the times Kim tried to sexually assault her. She had blocked him with her hands, causing him to throw a glass at her.

Her lawyer informed the court that the care home took Seo to hospital and informed her mother concerning the incident only after the wound on her head had been stitched up.

According to Seo's lawyer, Seo's mother had asked to see CCTV footage to establish how her daughter had been injured, but the facility refused, saying they were not authorised to release it.

Consequently, her mother brought her home and decided to withdraw her from the facility. It was only after Seo was informed that she would not have to return to the home that she disclosed the sexual abuse to her mum. This person then noted it to the police.

"I thought it was safe to speak because I was told I didn't have to go back to Saekdongwon, " Seo informed the BBC via her lawyer.

When asked how she had managed on her own for so plenty of years, she stated: "I just endured it."

For context, a police investigation into Seo's account was then widened to other residents.

They discovered at least two other alleged victims, including Lee Mi-Na. This person stated that she was additionally raped by Kim. Earlier this month, a judge discovered all three victims' testimony credible.

He was sentenced to 15 years in jail for raping Lee and Seo, five years less than the original sentence prosecutors were asking for. He has denied all allegations and has since appealed the ruling.

For the third victim, Kim was discovered guilty of a lesser charge of sexual violence, with the judge saying the charge of rape against her was dropped as they could not find conclusive evidence that "force or threats that rendered the victim unable to resist".

Notably, a joint response committee created up of disability rights and other civic groups have criticsed this ruling, saying a victim's ability to resist an assault should not impact the verdict they receive.

Meanwhile, the committee has additionally criticised the investigation process, saying there was a failure to identify more potential victims.

After the initial allegations of abuse, local authorities from Ganghwa County had commissioned a team from Woosuk University to conduct an in-depth assessment of Saekdongwon's residents, in November last year.

Notably, the report, which was submitted to the court as evidence, discovered indications that numerous more residents – at least 10 – could have been sexually assaulted by Kim. But during the trial, the court did not address this finding.

Since most of them had severe disabilities and faced difficulties communicating, according to local media reports, police had struggled to establish details of alleged abuse when interviewing residents. Some residents reportedly offered answers unrelated to the questions or did not respond at all.

Kim has not responded to allegations that he may have abused more residents.

Jeon Ji-su, the professor who led the Woosuk research team, informed the BBC that investigators had accepted "only the accounts of people who could describe the abuse in complete sentences".

According to But activists, this reliance on verbal testimony meant the police failed to recognise residents with greater communication difficulties as victims.

"If victims express their experiences differently from the way we expect, shouldn't the state make a greater effort to hear their voices?" remarked Baek In-seong, of Hansahoe, a counselling centre for survivors of sexual violence with disabilities.

According to Police have, "while there may have been shortcomings in individual instances, these should not be taken as representative of the investigation as a whole".

Rights groups have additionally criticised others who have sought leniency for Kim.

Ahead of the verdict, a total of 13 petitions seeking leniency were remarked to have been submitted to the court. One of them, from a social welfare organisation, asked the court to consider the defendant's "contribution to the welfare sector".

Welfare advocacy group Gyeol condemned the petitioning organisations, saying: "Past service in the welfare sector does not exempt anyone from accountability."

According to The judge's ruling on Kim's conviction, his offence was "particularly reprehensible" since "despite his professional duty to protect and support rights and interests and prevent abuse, he exploited the imbalance of power" with his victims to "gratify his own sexual desires". Public scrutiny and protests.

In practice, the case has shocked plenty of in South Korea and raised questions concerning why the abuse was not prevented in the first place. More shocking is that it happened despite a move in 2011 to strengthen laws to protect individuals with disabilities from sexual assault.

That was the year a fictional film called Dogani, based on a true story of sexual abuse at a school for deaf children, premiered. Against the backdrop of intense public scrutiny and protests, the school in question was shut and tougher laws were passed consequently.

These included more specific categories of sexual offences against disabled individuals, harsher penalties for offences committed by facility directors and employees, and the removal of the statute of limitations for some rape offences involving disabled victims.

Taken together, the developments around forced to call him ' Dad' : Trial over sexual abuse in disabled care point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.