“‘Four more victims of “salt farm slavery” uncovered… Rights groups call for emergency intervention’”, 23 October 2025

Following recent revelations about a victim who was subjected to over 40 years of forced labour on a salt farm in Shinan County before finally reuniting with his family, disability and human rights organisations investigating the case have now identified four additional victims. They have petitioned the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) for urgent relief measures. At least two of the newly identified individuals are reportedly still working on salt farms.

On 23 October, activists from disability and human rights groups—including the Public Interest Legal Centre Fighting Chance and the Research Institute for the Differently Abled’s Rights in Korea—held a press conference in front of the NHRCK in Jung-gu, Seoul. They stated: “Following similar discoveries in 2014 and 2021, we have again found evidence of forced labour involving persons with intellectual disabilities on salt farms in Shinan County,” adding, “We urge the Commission to recommend the immediate separation of four additional victims from these abusive environments and to take all necessary measures to ensure their life and physical safety.”

The four victims referenced were identified in August 2023 during a comprehensive survey of Shinan County, alongside Mr Jang, a man in his 60s who recently reunited with his family after enduring over four decades as a so-called “salt farm slave.” According to the Research Institute for the Differently Abled’s Rights in Korea, the organisation discovered the existence of the four additional victims while reviewing Mr Jang’s records last month. Mr Jang went missing in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, in 1988 and was subjected to forced labour until the salt farm shut down in October last year. He was then transferred to a convalescent hospital and only recently reconnected with his family.

According to Hankyoreh’s investigation, at least two of the four newly identified victims are still working at salt farms in Shinan County. A representative from Shinan Police Station stated, “The employers of Mr Jang and one other victim have been punished. For the other three, no criminal evidence was found, and the investigations were closed without formal charges.” (…) “Two of them are currently working voluntarily at salt farms in Shinan,” the representative added. This indicates that, even after being identified through the government’s comprehensive survey, the authorities have allowed these individuals to continue working under exploitative conditions on the grounds of “voluntariness.”