"This happened in South Korea, not North Korea?" Twelve years ago, foreigners who learned of the "salt farm slavery case" through international media could not hide their shock.
It began with a single letter. In 2014, Kim (then in his 40s), who was being subjected to forced labor at a salt farm in Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, secretly mailed a letter to his mother in Seoul. He described how he had become trapped on the island and the abuse he was suffering.
After receiving his mother's report, officers from Seoul's Guro Police Station infiltrated the salt farm disguised as salt traders and rescued Kim and one other victim. It later emerged that more than 100 disabled people had had their labor exploited at salt farms.
One attorney stepped forward to provide pro bono representation for the salt farm slavery victims left in dire straits. Choi Jung-kyu, 49, an attorney at law firm Wongok, takes on "cases nobody wants to handle." After many of the unscrupulous salt farm owners were released with suspended sentences and other lenient rulings, Choi filed a damages suit against the state on behalf of the victims in November 2015. In 2019, the Supreme Court finalized a ruling acknowledging the responsibility of the state and local governments and ordering them to pay 20 million to 30 million won in compensation to three victims.
The salt farm slavery that everyone thought had disappeared resurfaced in 2021. Park Young-geun, 58, a victim in the "second salt farm slavery case," was effectively held captive and exploited for labor at a Sinan salt farm from July 2014 to May 2021. "I thought something would change once the state acknowledged its wrongdoing, but it didn't," Choi said, shaking his head.
More recently, public outrage erupted after it was revealed that a man in his 60s with intellectual disabilities, identified as A, had been subjected to forced labor at a Sinan salt farm until 2024. The former salt farm owner who exploited A's labor for 10 years and withheld 96 million won in wages was sentenced to three years in prison.
"How can someone get only three years for exploiting labor for a decade?" Choi said. "In the United States, it would have been 20 years." He continued: "In the U.S., salt farm slavery is treated as classic 'human trafficking.' But in Korea, it's prosecuted not as trafficking but as quasi-fraud and labor law violations. Our anti-human-trafficking law doesn't even contain provisions to punish perpetrators."
What it takes to produce quality rulings instead of defective ones
"Rulings that omit the entire reason for losing, rulings recording reasons that aren't really reasons, rulings that mechanically copy and paste set phrases… Even today, such 'defective rulings' are being churned out in courtrooms quite often." (From the book "Defective Rulings")
In 2021, Choi published "Defective Rulings," a book compiling unjust judicial precedents he had witnessed in courtrooms, including the salt farm slavery case. Choi, who has consistently stood on the side of the socially vulnerable—the disabled, migrant workers, victims of state violence, and public interest whistleblowers—still wrestles with deep concerns. "What should you do if a ruling you receive from the court is defective? Where can you get it serviced?" He plans to soon publish a follow-up tentatively titled "Quality Rulings," in which he will lay out a direction for judicial reform that resonates with ordinary citizens. He argues that the government's three judicial reform bills—on the crime of distorting law, constitutional appeals against rulings, and increasing the number of Supreme Court justices—are far removed from citizens' real concerns.
"Kim Keon-hee's trial is even being broadcast live—shouldn't recording and stenography of trials be a basic requirement?" Choi emphasizes that recording and stenography of trial proceedings, currently available only upon request, should be made mandatory. The aim is to monitor the courts and enhance transparency and trust in trials. "Parties to a case can already request recording and stenography. But it's not mandatory. Some judges find it offensive, so applicants feel pressured." Rep. Choi Ki-sang of the Democratic Party last year proposed a partial amendment to the Civil Procedure Act to make it mandatory. "I really hope this bill passes this time," Choi said.
He also argues that a system should be established to allow complaints about chronic trial delays. "Trials are constantly pushed back, and hearings sometimes get postponed the day before the scheduled ruling. Yet the courts don't even tell you why the date is being changed." He added, "Even when wronged victims file for retrial, it takes far too long to get a decision on whether the retrial will proceed. We need an official channel where people can raise concerns about procedural delays."
Recently, Choi finally received a "quality ruling" for a change. On Dec. 20, 2020, amid a cold wave warning, Cambodian migrant worker Sokkheng died in her sleep at a vinyl-greenhouse dormitory on a Pocheon farm. Choi, commissioned by Sokkheng's bereaved family, has continued providing legal support to secure recognition of her death as an industrial accident. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the South Korean government bears responsibility for compensating her family. Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon delivered a handwritten apology to the family on behalf of the government. "When I first said I would take the case, people around me tried hard to talk me out of it. But when I tried, a good outcome came of it."
Choi has long been told he is "throwing eggs at a rock." He has refused to back down. He now knows that as long as you don't give up, "quality rulings" do come. The phrase he most often offers victims is, "Let's give it a try." "It will be a tough fight. But let's try. I'll be with you to the end."
Asked what kind of attorney he wants to be known as, he answered: "Lawyer is also called 'Attorney.' It comes from the French word meaning 'designated.' I hope that people who are wronged and powerless, those desperate for someone on their side, will designate me."
We meet the real people behind films, dramas, books, and other content based on true stories, and listen to their voices. By "recasting" the actual figures from various works, we aim to record the facets of life and society that the works themselves could not fully capture.
