South Korea Care Home Sex Abuse Trial Exposes Gaps in Protection for Disabled Residents

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 of two residents, in a case that has prompted widespread outrage and fresh scrutiny of how South Korea protects some of its most vulnerable citizens. The man, identified only by his surname Kim, was convicted earlier this month and has appealed the ruling, maintaining his innocence throughout the proceedings.

The case centres on Saekdongwon, a residential facility in the city of Incheon that houses about 33 people with intellectual disabilities and relies entirely on government subsidies. According to testimony heard in court, Kim abused three residents over a period of years, visiting them at night or in the early hours of the morning. Prosecutors told the court that some residents were instructed to address him as "Dad", a detail they argued demonstrated the deeply unequal power relationship between the director and the people in his care.

The abuse remained hidden for nearly a decade. One of the victims, a woman in her 40s identified in the BBC's reporting as Seo Mi-hyeon, first confided in her mother in February 2025 after suffering a head injury during an encounter with Kim. Seo, who has an intellectual disability and communicates mainly through short words and gestures, had blocked him with her hands, prompting him to throw a glass at her, her lawyer told the court.

Rather than notifying Seo's family immediately, the facility took her to hospital and only contacted her mother after the wound on her head had been stitched, according to her lawyer, Ko Eun-young. When her mother asked to view CCTV footage to understand how her daughter had been hurt, the home refused, saying it was not authorised to release the recordings. Her mother then brought Seo home and withdrew her from the facility.

It was only after Seo learned she would not have to return to Saekdongwon that she revealed the sexual abuse, telling her mother, who reported it to police. "I thought it was safe to speak because I was told I didn't have to go back," Seo said through her lawyer. Asked how she had coped for so many years, she replied simply: "I just endured it." She told police her first words to them were: "I was hurting inside, so I came to tell my story."

Seo said no adult at the facility was available to whom she could report the abuse, and she believed other staff members would not help her. The care home has not responded to that allegation. Seo first moved into Saekdongwon in 2016, and according to her account the abuse began shortly afterwards, continuing until the case came to light.

After Seo's disclosure, police widened their investigation to other residents and identified at least two additional alleged victims, including a woman identified as Lee Mi-na, who also said Kim raped her. A judge ultimately found the testimony of all three women credible. Kim received 15 years for raping Lee and Seo, five years less than prosecutors had sought. He was convicted of a lesser sexual violence charge in relation to the third victim.

In that third case, the judge said the rape charge was dropped because the court could not find conclusive evidence that "force or threats [were used] that rendered the victim unable to resist". A joint response committee of disability rights groups and other civic organisations criticised that reasoning, arguing that a victim's capacity to resist an assault should not determine the verdict they receive.

The committee also faulted the investigation itself, saying police failed to identify additional potential victims. In November last year, following the initial allegations, local authorities in 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 may have been sexually assaulted by Kim. The trial court did not address that finding.

According to local media reports, police struggled to establish the details of alleged abuse when interviewing residents, because most have severe disabilities that make communication difficult. Some reportedly gave answers unrelated to the questions, while others did not respond at all. Jeon Ji-su, the professor 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 argue that this reliance on verbal testimony meant police failed to recognise residents with greater communication difficulties as victims, effectively shutting them out of the justice process. The joint response committee has pointed to this as evidence of a broader failure by authorities to adapt investigative methods to the needs of people with intellectual disabilities.

Saekdongwon has since been asked to close down in light of the case, although it continues to accommodate some 33 residents. The BBC has changed the names of Seo and another victim to protect their identities. Kim has not responded to allegations that he may have abused further residents, and his appeal against the conviction is ongoing.

The case has reignited debate in South Korea over the adequacy of state care for people with disabilities, particularly in facilities where residents have limited contact with the outside world and few avenues to report mistreatment. It has also raised uncomfortable questions about whether the justice system is equipped to hear testimony from victims whose disabilities affect how they communicate, and whether the state's duty to protect extends to those least able to demand it.