‘Versions of Hell’: Squid Game and S Korea’s historical homeless centres

Two men stand at the entrance to a forest surrounded by tall pine trees on an island south of the capital Seoul.

In the middle of the forest there is a large clearing and an excavation site.

The words written on a safety notice reveal what this forest hides: “Seon-gam Academy Graveyard Recovery Operation”.

Chun Jong-soo and Pak Sung-ki were just boys when they were among thousands cleared off the streets by South Korean authorities for alleged vagrancy, and held for years as inmates at institutions like Seon-gam Academy.

Seon-gam island was only accessible by boat when Chun and Pak were first detained in 1965 and 1980, respectively.

Fighting to control his trembling voice, Chun says he remembers the burial site now being excavated here. He was among the young detainees forced to bury the bodies of his fellow inmates who died trying to escape. Chun told Al Jazeera how they would recover bodies that washed up on the island’s shores and bury them at this forest cemetery.

“It was meant to show us the consequences of trying to escape,” Chun said.

“Memories of seeing those bodies still haunt me in my sleep.”

Hundreds and possibly thousands died amid the forced labour, violence and sexual abuse that prevailed in the group homes and detention centres – like the Seon-gam Academy – that were established across South Korea during the country’s decades of heavy-handed rule from the 1960s through to the 1980s.

Among the most notorious was “Brothers Home”, a so-called welfare centre that was once located in the southern port city of Busan, where thousands were enslaved and abused in a state-sponsored programme to punish vagrants and clear the homeless from South Korea’s streets.While police did most of the seizures, Brothers Home employees were also allowed to patrol the city in trucks to do the kidnapping themselves. Children, people with disabilities, and the homeless were rounded up, detained and forced to work at the home where survivors recounted witnessing people beaten to death by staff or left to die from injuries.

‘Real hell’ v TV drama

The existence of these brutal institutions in South Korea has come to wider attention as Netflix’s Squid Game gains global attention.

Season two of the South Korean drama kicked off late last year by racking up the largest audience ever for the debut of a TV series by the online streaming service.

In just three days, the dystopian drama about down-on-their-luck South Koreans playing life-or-death games for a jackpot prize of millions amassed 68 million views.

Across social media, the Squid Game hype has been prompted by reports the show was based on the real-life horrors that took place at such places as Brothers Home and Seon-gam Academy.

Images purportedly of the Brothers Home have gone viral online, showing eerily similar interiors to the colourful, Escher-esque facility depicted in Squid Game where people compete at children’s games and the losers are killed violently.