South Korea Care Home Director Jailed for 15 Years After Residents Forced to Call Him 'Dad'

A court in Seoul has sentenced the director of a state-funded care home for people with intellectual disabilities to 15 years in prison for the repeated rape and sexual assault of residents, a case that has ignited outrage across South Korea and prompted fresh scrutiny of how the country protects its most vulnerable citizens. The director, identified only by his surname Kim, was convicted earlier this month over attacks on three women at Saekdongwon, a facility in the city of Incheon. He has denied all allegations and is appealing the verdict.

The ruling followed a harrowing disclosure by one resident, a woman in her 40s named Seo Mi-hyeon, whose account sparked a wider police investigation after she first told her mother what had happened to her nearly two years ago. Seo, who has an intellectual disability that makes it difficult for her to form long sentences, communicates mainly through short words and gestures. Yet her recollections of the abuse were detailed and consistent enough for investigators to pursue the case.

According to evidence heard in court, Seo moved into Saekdongwon in 2016. She told investigators that Kim began visiting her at night or in the early hours of the morning to rape her shortly after she arrived. The abuse continued for almost a decade, she said, and she felt there was no adult at the facility she could turn to. She believed other staff members would not come to her aid. The care home has not responded to that allegation.

Prosecutors told the court that some residents were required to address Kim as "Dad," a detail they argued illustrated the deeply unequal power relationship between the director and the people in his charge. The home, located in Incheon, is fully subsidised by the state and housed around 33 residents at the time the case emerged. It has since been asked to close.

The case only came to light in February 2025, after Seo suffered a head wound. She said the injury occurred during one of Kim's attempts to sexually assault her; when she blocked him with her hands, he threw a glass at her. Her lawyer told the court that staff took Seo to hospital and stitched up the wound before notifying her mother. When her mother asked to review CCTV footage to understand how her daughter had been hurt, the facility refused, saying it was not authorised to release the recording.

That refusal prompted Seo's mother to bring her daughter home and withdraw her from the facility. It was only after Seo was assured she would not have to return to Saekdongwon that she finally disclosed the sexual abuse, her lawyer said. Her mother then reported it to police.

"I thought it was safe to speak because I was told I didn't have to go back to Saekdongwon," Seo told the BBC through her lawyer. Asked how she had coped alone for so many years, she replied simply: "I just endured it."

Police widened their investigation to other residents after taking Seo's statement. They identified at least two additional alleged victims, including a woman named Lee Mi-Na, who said Kim had also raped her. This month, a judge found the testimony of all three women credible and sentenced Kim to 15 years in prison for raping Lee and Seo — five years less than prosecutors had sought. For the third victim, Kim was convicted of a lesser charge of sexual violence. The judge ruled that a rape charge in her case could not stand because there was insufficient evidence that "force or threats [were used] that rendered the victim unable to resist."

That reasoning drew sharp criticism from a joint response committee made up of disability rights organisations and other civic groups. The committee argued that a victim's capacity to resist an assault should never determine the verdict, particularly when the victim has a disability that may affect how they respond to an attack. The committee also faulted the investigation itself, saying authorities failed to identify additional potential victims.

Concerns about the scale of the abuse had been raised months earlier. In November last year, after the initial allegations surfaced, local authorities from Ganghwa County commissioned a team from Woosuk University to carry out an in-depth assessment of Saekdongwon's residents. The resulting report, submitted to the court as evidence, found indications that at least 10 more residents could have been sexually assaulted by Kim. The trial court did not address that finding.

Local media reported that police struggled to gather details from residents during interviews, largely because most had severe disabilities and significant communication difficulties. Some gave answers unrelated to the questions, while others did not respond at all. Professor Jeon Ji-su, who led the Woosuk research team, told the BBC that investigators accepted "only the accounts of people who could describe the abuse in complete sentences." Activists said this reliance on verbal testimony meant police effectively excluded residents with greater communication challenges from being recognised as victims.

Kim has not responded to allegations that he may have abused more residents. The case has left many in South Korea asking how a state-subsidised institution could operate for so long without detection, and whether the systems meant to protect people with intellectual disabilities are failing at the most basic level. For Seo, whose decision to speak out opened the investigation, the court's acknowledgment of her testimony offered a measure of validation — though the broader questions raised by the case remain unanswered.