Friday, September 14, 2012

Seodaemun Prison

I visited the prison located in Seodaemun near my place.  It is a very famous prison, as it marks the colonization period where Japan ruled over Korea. The prison was used for Koreans who lead independence rallies and tried to overthrow the Japanese government. 

There were many prisons located all over Korea at the time, though they say it was as if the whole country was a prison due to the Japanese rule.

They showed the various means of torture to get information out of prisoners.  It was particularly interesting since I've been recently watching a drama called Gaksital, which is placed in this time period.  So I was able to see the real instruments that were replicated in the drama.

They had torture devices such as fingernail torture, the nail box, and the standing box. The nailbox was a box with nails protruding in it, and a prisoner was placed in then the box was rocked back and forth.  The standing box was a box designed so that the prisoner couldn't sit or in any way support themselves, so they were forced to forever stand. 





This is a map of all the major prisons of Korea during the Japanese occupation.

 Above is a woodblock of the Korean flag. In times of rebellion, prints of the flag were dispursed among citizens.
 Some Engrish. "Take a look at the quiet"
 This is the nail box mentioned above. Of course back then there was no glass covering.
This is the standing box mentioned above.


 These pictures are of the prisoner's yards. When allowed freetime, they could stand in these tiny spaces that are triangular in shape.  They were made in such a way so that one person could watch over them easily from a high vantage point.

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