Sabuk Incident survivors renew demands for apology, fulfillment of TRC recommendations as third commission begins work
Hwang In-oh, head of the Sabuk Uprising Comrades Association, speaks during a rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, April 14, asking the president to apologize for historical state violence. Yonhap
Dressed in their old helmets and uniforms, elderly former coal miners gathered in front of Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul, April 14, joined by families of their deceased former co-workers.
They called for the president and the government to immediately apologize to survivors of state violence. They also demanded the prompt implementation of measures for restoration of honor and support for commemorative projects, as laid out in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) nonbinding recommendations.
The gathered people, now in their 70s and 80s, are survivors of an incident in Sabuk, a mountainous mining town in Gangwon Province, that saw a labor union standoff turn violent in April 1980.
Ahead of the 46th anniversary of the incident, known among participants as the Sabuk Uprising, calls are being renewed for remedies that both promote the process of healing and directly reckon with the damage inflicted by state violence in suppressing the miners’ struggle and in its subsequent investigation.
The Sabuk Incident was centered on the Sabuk Mining Office of the Dongwon Coal Company in Gangwon Province. The branch labor union there experienced dysfunction as allegations of behind-the-scenes meddling swirled around its executives. Unjust interference and fraud in elections, perpetrated by management as well as public officials, Jeongseon county police and agents of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency were particular points of tension by 1979.
In April 1980, mere months after the coup led by Chun Doo-hwan, discontent reached a tipping point. Martial law authorities put the brakes on a union assembly promised to a faction demanding the union branch head’s resignation. Permission was initially promised by the police chief at Sabuk town’s substation although he technically lacked the authority under military rule.
When miners continued gathering, a clash spontaneously erupted after a surveillance officer was caught filming; a police vehicle then struck several miners, who, to date, have not received any restitution. Both plainclothes and uniformed officers present failed to intervene or respond. This triggered a collective, at times violent, uprising between miners — acting without organized leadership — and police that lasted four days, from April 21 to 24, 1980, foreshadowing the Gwangju Uprising less than a month later.
Workers guard the main gate of a mining company in Sabuk, Gangwon Province, April 23, 1980. Korea Times file
The confrontation between miners and police ended with a negotiated agreement on the morning of April 24. A countermeasures committee — made up of representatives from the provincial and national police, the labor ministry, the provincial governor and company management — agreed not to use violence and to make every effort to resolve the situation amicably.
As the dust began to settle, the government established a joint investigation team that set its sights on approximately 200 people related to the incident; 82 were ultimately sent to military prosecutors and 31 were indicted for violations of martial law proclamations and related charges. To date, 8 of 28 who received legal punishment have individually undergone retrials, including some who were pardoned posthumously. These retrials confirmed the illegality of the original military trials.
Perceptions of the Sabuk Incident have shifted over time. The state once branded the participants as criminal rioters. Since then, researchers, writers, documentary filmmakers and investigators from the TRC have helped break the silence among survivors and bring forward their accounts of what happened before, during and after the suppression.
Miners throw stones at police sheltering in a tunnel in Sabuk, Gangwon Province, April 21, 1980.
The TRC, which conducted its investigations based on 20 and 14 applications in its first and second terms respectively, established that harsh treatment, unlawful detention and human rights violations occurred after the incident. It held that suspects were arrested without warrants and then coerced into confessing to pre-determined and fabricated changes through severe physical and psychological torture. Women from the miners’ families, including pregnant women, were subjected to sexualized violence that led to miscarriages and other lasting harm.
After their release, both the miners and their families faced coercive surveillance and significant barriers to returning to work. Despite martial law authorities ordering their reinstatement, they were often pressured to resign. These conditions forced many to leave Sabuk and disperse across the country, contributing to family breakdowns and ongoing economic hardship.
A joint statement issued by 91 civic groups nationwide on March 31 highlighted that many who suffered in the Sabuk Incident have now passed away under the shadow of dishonor, but their children continue to be left in suffering, pointing to the intergenerational trauma and stunting of economic potential caused by state violence.
While participants’ capacity to hold the state accountable remains weak and fragile, contestation over memory persists. The family of the union branch head has in the past challenged the characterization of the struggle through the courts and disputed the recognized contributions of participants to the democratization movement. The family interprets this historical reinterpretation of the event as an affront to the union branch head’s reputation and a cause of ongoing trauma for his wife, who was tied up and nearly lynched during the incident.
At the same time, a resolution before the National Assembly, initiated by Rep. Lee Cheol-gyu of the main opposition People Power Party and co-sponsored by 73 others, engages with multiple actors’ competing claims. Lee represents a constituency that includes Sabuk, and his resolution passed in the National Defense Committee on April 14. It must now proceed through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and then a plenary session.
A scene from the 2025 documentary "1980 Sabuk" / Courtesy of at9film
Apologies aimed at reconciliation were promoted on the initiative of director Park Bong-nam, whose film "1980 Sabuk" was released commercially in 2025 and continues to be screened nationwide by a Citizens’ Screening Committee. However, questions have been raised about the appropriateness of asking miners to apologize for violent aspects of the mine incident, when mine owners, union branch executives and the government have not issued comparable apologies.
Hwang In-oh, the current chairman of the Sabuk Uprising Comrades Association, confirmed to The Korea Times that a public apology by former Chairman Lee Won-gap does not represent the association’s official position. He further emphasized that apologies must consider who is apologizing to whom and must reflect the full historical process that led to the miners’ struggle, arguing that apologies should be made by those responsible for triggering the events or who subsequently evaded accountability, rather than by individuals bearing no direct responsibility.
Even if the National Assembly passes the resolution, which calls for an apology to survivors of state violence in the incident and to the families of the union branch head and police officers who suffered casualties during the suppression operation, significant questions would remain unresolved. On the one hand, it merely expresses the will of the National Assembly and is not legally enforceable; on the other hand, officials would still need to determine the subject, content, method and timing of any apology.
These factors, of course, hinge on whether the state decides to issue an apology at all, and, if so, whether it takes the form of a standalone statement or is accompanied by legislation and support measures consistent with the recommendations of the TRC in 2008 and 2024. Hwang expressed the view that a special law is necessary because the current legal system offers no systematic remedy for those who suffered severe torture. He also expressed regret that Rep. Lee had not proposed such a law, despite the association’s long-standing request.
A Korean flag is flying in the wind in Sabuk, Gangwon Province, April 24, 1980. Korea Times file
The Sabuk Uprising Comrades Association currently has a small membership, and those affected by the incident are dispersed across the country. More than 45 years have passed since 1980, meaning applications submitted to previous Truth and Reconciliation Commissions could not fully reflect the scope of harm. With the launch of the third Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Feb. 26, petitions for truth-finding investigations are now being accepted, and individuals connected to the Sabuk Incident are encouraged to apply.
Jack Greenberg works as a consultant, researcher and freelance writer. His current focus is on heritage and conservation issues, historical memory debates, truth-seeking and reconciliation, and civilian massacres of the 1950-53 Korean War. He was the recipient of the Global Korea Scholarship and earned a master’s in international studies at Korea University. He is also an alum of McGill University in Canada.